Hi.  For better or for worse - I don't get jet lag.  I used to - and I
used to travel *a lot* - but one day I realized, I was no longer
getting lagged after transcontinental flights.  Now, I can fly from
LAX to central europe (or vice versa) and still not be affected.  On
the downside - and I think this is why I'm not lagged - I seem to have
become very daylight-aware.  When its bright and light out, I'm great,
but as soon as it gets dark, I start feeling tired.

I'd like to know how common "no jet lag" is, and if there's a
technical term for my dependency on daylight.

Yes, I know you're not a doctor, nor do you play one on tv.

Thanks,
S

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Clarification of Question by scaryberry-ga on 09 Jun 2005 15:34 PDT

God, now I'm clinically depressed!  Hi Pink. :)  I had heard of SAD
(vaguely) but thought it was related to seasonal depression. I guess I
didnt make the correlation.  FWIW, I'm not depressed, just
awake/tired, which is probably accounted for by the melatonin.

So, uh, what do I do, besides flying between my houses in the artic and antartic?

S

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 09 Jun 2005 15:38 PDT

Have you considered full-spectrum lighting? Some folks swear that this
helps to combat fatigue:

http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/lighting.html

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Clarification of Question by scaryberry-ga on 17 Jun 2005 08:36 PDT

Hi!  Thanks to both pink and myoarin.  Not sure where the answer lies,
but it seems the full-spectrum lighting might help me stay awake
longer, regardless.

If one of you can officially answer so I can pay/tip, i'll open an
exclusive question for the other.

Thanks much!

Scary

Hi, Scary! Are you aware of a light-related condition called Seasonal
Affective Disorder, SAD for short?

"Experts think that two specific chemicals in the brain, melatonin and
serotonin, may be involved in SAD. These two hormones help regulate a
person's sleep-wake cycles, energy, and mood. Shorter days and longer
hours of darkness in fall and winter may cause increased levels of
melatonin and decreased levels of serotonin, creating the biological
conditions for depression.

Melatonin is linked to sleep. The body produces this hormone in
greater quantities when it's dark or when days are shorter. This
increased production of melatonin can cause a person to feel sleepy
and lethargic. With serotonin, it's the reverse - serotonin production
goes up when a person is exposed to sunlight, so it's likely that a
person will have lower levels of serotonin during the winter when the
days are shorter. Low levels of serotonin are associated with
depression, whereas increasing the availability of serotonin helps to
combat depression."

http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/feeling_sad/sad.html

Hi Scaryberry,
Daring to refute the Great Pinkfreud, I don't think SAD has anything
to do with what you have discovered about yourself.
One of the recommendations for overcoming jetlag (Besides not drinking
alcohol in flight and drinking enough other liquids, something you
might have not practiced in the past, no offense) is to expose oneself
to daylight on arrival, instead of thinking:  "Geez, it's two in the
morning back in LA, I better go to bed," and doing so, thereby
extending your LA clock.
Scientists support your impression that daylight exposure is important
to adjusting oneself to a new time zone (whereby the hormones Pink
mentions are no doubt involved).
Of course, at the end of the new day, your body demands rest.
Tourists often overcome jetlag on the adrenalin shot of visiting a new
place (but succumb on returning home).
IF you are a frequent flier for shorter visits, that experience and
the knowledge that you are only "off phase" for a few days may allow
you to shift time zones for the period of the trip much better than
persons without this experience.
It is also said, that after a trip of less than two weeks, one can
return to the old time zone without experiencing jetlag, on the
principle that it takes that long for the body to really latch on to
the other time zone.

Also, as we get older, we need less sleep, so six hours quasi-sleep on
the plane may go further.

Don't worry about it. Dependency on daylight is healthy. We humans are
not nocturnal creatures  (except some GA addicts).

Incidentally about SAD:  back in the 1930s, before anyone knew about
melatonin and serotonin, in Sweden they had high-intensity lights in
school gyms on the basis of whatever kind of recognition that SAD
existed.

OH, your houses in Arctica and Anarctica:  North-South travel can be
within one time zone; no problem.  Germany to South AFrica is a very
long flight, but with no significant change of time zones.
But if you fly just a little past the South Pole, suddenly you have 12
hours jetlag.  You won't notice, either the sun will still be shining,
or it won't be.

Myoarin