Diagnosis: waiting for winter

Psychologists have discovered a new syndrome among Russians

The unseasonable warmth of January 2007 never ceases to be food for thought not only for Russian meteorologists, but also for psychologists. It turns out that despite the fact that many people seem to have nothing against the lack of cold weather, the weather anomaly by its very existence affects their mental state. Many residents of the central part of the country have been diagnosed with an unusual disease called “winter anticipation syndrome.” Ethologist Andrei Neuronov, a specialist in animal behavior, believes that people now suffer from restlessness and anxiety in the same way as animals knocked out of biological rhythm . “Winter anticipation syndrome manifests itself not only in animals, but also in humans. Now a person has increased nervousness,” he said yesterday at a press conference at RIA Novosti. “A lot of people are waiting for snow and frost, but this doesn’t happen, and it has a very strong impact on the psyche.”

According to the scientist, the long wait for winter has a particularly strong impact on people with mental disabilities, as well as on residents of megacities, for whom, even without natural disasters, constant stress has long become the norm of life. As for the animals themselves, the winter anticipation syndrome manifests itself in them in the fact that, for example, guard dogs that are subject to psychological influence may begin to get nervous and become more aggressive, and urban rodents and stray dogs may breed abnormally. After all, usually in winter animals tend not to reproduce, but now, as Mr. Neuronov believes, “we don’t see this.” “During winter, a very large number of animals die, their number of offspring decreases. And now in Moscow the dog population has been increasing for a month and a half. There is nothing wrong with food for animals, so the epidemiological situation is not very good now. The rodents are now left in the field,” he said.

In order to increase the demographic situation, people need, as is known, not the expectation of winter, but money, so in an abnormally warm winter they do not experience uncontrolled reproduction. Winter anticipation syndrome manifests itself in other symptoms. Basically, this is a bad mood and a deficiency of vitamin D. Leading researcher at the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology of Roshydromet of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Minin, believes that “in addition to global warming , there is now a process of global darkening.” “Not many people know about it, but it exists,” he said. “Every year the level of solar radiation reaching the Earth decreases, and when people don’t get sun, they don’t produce vitamin D.”

At the same time, global darkening, according to him, reduces the greenhouse process and contributes to general cooling. “Now scientists are observing which of the global processes - general warming or cooling - will prevail,” he said. The warming trend, according to Mr. Minin, means that “humanity has received a black mark from nature for invading global processes” and “we will be rejected by this system.”

Meanwhile, a slight cooling is expected only in a week, and even then not with a hundred percent probability. And the previously unknown syndrome threatens to turn into the syndrome of waiting for spring, which is much more familiar to Russians. It is possible that the course of this disease will be much easier. After all, spring comes earlier and earlier every year. Over the past 30 years, due to climate changes in Russia, roses have begun to bloom eight days earlier, Mr. Minin said. He cited observational data from his institute’s staff, according to which, during the same 30 years, mountain ash began to bloom in Russia four days earlier, and linden a week earlier.

Irina BELASHEVA