Seasonal Affective Disorder Podcast Episode

And kind of an interesting feature here, too, is that when you look at mood and look at what the solution is for somebody who is affected by seasonal affective disorder or wintertime blues, the solution is more light. 

Welcome to Breaking Bread, the podcast brought to you by Apostolic Christian Counseling and Family Services. Merry Christmas. It’s great to be with you, and I have Ted Witzig, Jr. with me in the studio. Welcome, Ted. Thank you, Matt. It’s good to be here. Ted, it is so dark. Have you noticed that? Yeah, getting home from work in the pitch dark is a bummer. 

Have you ever thought about, placing yourself back a couple of millennia, before perhaps the understanding of the Earth’s tilt was understood? You could work yourself into a panic if something doesn’t turn around. Oh, man, you know, yeah if something didn’t reverse its course here, we’re going to find ourselves in a tundra here in Central Illinois and really at this time we are affected by that lack of sunlight, aren’t we? 

Definitely. And you know better than most how that affects us psychologically. Yeah, so in this region of the earth, above the equator where we’re at, most of us in the U. S., the amount of sunlight drops during the course of the year. So, you’re really educating all of our listeners in the Bahamas right now who don’t understand necessarily the effect of this, right? 

Yeah, you know what? Some of the people around the equator can’t appreciate this quite the same. In fact, you’re not going to see much wintertime blues or seasonal affective disorder around the equator. And by the way, that is one solution to seasonal affective disorder, move to the equator. Very good. 

So, our listenership around the equator, this is just for their empathy, right? That’s right. They should empathize with what’s going on up here. But for the rest of us, this is real. So go ahead. Sorry I interrupted. So, in the wintertime, that can start fall to spring. Some people will be more sensitive, some less sensitive to that. 

About half of the population experiences a lower mood during those wintertime months, just because of the lack of sunlight and not getting outside. You’ve got other things that come in there too. You’ve got holidays and busyness also not as active getting out and moving, kind of cooped up, stressors, things like that. 

But really that sunlight half of the population notices a decrease, a smaller percentage than that experiences full blown symptoms of depression on a seasonal basis. Or if they had some kind of depression or anxiety during the other parts of the year, they have worsening symptoms. It amps up. Yeah, it amps up. Yeah. So, there’s this correlation, this connection between sunlight and the way that we feel. Exactly. And the way that we think. Right? Yes. Because feeling and thinking go hand in glove. That’s right. It’s pretty amazing because that sunlight, you know, we, we like it, you know, it feels good. 

You know, we like a nice sunny day, but it also is key to the rhythms of our body, our circadian rhythms, when we sleep, when we wake, our energy cycles and things like that. And the science on it is really fascinating, but at a practical level, one of the things I hear in the fall is people going. Oh, the winner. 

Yeah. You know, and kind of that Well, you brought up the word science. Okay. So let me geek out a little bit. Are you aware that the sun in one second puts off more energy than what all of mankind has consumed in the whole spectrum of the world? That’s incredible. It’s amazing. Isn’t that amazing? 

The power of the sun, just the sheer power you could almost make a case that it’s almost as supernatural of a thing in our natural world as an oxymoron, but it’s mind boggling. Yeah. And not only super powerful, but if it wasn’t there, everything else would eventually break down. 

Without light and without heat for plants to be able to turn that into energy, all those things. Everything stops, and so it is a great analogy to the light of Christ and the light of God and what it means to be in that light or not in that light. And kind of an interesting feature here, too, is that when you look at mood and look at what the solution is for somebody who is affected by seasonal affective disorder or wintertime blues, the solution is more light, and you could just say, okay, well, hey, there’s strobe lights, there’s blue lights, I mean, you know, my neighbor has some blue, red, green lights on his house, you know, does it matter what kind of light there is? 

I’m very interested, actually. Does it? And it does. It does. That therapeutic light is measured in something called lux. Okay? And that’s a measure of light intensity. And so, what we’re looking for, if I say, hey, I would like you to get a lightbox, we’re looking for a lightbox that puts off 10,000 lux. 

Now, here’s the interesting thing. Normal interior fluorescent light, what we got right above us right here, while we’re in it all day, this room is nice and bright, it’s putting off about 300 lux, maybe, 200 to 300 lux. And you said 10,000. Now, in the middle of the summer where the sun is at its brightest peak, longest days. 

The sun is putting off 100, 000 lux of light. So, in the wintertime, when we’re inside, you know, we’re bathing in 300 lux a day over time. So, we have people, if they can’t travel south, we have them get a light box. And I think it’s key, this analogy, going back to Christ, it’s not just any light. 

Yeah. It’s not just pick your own whatever. Yeah. Well, I tell people, look for one that says 10,000 lux and then they put that little light box on their table or whatever and they let that shine on them for 15 to 30 minutes a day. Okay. While they’re reading a book or doing whatever. 

Okay. I don’t even know where you would go to get a light box. I haven’t seen it at Menards. That’s usually where I shop. Yeah. Well, you know what? It used to be specialty stores and things like that, but if you just go onto Amazon.com and put in light box. Is that hot? It is not hot, and it won’t give you a tan, sorry. But the fascinating thing about it is that being in the presence of that light, particularly in the morning, seems to be the ticket for helping them. 

For boosting those looks that God has designed you to absorb and to affect our thinking and feeling. Yeah. And when I think about that and the going back to Christ, just think about what it means to think about being in the presence of Christ or being in a relationship with Christ and bathing in his presence. 

If I’m just going to do my own thing and say the taillight in this car right here is red, I’m going to stand in front of that for 30 minutes. That isn’t going to do anything for me. Yeah. It’s not going to do anything for me. Yeah. For example, here’s a really good idea, even in the winter when it’s possible to get up in the morning and go for a walk sometime in the morning up to noon, to open the shades, get that sunlight coming in. Well, that’s what I was going to ask you, I’m sure the answer isn’t only the light box, right? That is correct. So how else do we get the lux? So, as people are inside more, sometimes they’re sitting in darkness, they’re keeping the shades down and things like that. 

So, getting the shades open, get the light in, those kind of things. The other thing is, depression by its nature is a downward spiral, meaning you don’t have as much energy because you don’t feel as good. So, you don’t socialize as much. So, you pull the shades. You miss going to that social event or church or whatever because you just don’t feel like getting out. And then you feel more isolated. We feel dark. And so, we go to the dark. Exactly. And then you have less energy. So, you do less and it’s a downward spiral. So, what we want to do are the things that actually reverse that downward spiral by saying, okay, I need to be exercising, I need to get myself to that Bible study, to get to church, to be around other people, and I think one of the things, again, is that concept of when we move in that direction, sometimes we’re going to feel oppressed, a good boost right after doing that. But ultimately, it’s moving in the right direction. 

Okay. Sometimes people say, well, Ted, I walked, but I still don’t feel good, and I say, okay, wait a minute, but it’s in the right direction. And so much even in our Christian Walk, the reality is sometimes we’re feeling good about it, sometimes we’re not, we’re feeling kind of out of sorts. But the question is, what’s our direction? Where are we headed? And to keep our feet moving in the direction of godliness and the things that grow our sense of well-being.  

Oh, I love what you’re saying, and I’m going to hit on a few key words. Sure. Because Psalm 73 has been especially special to me in the last six months. Okay. Tell me. Now, he says, my feet almost slid. And so, the psalmist begins by saying, I wasn’t in a good spot. And the whole Psalm 73 talks about how much of a bad spot he had got himself into. And then he speaks, but then I went into the sanctuary of God. And his thinking and his feelings all changed at that point in the Psalm. 

And as you talk about that, I have come to realize in my own life that sometimes Satan does work in that and say, no, don’t go to church. No, don’t go get together at, you know, whatever, socialize or whatever, because you’re not in a good spot, so you need to not go, when in reality, being in proximity to God’s Word and his people and his Spirit brings that reversal of thought and feeling. 

And that’s where our adversary, Satan, also wants to get in there in another place. And that is that when we’re with people, he wants us to feel odd or separated or not accepted or whatever. Jesus didn’t come into a situation, and we celebrated his birth, that this is so great. Okay. But he entered our world. I love his name, Emmanuel. God with us, right? That is one of my favorite names for him. And I think one of the things is when we get to be together as families or church family or whatever, the other thing is to remember that Jesus came into this life, and He knew this was a messy place. 

Okay? And there’s plenty of joy, and it’s a great time, but you know what? If you go to a family event or work event, and you’re like, well, maybe this year, Aunt so and so is going to be different, or my dad’s going to do, you know, maybe this expectation or, well, we haven’t figured out this family thing for 15 years, but over Christmas dinner, we’re going to get it hashed out. 

You’re just like, oh man, you know, wait a minute. I mean, have we taken the perspective that we celebrate Christ in a real way because of the brokenness of all of these situations? Yeah. Right. Yeah. It’s like, yes, this is exactly why Jesus came. Exactly. He didn’t come into a perfect world to celebrate its perfection. He came into an imperfect world to perfectly be a sacrifice and to perfect it, and we celebrate it. Now we know that we don’t know when Christ was born. Sure. But we celebrate it at this very dark moment. I mean, the 21st will be the darkest day of our year. Isn’t that amazing? We’re in the advent season right now, right? 

It’s the hastening for, it’s the looking forward to, and we are looking forward to this reversal of light and darkness. We are in our bodies, you’ve mentioned it and explained it, in our psyche, we’re longing for it. Yeah. And even think about how the wise men were drawn to him. By what? Light through a star. When the angels came, the glory of God shone round about. Yeah. You know, all those things. When you think about the world in those categories of darkness and light, it’s not an accident how God described himself as light and in him is no darkness at all. Yeah. And the absence of sin but full of truth and those kinds of things. 

It’s not by accident. No, you can trace the narrative of light from Genesis one. Sure. All the way through the end. Oh yes. Let there be light. Isn’t that amazing? And also, the science concept, it just makes me giddy because light is one of the biggest mind-blowing concepts that scientists have stumbled upon. 

Of course, it’s still not figured out. Is it particles? Or is it a wave? Yeah, well, it’s both. Well, how can it be? Right. So, Ted, we started by talking about how powerful the sun is. Yes. Right? So, in conclusion, take a stab at it, and you’re going to fall way short, but I want you to take a stab at explaining just how powerful Christ is. 

Oh, man, that is like trying to explain the ocean. So, I’ll say it like this. The fact that God who is complete in himself okay, and there’s nothing that we can add to God. Let me stop and pause at that point. He doesn’t need any exterior things coming into him. No. Right? And this whole podcast is about how we need exterior into us. 

Absolutely. And it shows that we are a creation. Yeah. And not the Creator. Right. So the fact that this God who has no external needs is willing to come here for us, it is such an act of love and grace that it truly highlights a pure love that is unselfish and is fully for the other and if we can get a little bit of a grasp of that, it’s truly not a human. And that’s tremendous because as we talk about the light box and other things, really, we’re going out and getting into the sun. 

We are pursuing it. And while we do pursue Christ, what you’ve really placed your finger on is he, the greatest light source has pursued us. He has come into our darkness. Absolutely. Amazing. And I want to close this podcast with my favorite Christmas verse. Okay. And in this verse in Luke 1:78-79 we use the word Dayspring, which is a sunrise. It’s the spring of the day after the darkness of the night. And we read this of Zechariah, as he was prophesying of Christ. Zechariah says, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high has visited us to give a light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. 

Wow. Isn’t that amazing? That Luke quoting Zechariah just highlights the magnificence of God and even how the Bible, the threads of all these different things about light are all the way through. So, to our listeners, Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas.