KEY POINTS:
If you're feeling down in the dumps at the moment you're not alone.
Kiwis are more miserable in winter and July is the worst month for suffering the winter blues, a nationwide study has found.
According to the latest independent research commissioned by Neutrogena, July is the
month in which 20 per cent of Kiwis are struck by the winter blues, followed by August on 13 per cent.
The researchers also found that Monday-itis affects the nation, with 41 per cent of Kiwis saying that the first day of the working week is also the day they are most likely to feel blue.
"If you leave and return home from work in the dark, don't get enough light while working, have high stress, rarely socialise and eat stodgy food, the blues are likely to creep up on you," says mental health therapist Leanne French.
Creature comforts reign supreme during the cold season, so it comes as no surprise that 30 per cent of Kiwi women say their favourite way to alleviate the winter blues is to spend time with friends, followed by 29 per cent who prefer a night in on the couch with a hot chocolate and their favourite movie.
A further 20 per cent relieve the winter blues with a warm bath, facial or massage.
The shortening of daylight hours and lack of sunlight in winter triggers symptoms such as sleep problems, lethargy, overeating and mood swings, says French.
The study - conducted by Consumer Link - also looked at women's skincare habits during the winter months and found that women who were feeling depressed were less likely to follow their usual beauty regimes.
The majority of Kiwi women interviewed in the survey confirmed that during winter they break two of skincare's cardinal rules - not using a sunscreen and failing to remove their makeup before bed.
Seventy-two per cent of women surveyed said they used sunscreen less than once a week or never between June and August and nearly a third said they never removed their makeup before bed.
Only one in every four women surveyed said they applied sunscreen on a daily basis during the winter months.
Dr Kevin McKerrow, President of the New Zealand Dermatological Society says those results are worrying: "People just seem to forget that during winter the sun doesn't go away and neither does skin cancer."
- NZ HERALD STAFF