Dreary weather brings on winter depression

Feeling the tension build and build as he sat behind the wheel, he let out a primal scream.

"I knew no one could hear me," he recalled yesterday, laughing. "People often don't know how to let out tension."

"Now is the winter of our discontent," Shakespeare once wrote. Trapped indoors by deep snow and cold and kept in the dark by the short daylight hours, many Michiganians have the winter blues.

"I call it the hibernation syndrome. You get the feeling that you want to curl up and don't want to move," said Heavenrich, associate vice president for behavioral services for Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

The lack of sunlight contributes to a condition known as seasonal affective disorder. A few hours under a sun lamp - or a Caribbean vacation - can clear it up just fine.

A trip to the gym also helps improve many people's bleak winter moods, as well as shrinking their waistlines.

But this year's severe weather has created further problems, Heavenrich said. They include road rage among commuters stuck in traffic and fear of travel by the frail, elderly and those who have been hurt in accidents.

Then there are "close encounters of the winter kind," he said.

"If you're stuck indoors ... and if you have problems in your relationships, then that kind of intimacy may lead to greater problems," he said.

People driven indoors by the cold and snow should try to "make lemonade out of lemons," Heavenrich said.

"Spend some more quality time with the kids, playing games instead of watching the boob tube," he said.

Southeastern Michigan was expected to receive up to 5 inches more of snow early today. The National Weather Service said skies would be clear to cloudy statewide today, with highs ranging from near zero in the southwestern Upper Peninsula to upper teens in the southeastern Lower Peninsula. A mini-heat wave is predicted for the weekend, with highs in the 30s statewide by Saturday.

So far this month, 19.6 inches of snow has fallen at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the weather service said. It said 20.8 has fallen so far this season.

Those figures are far short of those for northern points such as Sault Ste. Marie (62.8 inches this season, 24.5 inches in January) and Traverse City (49.2 inches, 30.1 inches). And Eau Claire and Grand Haven in the Lake Michigan snowbelt have had 55 inches and 45 inches for the season, respectively.

But unaccustomed as they are to the serious winter conditions common in the North, southeastern Michiganians have had more difficulty coping with the unusually heavy snow.

With southeastern temperatures well below freezing for most of January, most of the snow remains in place. And that has left employees fighting their way to work and companies struggling to conduct their business.

AAA Michigan said it handled 48,000 road-service calls Jan. 2-12, the highest for any such period in five years. It said most calls were for cars that would not start or were stuck in the snow.

"It's a hassle," said Bob Balcerzak, owner of Acme Maintenance Services in Warren. "You have to send five people on a job that needs four because one might not make it."

His company, which cleans auto plants and new buildings getting ready to open, has tried to accommodate workers who have trouble getting in because of road conditions.

Lynn McKenzie, manager of Artwear Shirt Printing in Birmingham, said the snow and cold have meant long drives to and from work, difficulty parking and late meals.

"It took me two hours to get home Friday," she said. "By the time you eat dinner, it's nine o'clock."

Ms. McKenzie said she is coping fairly well with the chilly, white winter - a lot better than her India-born office worker.

"She's afraid of every snow flake," she said. "She's very scared it's never going to end."

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