I used to have SAD here in America, and would be miserable from October through the end of February, depressed, morose, sleepy, isolating myself, etc.

Then I moved to Estonia. There, I couldn't believe when in September already it started getting dark early. By October the sun was rising at about 9 and setting around 3:30. Right now, in Estonia, "daylight," arrives around 10 am and leaves around 2.30 pm. It is not sunlight, but a gray haze, with rain, slush, mud everywhere. They pray for snow so that it will be cleaner, and it will reflect any small light there is. (I have never seen snow quite as glittery as it was there.)

My first year there, by midwinter I was on antidepressants and on medical leave from work. I couldn't function. In Finland they know about light therapy, but it is only new and seldom used to Estonians. Most people are very morose, closed, don't smile, grumpy. Everyone isolates and keeps to themselves. It is very difficult there in winter (although summers make up for it with 22 hours of sunshine....at summer solstice you can actually read outside 24 hours a day by natural light).

Anyway, so last year I came back temporarily to the US for my daughter's wedding. It was on New years. When I saw how late it was light here, and the SUN was actually shining until about 5 or later...it felt like summer to me!

Since then, this year living here, I haven't had SAD at all. I think I needed to live where it's really bad to appreciate what we have here.