1247: Why Do Longer Days Make Me Anxious: Listener Q And A

Gina Ryan (0:00): Thanks, Shopify, for sponsoring today's show. You know, starting something new can feel exciting and also a little lonely. I remember wondering if I was doing anything right when I started the podcast. There were so many pieces to figure out. I didn't have Shopify back then, but I wish I had.

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Unknown (1:18): Welcome to the anxiety coaches podcast, a relaxing and informative show where we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD, sharing how you can overcome them for life.

Gina Ryan (1:34): Aloha. Welcome back to the Anxiety Coaches Podcast. I'm your host and coach, Gina Ryan, and I am so happy to be with you again today as together we can consider the many ways to bring your mind and body back to its natural peace and calm. In today's episode, I want to share a email that I received from a listener named Bill. And Bill lives in the Northeastern United States, and he shared something that I think many people quietly experience but rarely talk about openly.

Gina Ryan (2:15): Bill says, hello, Gina and team. The recent podcast installment covering the impact of light on the nervous system was very interesting. When I initially saw the title of the episode, I thought perhaps it was about a subject or condition I am interested in, and I wonder if it might be worthy of a mention on an upcoming podcast. He goes on to say, Each spring, although I appreciate the moderating temperatures because I live in the Northeast US, I am also aware of the upcoming significant swing of the number of daylight hours, and believe it or not, the anxiety that it brings. In my area of The US, we go from about nine hours of daylight per day at peak of winter to about sixteen hours of daylight during the peak of summer.

Gina Ryan (3:18): Again, strange as this sounds, when it gets dark earlier in the day, I feel that it is easier to kick back, relax. But when there are many more daylight hours in the day, I feel pressure to be more productive, to do more things, and feel more generalized FOMO. That's fear of missing out. It also is harder to sleep in as much as you have a limited time window to bed down while it is actually dark and cooler and most conducive to rest. If you are trying to get seven to nine hours of sleep, it can be tough.

Gina Ryan (4:04): Any thoughtful insights, advice is appreciated. Alright, Bill. Thank you so much for that email. And I wanna say, I so get this. Bill wrote that although he appreciates the warmer temperatures and the signs of spring, he also notices anxiety as the daylight hours begin stretching longer and longer.

Gina Ryan (4:31): This year, I am also in the Northeast, and I wanna say this time change because we didn't change our clocks in Hawaii, and the light constantly getting longer and longer is actually something to deal with. I get you, Bill. I totally get you. He described the feeling of pressure to be more productive. And I have to say, right now, we are in spring when this is being recorded, and it is still light.

Gina Ryan (5:10): I mean, it's light 07:30 still, 08:00, so I cannot imagine what summer will be like. But he described feeling pressure to be more productive. Right? To do more, to make the most of the day. I get that.

Gina Ryan (5:25): I feel like I need to keep working. Like, I there's no reasonable cutoff. It just keeps getting lighter and lighter every day. And he also described even a kind of generalized fear of missing out during the brighter months. He also mentioned that when darkness comes earlier in winter, he feels more relaxed and more able to settle in and unwind.

Gina Ryan (5:52): And honestly, I think many nervous systems completely understand this, and you may not have even pinpointed why your nervous system is feeling something. We hear a lot about winter blues, right, and seasonal affective disorder during the darker months, but far fewer people talk about the fact that spring and summer can also bring anxiety, restlessness, overstimulation, and emotional pressure. So today I want to explore why that happens, what may be going on in the nervous system, and how we can support ourselves gently during seasons that feel emotionally activating instead of calming. And if you relate to this, I really want you to know that you are not strange, and you are definitely not alone. So our nervous systems are deeply connected to light.

Gina Ryan (6:57): For thousands of years, humans lived very closely with the rhythms of sunrise and sunset. Light signals wakefulness. Right? Activity, alertness, and darkness signals slowing down, restoration, and rest. So when the amount of daylight changes dramatically, especially in the northern climates, the body and nervous system they notice.

Gina Ryan (7:32): Some people feel energized and uplifted by longer days. But for others, especially people with anxious or sensitive nervous systems, all of that extra stimulation can feel surprisingly dysregulating. Longer daylight hours can really affect your sleep timing. Before we begin, let's hear from the sponsors that support the show. Thanks, Shopify, for sponsoring today's episode.

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Gina Ryan (12:29): Summer's right around the corner, and there can be a little bit more breathing room that we can see at the end of the tunnel. And that can make it a beautiful season to begin learning a new language, whether you're going to travel or you're just getting ready to think about where you're gonna go. I've been using Babbel for Spanish, and what I love is that it works with how you learn, whether that's listening, speaking, reading, writing. You can explore lessons built around real life topics, practice speaking out loud, even create customized review lists inside the app. And because Babbel uses real time feedback and science backed methods, it helps you make progress that actually sticks.

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Gina Ryan (13:35): Right now, get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription at babbel.com forward /acp. Those longer daylight hours can also affect your melatonin release, your energy levels, your nervous system arousal, emotional regulation, and even your sense of pressure and expectation. And sometimes the nervous system interprets all of that as activation as, like, it's saying to you, stay alert. Keep going. There's more to do.

Gina Ryan (14:21): What's the old saying? Make hay while the sun shines. Even if we don't consciously realize it, we are not always aware of the changes that our nervous system is feeling, and we may even be interpreting it as something else. It might be just the light. I thought Bill's insight about darkness feeling calming was especially beautiful and important because darkness naturally gives many of us a sense of closure.

Gina Ryan (14:57): Right? We've talked about closure in other episodes when day is done. Right? People playing taps at sunset. The world quiets down.

Gina Ryan (15:09): There's less expectation, less comparison, less pressure to be productive. It's almost like you're given permission to shut down. Darkness can feel containing, whereas long bright evenings can psychologically feel like there's still time to get things done. You should be doing something productive. Everyone else is outside living life, and don't waste the day.

Gina Ryan (15:45): And that can become exhausting for an already anxious mind. You know, sometimes it's not actually the sunlight itself that feels stressful. It's what our thoughts attach to it. And I think modern culture amplifies this tremendously. Summer gets marketed as the season to enjoy life.

Gina Ryan (16:13): Travel. Socialize. Improve yourself. Get outside. Be active, and maximize every moment.

Gina Ryan (16:24): Now you may be saying, but, Gina, you were in Hawaii. And, like, right now, I'm not in Hawaii, but I was there for twenty one years. And I wanna say what people don't realize about living in Hawaii or closer to the Equator, therefore, there is actually less fluctuation through the seasons, not only in our temperature and weather, but in the light. Now, yes, we had many, many, many days, most days of the year with sunshine. Yes.

Gina Ryan (17:01): But our days did not get, as Bill is talking about here, from nine to sixteen hours, the daylight changing in Hawaii and other places that are a lot closer to the Equator are not experiencing that. So I am experiencing this this year because I am experiencing it here in the Northeast and not in Hawaii right now. And that is feeling like, oh, I can really see what Bill is talking about because for me, this is a huge difference. There can be this subtle emotional messaging. I'm hearing that that if you're not consistently outside doing things that you're somehow missing life.

Gina Ryan (17:50): I see it here. As soon as the days got longer, everybody is I mean, there's mowing. There there things are going on that none of that happened in the winter. It got dark early. People got cozied up.

Gina Ryan (18:03): And, boy, it was like the day was done. And so if you are an anxious person, you can see how this could actually start to be pressure on you and feeling things like, I'm behind. Oh my gosh. I'm wasting time. I should be happier.

Gina Ryan (18:22): How about that one? There's sunlight. I should be happier. I should be doing more. That should energy is very activating to the nervous system, and it's important for you to notice that this pressure is often internalized unconsciously.

Gina Ryan (18:44): You may not even realize that you're carrying it. Another piece of this is the overstimulation. Summer tends to bring brighter light. Right? Hotter temperatures, louder environments, more social activity, more unpredictability, and more scheduled disruptions.

Gina Ryan (19:09): Can you feel how that might be stressful for a lot of people? For anxious people? For people with highly sensitive nervous systems? Yeah. For the highly sensitive people or the anxious nervous system, all of that can quietly increase baseline stress levels.

Gina Ryan (19:32): Some people genuinely regulate better with softer lighting, cooler temperatures, cozy environments, quieter evenings, and calmer sensory input, and there is nothing wrong with that. Some nervous systems simply feel safer in gentle environments. And many people secretly feel relief when the autumn arrives because the nervous system finally gets cues that it can settle down again. Sleep is also a huge part of this conversation with Bill. When the daylight stretches late into the evening, many people begin to struggle with falling asleep, cooling down physically, and you know we need that cooler temperature to fall asleep.

Gina Ryan (20:31): Winding down mentally. So you're hopping in bed, you're still all wound up. You haven't even maybe made a transition. Maintaining consistent sleep rhythms can be difficult when the daylight stretches late into the evening. And we know that an overtired nervous system becomes more reactive.

Gina Ryan (20:56): When we're sleep deprived, anxiety feels louder. The thoughts feel more urgent, and our emotions feel less manageable, and our stress tolerance drops. Sometimes, what we interpret as summer's anxiety is actually a nervous system that's struggling to fully settle into restorative rest. And if you live in an area where daylight lasts until 9PM or later, your body may simply need extra support transitioning into the nighttime mode. So what is it that we can do about this?

Gina Ryan (21:40): I think the first and most healing step is simply removing shame. You do not have to love every season equally. You do not have to match the energy of the season or the people around you, and you do not need to force yourself into high energy just because the weather changed. Your nervous system is allowed to have its own preferences. We all come into this world with our own preferences.

Gina Ryan (22:19): That alone can be deeply freeing. One helpful practice is creating what I think of as an intentional evening. Even if the sun is still shining outside, you can begin signaling safety and closure to your nervous system. You might dim the lights indoors. I like having lamps, not overhead lights.

Gina Ryan (22:46): Have your lights be lower, low lights. Close the curtains earlier. I've been closing the blinds before the sun sets. I'm kinda shocked how light it is so late, but I'll adjust to it. It's it's gonna happen.

Gina Ryan (23:01): It's getting lighter and lighter every day. But I can make my inside and, Bill, you can do this too. You can make your inner world the way that it needs to be to nourish your nervous system. You can, like I said, dim the indoor lights. You can close the curtains or blinds earlier.

Gina Ryan (23:25): You can light a candle. You can play some calming music. Lower stimulation. Right? Reduce the screens.

Gina Ryan (23:33): Make sure that you change those so that they are on the evening mode and not that bright blue. You could drink tea, a nice warm decaf kind of hot drink, even though it's maybe not so cold outside, that can just be what is triggering to your nervous system that we're closing up for the night. We're having that evening drink. And you can move more slowly. In other words, you can create your own internal sunset.

Gina Ryan (24:09): I think this is a great idea because we are not powerless against external stimulation. We can actively help the nervous system transition into rest mode. Blackout curtains can also make a tremendous difference. So can keeping the bedroom cool and trying to maintain relatively consistent sleep and wake times, even when the seasons shift. You don't have to be outside the whole time.

Gina Ryan (24:46): Our nervous systems love predictability. Even small routines create signals of safety. Another important piece is gently questioning the pressure to maximize summer. You are allowed to enjoy quiet evenings at home. You are allowed to rest.

Gina Ryan (25:09): You are allowed to say no to invitations. You are allowed to move at a slower pace than the culture around you. Rest is not wasted time, and calm is not laziness. Sometimes the healthiest thing an anxious nervous system can do is resist the constant push toward more stimulation. I also think it helps to notice comparison habits at this time of year.

Gina Ryan (25:45): Social media especially can create the illusion that everyone else is constantly socializing. They're traveling. They're enjoying the perfect weather. They're living fully. They're making memories every second.

Gina Ryan (26:04): But real life is much quieter than that. Many people are overwhelmed. Many people are tired. Many people are craving slower days and earlier evenings too. You're just usually not seeing those moments online.

Gina Ryan (26:27): And finally, I think there's something very healing about honoring your own natural rhythms no matter where you are. Some people genuinely feel emotionally best in autumn. Some feel their emotional best in rainy weather, darker evenings, cooler temperatures, and quieter seasons. That is not negativity, and it's not failure. That is simply temperament and nervous system wiring.

Gina Ryan (27:00): The goal is not to become someone else. The goal is to understand yourself more compassionately. So if longer days leave you feeling restless, pressured, overstimulated, or emotionally unsettled, please know that your experience makes sense. Your nervous system may simply process light, stimulation, expectation, and seasonal change differently. And instead of fighting that reality, perhaps healing begins with honoring it.

Gina Ryan (27:41): You are allowed to create softness inside a bright and busy season, and you are allowed to choose peace over pressure. I hope you've enjoyed today's show, and I hope if you want to know more about Anxiety Coaches Podcast and what we do besides the podcast, you can check us out at anxietycoachespodcast.com. And now for today's quote. Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. And that's from Elizabeth Kubler Ross.

Unknown Speaker (28:32): I'll be back in a few more days with another podcast. Until then, be well and aloha.

Unknown (28:41): Thanks so much for joining us for today's episode of the anxiety coaches podcast. Find more information at the anxietycoachespodcast.com.