LISA YAMADA
Staff Writer
During the past month, little Malibu has been pounded by a series of thunderstorms. Heavy rains have left students sopping wet. Howling winds have turned perfectly coifed dos into tangled bird nests. Frosty air has left everyone shivering in their UGG boots. As the largest rainfall event in the city since January 2005, the perpetual Malibu rain has left many feeling the blues.
While it may be obvious that gloomy weather can sap warm weather cheer, what isn’t clear is why. According to assistant professor of psychology, Theodore Gardner, that soggy, down-in-the-dumps feeling can be explained.
“There are biological reasons for a reduction in positive moods during bad weather, he said. “When there’s less sunlight, our bodies produce more melatonin, a hormone used to regulate sleep. Too much melatonin may cause that sleepy, lethargic feeling.”
Secreted by the pineal gland, an endocrine gland in the brain, melatonin controls the body’s circadian rhythm or in other words, “our body’s internal time clock,” Gardner said. “Too much melatonin my cause that sleep, lethargic feeling.”
Since melatonin does induce sleep, it is used in many sleep aids, even though clinical studies have shown its effect negligent. Melatonin is effective when taken in small doses, but commercially produced, melatonin sleep aids contain 10 times the effective amount, according to a study conducted at the Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology. As a result, the body becomes immune to any of its sleep-inducing effects.
Still, it helps to explains why that extra little does during dark skies makes students so listless.
“When it’s raining, I just want to lie in bed,” said junior Ashley Smith. “I just want to watch movies … and eat ice cream and chocolate cake.”
Like Smith, junior Jasmine Gutierrez finds herself munching whatever is in the house on doleful days. She also finds herself missing class.
“I went to like three of my classes this week,” she said. “Driving through the canyon is so scary when it rains.”
In 2004, researchers from the University of Michigan studied the effects of daily variations in weather on mood and cognition. They found that those who were outside during warm and sunny weather tended to be in better moods, to have better memory and to be more open to new information, compared to those who were outside during unpleasant weather and those who were indoors.
Researchers also found that being indoors when weather outside was nice actually decreased mood and cognition. They suspected this was because people resented being cooped up indoors while the weather was pleasant in the spring or perhaps because improved weather made normal indoor activities seem boring or irritating. Bad news for anyone in the CAC.
While a slight case of the winter blues are common for most people, there are some who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, a recurring type of depression that occurs with the onset of fall or winter months. About 25 percent of Americans suffer from SAD, according to a 2001 report by the National Mental Health Association. Symptoms include lethargy, a heightened desire for sleep, constant cravings for carbohydrates, feelings of melancholy and loss of libido.
Though it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly when just plain sadness develops into SAD, Gardner encourages students to talk to someone if feelings of depression persist.
“If you start feeling depressed for weeks at a time, I definitely encourage you to talk to a friend or someone in the Counseling Center.,” Gardner said.
Although rainy weather in Malibu can be depressing, Malibu-ites can count their lucky stars for the amount of sunshine in Malibu and be glad they aren’t in Alaska. In 2007, Malibu had 359 days of sunshine. In Alaska, the sun can stay hidden under a blanket of darkness for days on end. Daylight fades to just five and a half hours by the solstice. About 10 percent of Alaskans suffer from SAD, according to a 1992 study by the American Journal of Psychiatry, compared with 1 percent in sunny Florida.
Still students don’t come to Malibu for cloudy skies.
“I don’t dislike the rain,” said sophomore Chris Kanzler. “ I just don’t want it to rain in Malibu. I mean, I totally didn’t sign up for this. It wasn’t in the pamphlets.”
Lucky for Kanzler and the rest of Malibu, California never stays gray for long.
01-31-2008
