Solstice brings a bit of help to the fight against cabin fever

Finally! Although it may still be cold and dark outside, Alaskans finally get to start looking forward to summer now that the winter solstice is here and daylight hours begin to (slowly) lengthen. Today we get a whopping two seconds more daylight than yesterday.

The annual solstice — the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere — is technically the first day of winter, but here in Alaska we’ve been winter-bound for a couple months already. And while the cold might not be terribly unbearable, most folks will tell you the darkness is no joke.

Long called “cabin fever” here in Alaska, the winter blahs brought on by darkness are a very real thing. In fact, there’s even a medical term — seasonal affective disorder (or SAD) — used to describe the feeling some of us get when the short daylight hours of winter start to affect our mental health. This depression-like condition is thought to be brought on by a lack of sunlight, which can cause fatigue and irritability even in the most positive and upbeat among us.

The addition of those two seconds might not seem like much, but in the coming weeks we’ll slowly begin to notice a bit more sunlight as the sun starts rising above the horizon. The added daylight will help those struggling with cabin fever — especially those among us who can’t take a quick trip south to Hawaii this winter.

While the extra daylight will be nice, it’s also important to fight SAD in other ways. Experts advise getting lots of exercise, and any Sourdough will tell you that the best cure for cabin fever is to get the heck out of the cabin.

Luckily, here in the Valley there are a ton of options for embracing the winter and fighting back against the darkness. Local lakes are currently in prime shape for ice skating, and a decent snowpack has ski trails groomed and ready for action. In snow-prone places like Petersville or Hatcher Pass, huge dumps of early winter snow have allowed for snowmachines to access the backcountry, opening up lots of terrain for one of the Mat-Su’s favorite winter sports. Ice fishing is also a fun family activity, and one that doesn’t require much money — though a bit of elbow grease might be needed to drill through the ice.

There’s really no wrong way to get out and about during this time of year. The important thing is simply to find ways to embrace the winter rather than looking at this time of year as something to endure.

And remember, with longer days ahead, it’ll be time to start breaking out the sunglasses in no time.