This Sunday I knew I wanted to have a slow and calm day. My only goal was to buy a pair of snow boots, since my old pair did not survive the “snowpocalypse” in D.C. last year. The numerous times I fell on the snowy ground on my way to school this past week made me realize that maybe it was time to invest in a new pair, and Sunday was the day I was going to do it. I woke up and looked outside the window. Dark. Maybe it was still dawn. I looked at my phone: 11:47 a.m. I clearly forgot that I was in Russia.
The total lack of sunlight coming through my window made it hard to leave my blankets. Misha, my dog here in Russia, joined me on my bed, and her eyes told me she also thought that there would be no better place to stay than under my blankets. It took me two hours, one cupcake, six John Oliver videos, and one glass of yogurt for me to realize that maybe it was time to start my journey to Galeria, one of the biggest shopping centers in St. Petersburg. As I walked 15 minutes to the metro, hidden in my heavy winter jacket and trying to avoid falling one more time on the ice, I looked to the sky. Still no sunlight. It looked like it was 6:00 p.m. on a wintry evening in D.C. However, the afternoon had just begun. It has been at least three weeks since I saw the sun, I thought.
Don’t get me wrong: I am having the time of my life here in Russia. However, since it started snowing in late October and the sun completely disappeared from our lives, I have been thinking about how the dark, cold, and snowy weather can actually influence those that live most of the year under such conditions. Saint Petersburg’s weather could not be more different than the one of my tropical hometown, Rio de Janeiro. Back in Brazil, it is very possible to experience 100-degree, sunny weather right in the middle of winter. In fact, my favorite place in Rio is near Ipanema Beach and by a rock that we all climb before sunset to watch the sun disappear behind the mountains. We used to clap as the sun disappeared from the sky, but since tourists started clapping, we began hiding our satisfaction behind our smiles in an attempt to distinguish ourselves from the gringos. We do not need to clap—we tell ourselves—this is no more than an average day in Rio. However, deep down we know that Rio’s sunset will always be unbelievably pretty.
Apart from missing Rio’s sunset, I wonder how does Russia’s weather affect me? There is an interesting contrast between the Ingrid who got here in early September and who I am now. During the first part of my stay in St. Petersburg, I would not spend a single minute in my house, trying to fulfill my desire to discover what every single corner of the city has to offer. Now, I use every single drop of that desire to convince myself to step outside. Waking up at 7:30 a.m. to go to school became a constant test to my dedication.
As I started my quest for new snow boots this Sunday, my only thought—apart from my desire not to fall—was: how does the lack of sunlight affect Russians? While in Brazil I worry about increasing my chances of skin cancer, here the main concerns seem to be a lack of vitamin D and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a form of depression that tends to affect citizens of northern countries, especially during the winter. The lack of vitamin D can actually provoke a series of issues, such as early osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, heart diseases, and even some forms of cancer. In fact, there are a number of treatments in Russia that attempt to increase humans’ exposure to vitamin D. Since Soviet times, this area of the world has tested out numerous treatments involving light therapy. You can see in this famous photograph that such tests even exposed young children to artificial ultraviolet light.
Light therapy is also essential to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder and, in many cases, can substitute normal therapy. SAD, however, is still extremely mysterious. While we know that SAD primarily affects northern countries, there is currently not enough research to explain why four out of five SAD patients are women, and why the disorder tends to heavily affect people in their twenties. Unfortunately, SAD may also contribute to depression even after the winter season.
Perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of information I discovered during my research was the correlation between the lack of sunlight and fatigue. Some researchers have, in fact, developed a study to show the link between winter fatigue and evolution. Our ancestors experienced fatigue during the winter, as food sources were limited. Their constant fatigue resulted in hibernation and, thus, energy conservation. I have to say this evolutionary explanation made me feel better about my frequent desire to lie down and watch Netflix. I am just preserving energy, right?
This Sunday, I returned from the mall, not only with my new shoes, but also with a package of vitamin D supplements. My research on light therapy definitely scared me into taking the necessary steps to “conserve my energy”!
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