The end of summer prompts feelings of regret and sadness in many Minnesotans, and not just because they dread shoveling snow or driving on icy roads. The quickly diminishing sunlight contributes greatly to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that correlates with seasonal patterns. The divorce process always takes a toll on ex-spouses, but SAD can make this already harrowing experience that much more difficult.
How Daylight Savings Time Exacerbates SAD Symptoms
Symptoms of SAD include sleepiness, anxiety, poor appetite, and lack of motivation. These symptoms may begin to arrive already before daylight savings time kicks in, as the days naturally get shorter when winter approaches. SAD sufferers get one extra hour of sleep when the clock falls back, but at the price of even less sunlight exposure when it’s most important. Researchers believe that morning exposure to light helps SAD sufferers far more than light in the evening, but unfortunately, daylight savings time is explicitly designed to extend evening daylight. This shift messes with millions of years of evolution, which never prepared humans to deal with such a sudden change in daylight exposure. It is, perhaps, for this reason that the rate of auto accidents rises dramatically during the first few days after daylight savings time goes into effect.
How Daylight Savings Time and SAD Impact Divorce
During daylight savings time, the emotionally charged process of finalizing a divorce can easily exacerbate the already problematic symptoms of SAD. Contentious disagreements with your ex, coupled with stressful sessions in divorce court, deplete your already tapped reserves, making it that much more difficult to get through the day.
Be mindful of symptoms, and visit with a medical professional if you are having an unusually difficult season.