Next Finding light in the dark Audrey Carli When the sun shone brightly, Linda felt cheerful, but on cloudy days, Linda's spirit slumped. She noticed how she felt depressed when working in the dim basement cleaning shelves, doing laundry or other tasks.
Depression hits many in the far north where the sun fades from sight for about two months each year.
In a Norwegian town several hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, the sun dips below the horizon each year on November 20. Soon the psychiatric wards begin to fill. Physicians are asked for sleep aids and relaxants to treat insomnia and tension. Depression diminishes among the residents when the sun again appears on January 20. Anxiety and insomnia victims overcome their problems.