Kaylee Gabalis ‘27
With the holiday season finally over, it’s not uncommon to hear people refer to this dreary time of year as “depression season”
But what is seasonal depression? For many, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a condition that usually occurs from the late fall to the early or mid winter months of the year. Especially for many students, SAD is known to start around January and February with the end of the holiday season and the start of stressful midterms. Many students report seeing drastic changes in their moods during this time.
In many ways, the amount of sunlight that you see each day can be highly impactful on your mental health and how much seasonal depression affects you. With less sunlight in these winter months, depression is known to increase as sunlight is clinically linked to the production of serotonin in the brain. The internal clock of the body can be thrown off without sunlight, sending you into a downward spiral in this season. This can be especially true for students who have to deal with an increase in stress due to exams in the winter seasons as the school year gets to the halfway point. However, it is not only students that can experience feelings of seasonal depression, as people in any career can feel an increase in depressive thoughts with the changing of the seasons. Along with the amount of sunlight we experience each day, the decreasing daylight hours that comes with the winter months also occurs directly after the holidays. This is a time where many are coming off of the high of the eventful holiday season, crashing hard into the low sunlight, stressful time of year.
Even with all of these disadvantages, seasonal depression is not something that is incurable. In fact, many studies have found that even taking vitamin D supplements, something that would usually be provided by the sun, can be very helpful in leading to decreased feelings of depression. Even doing activities like light therapy can raise the serotonin levels that have plummeted due to a lack of sunlight. Getting your body moving through physical activities such as swimming or running can also lead to increased feelings of happiness. However, if these simple treatments do not help in aiding or curing these feelings of depression, talking to a health professional about antidepressants can help you to get back on your feet, out of your slump and feeling better than ever.
Even if we are entering a time of seasonal depression it does not mean that there are no solutions. If you feel the effects of seasonal depression catching up to you, try these simple tricks or talk with your health care provider to try and improve your mood this winter.
