Mental distress during winter. An epidemiologic study of 7759 adults north of Arctic Circle
The prevalence of mental distress in a general population north of the Arctic Circle at 69°N was studied over 4 midwinter months. Within the framework of a health survey for coronary heart disease. 3 questions about depression, coping problems and insomnia were posed. They were answered by 7759 peop...
| Published in: | Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1991
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1991.tb03117.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0447.1991.tb03117.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1991.tb03117.x |
| Summary: | The prevalence of mental distress in a general population north of the Arctic Circle at 69°N was studied over 4 midwinter months. Within the framework of a health survey for coronary heart disease. 3 questions about depression, coping problems and insomnia were posed. They were answered by 7759 people randomly assigned to a survey date from November to February. The extreme lack of daylight in December and January taken into consideration, the prevalence of mental distress found, 14% in men and 19% in women, is remarkably low compared with previous epidemiologic research. Except for insomnia in women, which was most prevalent in December, no significant relationship between month of survey and any of the 3 symptoms were found. Thus, the findings cast some doubt upon the importance of daylight for mental distress in the general population. |
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