Culture Blip: Broken spring

Spring: gorgeous weather, flowers blooming, maybe even a softball game or two. <br><br>Bummer.<br><br>For some people, spring is no guarantee of a good mood, says Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, assistant professor

Tuesday, May 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Spring: gorgeous weather, flowers blooming, maybe even a softball game or two.

Bummer.

For some people, spring is no guarantee of a good mood, says Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, assistant professor of psychiatry and "depression expert" at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

"There is good evidence to show that springtime does not let up on the incidence of depression," he says.

This is more true in Texas - where suicide rates do not drop in spring - as opposed to northern areas, where spirits lift after the traditional "winter depression."

That has to do with sun and sleep, Dr. Trivedi says.

"There is potentially a relationship between sunlight and the regular wake-sleep cycle, because now the sun is out on a more regular basis," he says. "Again, this applies more so to areas where the sun goes away in the winter. But even here, there's a much more regular diurnal pattern. The sun comes up regularly and you have a very good day-night cycle that goes on."

Of course, this is for people who have a real depression disorder, rather than the rest of us who withstand the usual ups and downs of life.

"Not everybody is happy every day, but that's not a disease - that's just being human," says Dr. Trivedi.

Luckily, summer is not far away . . . cookouts, vacation, trips to the lake.

What a drag.