Managing the northern darkness

Maria Nordin works in the field of health psychology, which looks at how our thoughts, behaviour and feelings impact health.

“Stress and sleep are particularly central for our health. I’ve worked extensively within sleep research and looked at how sleep is impacted by such factors as our workplace situation and our social relations.”

Sleep may sound like a purely physical function, but the most effective treatment for sleep problems is actually psychological, namely therapy.

Maria Nordin, sleep researcher at the Department of Psychology.

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“To sleep is a verb, reflecting that it is a behaviour. And psychologists look at behaviour. Medicines are not the solution. They may temporarily help with acute lack of sleep but not in the long term. If you have long-term sleep problems, cognitive behaviour therapy can help.”

The darkness kickstarts melatonin

In the autumn, the days get shorter and darkness dominates. With the lack of sunlight, many people begin to feel more tired and experience the dark days as challenging and hard to get through. Maria Nordin emphasises that darkness is actually important for us.

“The shift from light to dark is instrumental in our circadian rhythm, and a functioning circadian rhythm is a large part of why we can sleep well. Living in the north makes it more difficult since in the summer it is almost always light and in the winter almost always dark.”

When light enters our eyes, it travels to what we call the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a small area deep in the brain that is important for regulating circadian rhythms. When it is light out, the nucleus sends a signal to the body that it is daytime and time to wake up. The body’s organs are awakened. When it is dark, the nucleus tells the body that it is soon time to sleep and the pineal gland releases melatonin to make us sleepy.

As it becomes dark earlier in the day, the body starts preparing for sleep earlier, even when the darkness descends during the work day or when you are in class. The increased melatonin production can also have other consequences for how we feel beyond simply making us tired.

“In addition to becoming sleepy, we tend to be more reserved and lack energy when we have lots of melatonin in the body. We are less physically active and tend to isolate ourselves more.”

During the dark season, many of us get tired. But there are tricks to use.

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Is the need for sleep really greater in the winter or does it just feel that way?

“It just feels that way. We don’t need more sleep just because it is darker.”

Newcomers to Sweden or Västerbotten County from more southern latitudes can experience the darkness as challenging. Maria Nordin suggests taking a half-hour walk every day during daylight.

“Taking the walk before lunch is also important. This helps suppress the melatonin, allowing our daytime hormone cortisol, which gives us more energy, and serotonin, which makes us feel good, to dominate. This also works when it is cloudy. You still absorb enough light through your eyes for the brain to react to changes between light and dark, which we need for maintaining our circadian rhythm.”

Acceptance is really important. After a while the light will return. Try to remind yourself that it will already be getting lighter in January.

Embrace the darkness

A useful suggestion is to work with your attitude during the dark period.

“I have a good strategy. I consider darkness as cosy. You can light a candle, enjoy a warm bath and treat yourself well during the most stressful period. Don’t have so many expectations on yourself. Acceptance is really important. After a while the light will return. Try to remind yourself that it will already be getting lighter in January.”

Another suggestion is to try to follow a routine and to maintain your usual behaviours. Get up and go to bed at about your normal times and continue exercising and socialising.

Does light therapy help?

“It works for some people. We react best to blue light, which we get from being outdoors, and we’ve not really been able to create this artificially. Some people benefit from sitting near windows, for others light therapy helps, and for others neither helps.”

It is very individual how we are impacted by darkness. Some people sail through winter like nothing was different while others feel exhausted when the daylight hours are fewest.

“It differs from person to person. That’s the way it is. So you have to accept the situation based on how you feel.”

Some people take vitamin D supplements during the winter. Does that work for addressing being tired.

“It can be good to take since we don’t absorb vitamin D naturally during the dark months. So it can be good for health reasons, but I don’t know if it is connected with the production of melatonin, for example . But your experience is what is most important. If you feel like it works, that could mean it might ease the problem for some people.”

Psychology students participate in sleep schools

Are there any myths related to darkness and sleep that you want to address?

“That you sleep eight hours a day. Everyone is different and anything from six and seven hours to nine hours of sleep can be considered normal. It is really only when you start getting less than five hours a night over a longer period that we begin seeing negative impacts to health.”

Many people are not aware that they can seek help with sleep problems from the medical care system. In semester five of the Psychology Programme, students work with patient training in high stress management and sleep problem management at medical centres in Västerbotten. Maria Nordin helps evaluate these training programmes, which will soon be offered online throughout the county.

“Experiencing a period of poor sleep is not dangerous. But if you sleep badly several times a week for several months and are unable to address the root causes, you can seek help at your local medical centre. You may have adopted a behaviour that you need help breaking. There’s excellent help available,” she emphasises.