麻豆传媒

WHEN health psychologist moved from the US to the Norwegian town of Troms酶, more than 300 kilometres north of the Arctic circle, her research became personal. Inspired by recent findings on the ways in which people鈥檚 attitudes influence their mental and physical health, she wondered whether this might be the secret to coping with the long, dark Nordic winter. Her research revealed that many Norwegians have a winter mindset that allows them to thrive in conditions she was dreading. Now back in the US at Stanford University, Leibowitz believes her findings hold lessons for us all, especially for people living in the northern hemisphere who, as the nights draw in, face the dual challenges of winter and a stressful pandemic.

David Robson: What are 鈥渕indsets鈥� and why are they so important?

Kari Leibowitz: I think of mindsets as a framework that helps us simplify information and make sense of the world. And we鈥檙e really just at the beginning of unpacking the ways that they can shape our health and well-being.

A lot of my research now is looking at how we can use mindsets in clinical practice. In one of the last studies that I did, we tested the effects of changing people鈥檚 mindsets 鈥� even without treatment. We brought our participants to the lab and we pricked them with histamine, triggering a minor allergic reaction that looks a bit like a mosquito bite. For some people, a doctor just examined their arm; for the others, the doctor examined their arm and said: 鈥淥K, from now on, the itch and irritation will feel better and your rash is going to start to go away.鈥� . It is a really tangible example of the ways that using mindsets can help patients feel better.

How can the mindset we have help us cope with stress?

I am all for things like getting enough sleep, meditating, exercising and taking walks with friends. But so much of the stress management framework tells people that they have to reduce their stress, and that if they can鈥檛 then it鈥檚 going to lead to higher blood pressure and heart disease and cancer. Unfortunately, most of the stresses that we experience aren鈥檛 things that we can actually reduce. You need to find ways to channel the energy.

Research on stress mindsets shows that for our health and performance and mental well-being, it actually creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. One of my favourite studies 鈥� in the US 鈥� found that those who experienced a lot of stress but didn鈥檛 think that it was bad for them had better outcomes than people who experienced less stress but perceived it as damaging. Having a little bit of stress can keep you engaged with life.

You examined the mindsets of people living in Norway during the cold, dark winter. What did you find?

In many countries, seasonal affective disorder, or wintertime depression, is relatively common. But in Norway, rates of seasonal affective disorder are quite low, even though people experience some of the coldest, darkest winters on Earth. They thrive despite the extreme seasonal changes. And their ability to thrive in winter seems to be connected to their winter mindset.

Based on our upbringing or past experiences, we might have certain mindsets like 鈥渨inter is dreadful鈥�. But you can also view it as a cosy time, with lots of opportunity for recreation, and with lots of fascinating changes happening in nature. Many people in Norway have this , and the more positively they viewed winter, the higher their life satisfaction and the better their mood. Interestingly, the further north people live, the more positive their winter mindset.

How did you change your own attitudes and behaviour while living in a place where the sun doesn鈥檛 rise for two months every winter?

We tend to associate the polar night with darkness, but it also can be viewed as a soft, peaceful light rather than just a dark and depressing thing. And so I would go out and take walks, either with my headlamp or just with street lights. I also tried to do things inside; we hosted a lot of potlucks with friends and we had lots of holiday gatherings. It was much easier to love the winter in Troms酶, because the people around me loved winter.

Do you think that anyone can change their attitudes in this way?

One hundred per cent! Most people just don鈥檛 realise that these beliefs are subjective. If you are someone who hates winter, you just think: 鈥淭his is who I am, this is how I鈥檝e always been, and there鈥檚 nothing I can do about it.鈥� But mindsets can be shaped in adaptive ways, and once you introduce the idea that mindsets exist and that you can control them, that understanding can be tremendously powerful.

鈥淯nderstanding that mindsets exist and you can control them is tremendously powerful鈥�

Can an understanding of mindset help us deal with the stresses arising from covid-19?

Let me first say that mindset is not a cure-all. There鈥檚 a fricking global pandemic! People are out of work, and they can鈥檛 visit family or take care of ageing relatives. That being said, we can make it harder for ourselves by really dwelling on all of the ways that it feels like the world is falling apart. Or we can see it as a time to lean in to some of the things that maybe we haven鈥檛 had space or time for previously.

Has the experience of living in Troms酶 helped you cope during the pandemic?

I think living in Norway was one of those positive stress experiences. It wasn鈥檛 just living through the polar night that was stressful, it was moving to a new country where I didn鈥檛 know anyone, where I didn鈥檛 speak the language, and living in this environment that was so different for me. On hard days, I think to myself that if I could do that, I can do anything. And my time in Norway really taught me how to be by myself and to enjoy spending time home alone 鈥� lessons that made me well suited for being a homebody during the lockdown.