Does The Depressing Weather Make People "Artsy" In Seattle? (transplants, how much)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Here's my theory, lame as it may be:

People are more depressed in places like Seattle, but it's the norm. People are used to being depressed, their neighbors and friends are depressed too, so they don't feel too out of place.
In a place like Las Vegas or Tucson, there are less depressed people than there are here. People have "sunnier" dispositions. So when someone there gets depressed,it's far from the norm, they feel very out of place and misunderstood , and are more inclined to commit suicide. Here, a depressed person might think " All I really have to do is go to Arizona to escape this funk, but I think I'll just have another latte and continue brooding", but depressed people in sunnier places don't have that escape option to a sunny climate.

Makes sense Ira. Funny but still makes sense. Perhaps I'm just a depressed person and need to get to Seattle to really fit in. I need to go there in winter to really get a good feel.

[movingwiththewind]

Originally Posted by Ira500

depressed people in sunnier places don't have that escape option to a sunny climate.

Why not try clouds and rain for a change then? At least for a week or two. Nothing to lose, anyway. And a chance to become artsy! Seattle therapy anyone?

[tijlover]

If they ever came up with a miracle drug for those, like myself, who can't deal with cloudy weather, you might hear a gigantic whooshing sound coming out of the Southwest, people scrambling to move somehwere they've always wanted to live but were imprisoned by sunshine, their medicine.

In many ways, I feel like I'm being held captive here. As soon as that drug comes onto the market, I'm off to the NW, Pittsburgh or Charleston, West Virginia.

Whether or not, cloudy weather makes one more artsy, is debatable.

Are the cloudy regions of the country ready for that, when that drug arrives, a potential influx of migrants?

[seattlenextyear]

They made that drug. It's called "Coffee spiked with Vitamin D supplements"

[tijlover]

I'll take you up on your suggestion the next time it clouds up here in Las Vegas for more than one day.

I tried just about everything before I left Minnesota 17 years ago.

You are serious, aren't you?

[seattlenextyear]

Ha, only about the Vitamin D part. Coffee just warms you up.

Don't think it has an immediate effect though. There's just a correlation between not getting enough Vit D and depression (and immune suppression too).

[JesseJB]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

There's just a correlation between not getting enough Vit D and depression (and immune suppression too).

Seriously. Just because you get it from the sun doesnt mean it makes you feel "sunny."

On the other hand, you should take St John's Wort. That stuff is amazing and almost no side effects. The ancient Greeks used it, too. I took it last winter, but I think I'll hold off this winter since we had such a nice summer, we're heading into an El Nino year and I took a sunny vacation in late Oct. I actually feel fine this year.

[seattlenextyear]

I think the depression link is a lot weaker than the immune suppression link.

[Vells]

Yeah, I could be completely wrong, but I'd heard that seasonal depression had a lot to do with lack of optical exposure to certain light spectra as well as maybe lower vitamin D levels being a factor; hence the "phototherapy" lamps that some people use.

[W & C]

There is no better remedy for the blues than diet and exercise