Mania and Sunshine Test
I live in Portland, Oregon and we are having a spectacular winter. It’s the best I’ve experienced in my seven years here. We are used to very, very dark winters. It’s usually dusk at four and dark at five. It’s depression and very bad for bipolar disorder. I was dreading it once again. And yet this year has been at least double the sun as normal. This got me to thinking about mania and sunlight. If you are newly diagnosed with bipolar or care about someone newly diagnosed- here is a test to see how the sunlight has affected your mania in the past: Give yourself one point for each yes.
1. Do you have more depression in the winter and more mania (or hypomania- the milder mania) in the summer?
2. Have you ever had a summer that was happy and enjoyable after a winter depression- but just thought it was [ Read More ]
