Doctor Raises Mental Health Awareness During Gloomy January

Hennepin Healthcare’s Dr. Talee Vang says they’ve seen more cases of depression in patients, prompted by lack of sunlight. Break out of the winter blues by getting active or scheduling more time with friends.

“If all of the sudden, you’re noticing that it’s hard to get out of bed or hard to go to work, or maybe you have dinner plans with friends and all of the sudden you don’t want to go anymore,” explains Dr. Vang. “Even though you used to like to do that, when those behaviors are starting to become more present, that’s when you should start to be a little more concerned.”

Dr. Vang says the depression could be more serious than the winter blues. It could be seasonal affective disorder.

Sunshine in this weekend’s forecast should help too. The Twin Cities has had a record-setting stretch of cloudy weather.

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