Uncommon sense – Beware of the winter blues

One June, in the early 1990s, somewhere in the halls of the US Congress, someone did one of the most honourable things by bringing the mental well-being of men and boys the attention they needed. Although the idea was also aimed at promoting early detection of other diseases, such as prostate cancer, what was once a seven-day event grew into a month-long one, mostly to address the issue of a high rate of suicides amongst men. Coincidentally and probably luckily for Sub-Saharan Africa, June happens to fall into one of the most depressive season, winter.

Of course, winter is a depressive season for many reasons, but the most common are that the days are shorter and there is less sunlight exposure, especially for skin with high melanin content. Secondly, since days are shorter, long nights may increase the chances of insomniac situations, especially since it is also coupled with the high use of ‘blue light’ devices. Thirdly, during winter people tend to spend more time indoors, idling and with less social contact, and this can also highly create conditions that make one susceptible to depression and anxiety.