Seasonal Depression: Winter Leaves Students With Negative Feelings

“When it gets colder, I always want to wrap up in my warm bed and just stay and shut out the world,” junior Allison Jaggers said.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that happens when the seasons change and the amount of light in a day becomes shorter and shorter, according to kidshealth.org. SAD happens because teenagers have less time to spend out in the decreasing sunlight, and there becomes an imbalance of two chemicals within the brain, Serotonin and Melatonin, that regulate cycles of sleeping and waking up, energy, and moods. When people do not receive enough sunlight, the brain produces too much Melatonin and too little Serotonin.

“In the summer and the spring it’s all warm and nice and I feel really comfortable with everything, but then it just gets colder and it’s like I can’t pay attention because what is outside feels like it’s coming inside,” freshman Britton Elmer said. “Instead of being out there, out of the walls, it’s inside of my head.”

“I tend to stay up later in the winter, and I’m less likely to force myself to study and more likely to procrastinate,” Jaggers said.

“I would be sitting in class, and it’s not like the class was boring or anything, it just is like I couldn’t get a grip of what was happening, kind of like I was outside of my own body. I couldn’t pay attention to anything,” Elmer said.

There are many things that people who feel this way can do to help their mood and feelings. Exercising, especially outdoors, eating healthy food, talking to people about feelings, doing things with friends, making lists of goals, sticking to a routine, and asking for help on assignments and other activities are ways that kidshealth.org and aboutourkids.org suggest.

For people who feel as if they have Seasonal Affective Disorder or have been diagnosed with it, “I would definitely recommend that they seek out some help,” Mary Williams advised, the Student Assistance Program counselor who focuses on personal, mental, and family issues.

“One of the symptoms of any type of depression is that people feel isolated and alone, and especially with this, they want to withdraw and, in a time when they really need some extra support, they find themselves wanting to step back. So it’s difficult, but if they can just take that step to reach out and seek the help, that’ll be helpful in helping them to get better,” Williams said.

“Talk to your parents if you have concerns or whichever guardians you have, and you’re always welcome to come and talk to any of us here, or you can come and see me,” Williams said.

To work on focusing better, “Sometimes it’s better if you just sit and think about what’s happening so you can really understand what you’re doing and what you need to do. It’s easier to get on track that way,” Elmer said.

“It’s important to eat healthy, eat your fruits and your veggies, drink your water, all those things are really good. Maybe stay away from caffeine, if you can, I know it’s tough, I like my Starbucks too,” Williams said.   When trying to stay on task, “Self reward works really well, like saying to myself that I can have a cookie after I finish this outline or whatever,” Jaggers said.

“Just putting away the tech and allowing myself short breaks every hour and a half of work or so works the best for me.”