"People of Britain, fight this
sadness as grey days drag the 'festive' season ever nearer. Fight
it in shopping centres, as 'ring-ding-a-ling!' snow-white Xmas
promos avalanche from every display… AND HAVE DONE
SINCE AUGUST 3rd! Endure the rockets and bombs
commemorating Guy Fawkes's 'treason & plot' (for 48 consecutive
nights) ruining any Fawkin' chance of sleep at all. So Britain, be
stout of heart and glass, and during the 54 shopping days till
Christmas, sadness shall NOT prevail!"
Cheers Winston, only our topic is S.A.D., or
Seasonal Affective Disorder, not feeling suicidal cos' the
in-laws are coming for Christmas. That's just sanity telling you to
go down the pub Christmas Eve and not come back until the
27th. Of January.
S.A.D. is a clinically recognised form of depression,
most common from late September to March when daylight is shortest.
Two percent of the population are affected, with women twice as
susceptible as men. However, the percentage's so small, if dearest
nabs your plastic for a 'medicinal' Caribbean jaunt, she's probably
taking the pis…tachios.
Our R&D Department (decorators extraordinaire Bill
and Alf) have undertaken extensive research and discovered amazing
facts. Light is a form of energy (nice one Alf!) that has this
wave/particle duality thing going on. However, we do know the
colour we see is because of how much light an object absorbs or
reflects and at what wavelength.
To find out more about this mood/colour relationship, we went to
the bastion of liberal thought, Mason County, Texas, U.S.A. and its
Sheriff, Clint Low. He decided that the county jail should go
totally pink because of its alleged calming influence. The walls,
furniture, bed linen - everything - was pink! Even the inmates'
underpants.
We asked Sheriff Low where he found inspiration for his pink
policy and he answered Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was considered America's
toughest Sheriff, whose methods included keeping prisoners under
canvas in temperatures up to 54C in Arizona and making them wear
pink boxers. My reaction to such methods would include extreme
panic and instant compliance with the heavily armed sheriff
Arpaio's orders, pink boxer shorts on or off. So to induce calm
this way clearly demonstrates the awesome power of
pink.
There is an alternative for treating S.A.D. called light
therapy. However, there is cost involved buying lamps, special
bulbs powerful enough to be effective and the electricity used,
although the treatment did result in great ball definition. This
was especially so when used above pool tables.
Light therapy's cost, plus the importance of the surface colour
light reflects off means giving your gaff a lick of paint becomes
an attractive option. Done professionally, it'll cheer those with
mid winter blues and S.A.D. alike, plus decorating may add to your
property's value.
Using the right colours is crucial at this stage and at DU.IT
our nearly NASA* trained colour therapy consultants, formerly known
as decorators, can help. Colour's a minefield. Western cultures
consider white symbolic of purity. In China, however, white
indicates one is mourning.
So expert opinion is vital to get the most from redecoration if
an international incident is to be avoided. In general, cool
colours with shorter wavelengths (blue, purple, green) calm people
down, while warmer colours (red, yellow, orange) perk them up
again! So follow our advice and have colourful Xmas and a
prosperous New Year!
*When we say 'nearly NASA trained', we mean Bill and Alf
once nearly completed an Airfix model of the Space Shuttle,
including painting and transfers.