Rx for the Most Depressing Day of the Year January 17: Coffee!!

Tue, Aug 18, 15 by Jim Couch

The most depressing day of the year is upon us — January 17.  Mondays are sometimes bad enough, but many consider the third Monday in January to be the absolute most depressing day of the year.

The relentless cold weather, the debts to pay off following Christmas, shortage of Vitamin D from lack of sunlight, and the guilt from breaking all those New Year resolutions — those, and other factors all contribute to what could be our lowest time of the year.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, is a real form of depression which affects many people.  In the U.S., not surprsingly the incidence of SAD increases the farther north you go.  From a low in Florida at 1.4 percent of the population, to a very significant 9.7 percent in New Hampshire.  Symptoms of SAD can include difficulty waking in morning, tendency to oversleep and overeat, craving for carbohydrates, lack of energy, and difficulty in concentrating on completing tasks, among others.

So how does one get through winter depression — other than the passage of time, or booking a flight to Florida or the Caribbean, or consulting a professional to get some solid clinical advice?

How about coffee?

In her book “Coffee, the Revolutionary Drink for Pleasure and Health“, Professor M. Roseane Santos addresses coffee, mood and depressive symptoms.

Prof. Santos writes “The improvement of the central nervous system’s function is one of the primary intermediate benefits observed from daily habit of drinking coffee.  It has been reported that those who consume three to four cups of coffee per day experience improvements in mood, sociability, self-confidence, energy, and motivation for work.”

So with that advice, let’s brew some coffee and get through this difficult time!