East Dunbartonshire residents are set to become the first in Scotland to be given the chance to take some extra sunlight home to help them deal with low winter moods.
After the clocks go back on Sunday 27 October, visitors to four local libraries will have the chance to borrow a lamp which replicates the physiological benefits of real sunlight.
The lamp is included in a ‘Wintering Well Box’ also containing a book, information, activities and access to an online course to help tackle the effects of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
The initiative is the latest development in an ongoing research project into the mental and physical effects of long dark winters called Living with SAD, led by academics from the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is supported by East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust (EDLCT).
Last year, the team launched a series of support materials called Wintering Well, which drew on an extensive survey of people in the UK who live with SAD and feedback from volunteers who attended a series of outdoor workshops.
The Wintering Well project’s support materials include ‘Light is A Right’, a guide on adopting new creative practices to encourage readers to spend a little time out-of-doors each day. The team also developed a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-based online course with project partner Living Life to the Full.
The library Wintering Well Box will also include a template for writing a ‘Letter to Winter’, a creative exercise encouraging participants to let the season know their feelings about living with low light and low mood. These letters will form the basis of further research from the team.
A total of 100 Wintering Well boxes will be available for library-users to borrow for four-week periods. The libraries will also play host to mini-exhibitions made up of images of everyday experiences of SAD, created by participants in the team’s Wintering Well workshops.
If the libraries project is judged a success this winter, it may well be rolled out to communities across Scotland when the nights get longer next year, the researchers hope.
Professor Hester Parr, of the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, is one of the leaders of the Living with SAD project. She said: “According to the Royal College of Psychiatry, more than a million people across Britain experience symptoms of SAD, including emotional challenges, lowered mood, and feelings of anxiety. However, they often have very limited access to social or medical support to help them through winter.
She added:
Our Wintering Well resources are aimed at helping people find novel ways to deal with those feelings through creative projects and finding connection and support with others who struggle with low mood.
She continued, “We’re delighted to be partnering with EDLCT to make our resources more widely available, and to provide access to SAD lamps.
“We’ll be collecting feedback from participants in this new phase of the study to help us guide the next stage of Living with SAD, which could involve bringing Wintering Well boxes to communities across Scotland.”
Professor Hayden Lorimer, of the University of Edinburgh, is co-investigator of Living with SAD. He said: “Local libraries are perfect places for people to access our borrowable Wintering Well boxes. They are also warm and welcoming public spaces for meeting up and socialising during the winter months. We’re planning to organise shorts walks nearby to library buildings when borrowers will be able to share their experiences with one another.”
The project follows on from previous efforts by EDLCT to provide library-goers with access to SAD lamps. Visitors were able to sit with static SAD lamps on library premises, but the new project will allow people to take lamps home with them for the first time.
Councillor Jim Gibbons, Chair of East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust, said, “We received very positive feedback from our library members who used the static SAD lamps in our libraries during the trial period.
“Those who were prone to symptoms of SAD during the long winter months, found their mental health and well-being much improved as a result. So, we are delighted to be partnering with the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh to provide our library users with the opportunity to benefit from a SAD lamp in the comfort of their own homes.
“I would encourage local people who suffer from SAD to come along to their local library and enquire about the SAD lamps and the Wintering Well boxes; the resources provide lots of ideas on how to reduce anxiety and regulate mood during the darker months.”
Claire Charlwood was one of the participants in a trial of the project, which took place earlier this month.
She said: “I’ve found the winter months very challenging to deal with in previous years. Darkness when you leave the house in the morning and darkness when you get home can really start to wear on your mental health.
“I was really impressed by the Wintering Well Box. The resources make me think about winter in a different way, like using a mini ‘sky-frame’ to help me notice the sky isn’t just dull, wet and grey. I also think the SAD lamp tops up my levels of sunlight and that helps. In a way, I think the lamp, the book and online course resources give you everything you need to deal with SAD both in body and mind. It's a totally new way to approach this problem.”
The Wintering Well boxes are available now at William Patrick Library in Kirkintilloch and the libraries in Bishopbriggs, Lennoxtown and Milngavie. East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust can also transfer boxes to other local libraries on request.
Alison Nolan, Chief Executive of the Scottish Library and Information Council said: “The Wintering Well Box is a ground-breaking initiative and marks an exciting development for libraries in Scotland. By working together East Dunbartonshire Libraries and the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh have created a valuable service offer. Not only will the project help boost community wellbeing during the long winter months, but it will also support important research into Seasonal Affective Disorder. It highlights the central role of Scottish public libraries in community life.”
The creation and distribution of the Wintering Well boxes is being funded by a grant from UKRI’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. The guidebook and free course resources are also being delivered to 80 NHS GP practices in Glasgow through the Community Link Worker system.
For more information on Wintering Well, visit the University of Glasgow website.
