When Norman Rosenthal moved from sunny South Africa to wintry New York, he put a name to a debilitating slump in energy and mood that millions of sufferers would come to recognise – seasonal affective disorder
When psychiatrist Norman Rosenthal moved from South Africa to the US in the 70s, something changed. In the colder winters of New York he and his wife felt their energy levels slump and their mood drop. So when he met fellow scientist Alfred Lewy at a party, it was easy for the pair to begin chatting about Lewy’s research into melatonin, a hormone associated with sleep – and how light and mood might be entwined. Which is how, more than 30 years ago, the pair became the first scientists to describe seasonal affective disorder – and treat it with light therapy. Since then our understanding of the way light affects us, Rosenthal tells me, has “skyrocketed”.
Sad, which is characterised by cognitive problems, withdrawing from friends and family, weight gain and increased time spent sleeping, may affect one in 20 people in the UK to a disabling degree. But as many as one in five can suffer the effects of less severe “winter blues”, struggling through darker days being less productive and happy than normal.
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