How you can combat the winter blues now that daylight saving time has ended
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The end of daylight saving time, which happened over the weekend, means a lot less daylight, and for some that can cause trouble.
Greg Robinson has mixed feelings about turning the clocks back, marking the end of daylight saving time. He likes that extra hour of sleep.
"When I lose an hour of sunlight I don't like that," Robinson said.
Many people don't like the earlier sunset.
"In the wintertime, it gets darker at 5 or 6 p.m. I'd much rather it get dark at 7 p.m.," Alberto Parajon said.
Doctors say it's not just inconvenient; the time change could affect your mental health.
In a new survey, one in five Americans said they're negatively impacted by it.
"This is a very, very high number of people who actually say that the change in time will give them some depression, some discomfort, some uneasiness," Dr. Petros Levounis, with the American Psychiatric Association, said.
According to the survey, two-thirds of adults said they noticed at least one behavioral change from sleeping more, to feeling fatigued or depressed.
The poll also found women are nearly twice as likely as men to say their mental health has been negatively affected by the fall time change.
And some people may even develop Seasonal Affective Disorder.
"There are also people who are going to have a more severe form of this winter blues," Dr. Levounis said, "Feeling lonely, feeling depressed, stop having interest in the things that gave you pleasure."
He recommends spending more time outdoors even as the daylight hours decrease. Frequent outdoor exercise and taking breaks to experience the daylight are some of the ways you can ward off those winter blues.
The survey also found 28% of people who live in rural areas said the time change affected their mental health.
