[collyw]

Is it not the case that Norway and dark places have a far higher suicide rate? I moved from the UK to Spain, took a salary cut, because I value the sun. It it less depressing waking up to sun rather than grey most days. That must have some positive impact on health.

[dagw]

Is it not the case that Norway and dark places have a far higher suicide rate?

Not really. Norway has roughly the same rate is the US and quite a bit lower than France (but quite a bit higher than Spain). The whole darkness leads to suicide is largely a myth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_ra...

[michaelochurch]

Is it not the case that Norway and dark places have a far higher suicide rate?

Short answer: no. Longer answer: sort-of, but not recently.

In the mid-20th century, there was a lot of suicide in northern latitudes in the summer, which actually led some to believe that too much light (16-20+ hours per day) was the culprit. Spring and summer have always been the peak seasons for suicide, violent crime, and new mental illness. So why is there less of that in warmer climates? The culprit isn't sunlight (either winter's lack of it, or summer's abundance of it) itself, but alcoholism (which is a contributing factor to a shocking percentage of suicides). Harsh winter climates can contribute to alcoholism-- however, a lack of economic opportunity is more devastating-- which is a chronic problem once developed, and can lead to a summer suicide.

In 2014, the Nordic countries take alcoholism, mental health, and social services very seriously (much moreso than, say, the US) and don't have an unusually high suicide rate. In fact, people in Scandinavia and Canada are, on average, happier, healthier, and less suicidal than Americans.

[Htsthbjig]

In Norway you have no sun half of the year.

The other half you have more sun than in Spain.

The main problem in Norway are bone cracking because serious vitamin D deficit. They make children eat pills for that.

It is a great business for fracture specialists. :-D

[Dewie]

> Is it not the case that Norway and dark places have a far higher suicide rate?

I don't know. Probably more occurrences of SAD. But then, it might be that only certain people are affected by it.

I've grown up in Norway and yes, it isn't very fun for me to wake up at 0700 in the winter, pitch black outside, and then go to school. My area also got a lot of overcast and rain in the winter which, though UV radiation might have come through the clouds, it only compounded the gloomy weather. I wonder if I'm actually more bothered by the chilly, rainy weather rather than the darkness. If there was more snow, it would be a bit lighter.

In return, you get more sun in the summer.

I lived in Spain for 5 months. I wasn't particularly happy during that time, though there were other factors impacting that. More sun and less rain was certainly nice.