Here in Abisko the darkness is a big part of the day.
We don't really see the Sun rising above the mountains.
This darkness, it's quite a long time.
It begins really in October and then November and then December
and January and then the light starts coming back in February.
Winter is the longest season here.
It is difficult for somebody who has grown up in the tropics.
I think it has some effects on the mood
and also your energy.
When you have the darkness
it's not as easy to have the motivation to go outside.
When the light turns back, you feel more energy in your body
and you start feeling the difference.
Humans are basically diurnal.
That means it helps our bodies to sleep at night
and to be active during daytime.
We also have an internal clock system in our bodies
that cycle in a phase of about 24.2 hours
and we need a daily dosage of light
to be able to adjust the internal clock to adapt to the external world.
Melatonin is the hormone of darkness.
It starts to appear in most people's lives around eight o'clock
in the evening and then it peaks during sleep at night.
And in the morning, it is suppressed by the appearance of light.
A lot of people can't get used to the short days
or longer nights during the winter months.
There are a lot of theories as to why that occurs.
One of the theories is that
we become de-synchronised with the light-dark patterns
because we don't get enough light during the day.
So, some people can't really adapt to that.
So they start having feelings like depression, withdrawal,
carbohydrate craving, weight gain.
And that typically goes away during the summer months.
So that's really what characterises what we call
Seasonal Affective Disorder known as 'winter blues'.
I think there are huge individual differences,
but we know of studies where it appears that
that maybe 20 minutes of daily dosage of strong light is enough.
And then we're talking about the light that resembles daylight
or an outdoor exposure.
And this light dosage should be presented
during morning hours.
There's a couple of things that can be done.
First of all, obviously go outdoor during the day.
If you can, spend one to two hours outside.
If you can't do that, sit by a window.
But don't sit against the window.
Sit facing the window because that's where you want to get the light.
You want the light at the eye.
And the third option is increase the amount of light that you have around you.
So if you're going to sit at a desk and work from home, add table lamps
add lamps around your computer screen.
Add something that would increase that amount of light at the eye.
When the Sun starts to come back to Abisko
and when it comes up through the gate of Lapland
in Swedish we call it t Lapporten
then this community, we try to go up on one of the hills above the village
and just stand there to greet the Sun and welcome it back.
It actually brings a real sense of joy.