With Daylight Saving Time pushing clocks back an hour and making every day shorter, Bulldogs are prepared to re-enter their psychological battles with different forms of a seasonal depression.
Seasonal depression is commonly mistaken for a general seasonal sadness. Seasonal depression, otherwise known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is an illness that affects millions of Americans each year once the cold weather and darker days roll in.
“Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression, or it’s a type of bipolar disorder that has been researched,” Stone Bridge’s school psychologist, Theresa Lichtman, said. “There’s clear diagnostic criteria for it because it is a true mental health condition.”
Nonetheless, whether someone struggles with SAD or a simple case of the winter blues, the seasons changing truly does have an affect on students’ mental health.
“What makes [people feel sadder in the winter] is tied to the fact that we have less exposure to natural light,” Dr. Lichtman said. “Then there is this sort of series of events that biologically impact us to cause that seasonal pattern.”
The shorter daytime hours in the winter correlate with these depressive and isolationist feelings. Our biological processes expose the effect that a lack of sunlight can have on our mental health.
“Your environment affects your mood, and as our environment shifts to become darker and colder, it affects your circadian rhythm,” AP Psychology student Medha Nalumachu said. “Your circadian rhythm is your sleep cycle, which is all based on light exposure. A lower amount of light exposure will impact your circadian rhythm, which can upset your mood.”
Circadian rhythms can also be disrupted by sleeping patterns, which may change in the winter because of a stressful school schedule, the holidays, or any other situational stressors. To better regulate circadian rhythms, it is necessary to have a structured sleeping schedule.
“Maintaining a regular sleep schedule is very important,” Dr. Lichtman said. “It is recommended to not sleep beyond two hours of your normal time that you would wake up. If you oversleep, then sometimes it gets hard to get the sleep pattern going for the next week because you slept so much, you’re not ready to go to sleep at a regular time.”
Maintaining a regular sleep schedule is not an easy task for busy teenagers navigating their way through high school. Fortunately, there are many other ways to boost happiness hormones in the winter time.
“More sun and light exposure increases serotonin levels in your brain, which are the hormones that make you happier,” Nalumachu said. “I take vitamin D supplements because those are the nutrients you get from the sun, and in the winter we are lacking those vitamins because there is less sunlight.”
Even though taking vitamin D supplements has been shown to benefit some people experiencing SAD, the supplement is not a direct solution for all. There can be natural solutions to make people feel happier. The cold weather understandably causes people to isolate themselves in the wintertime, as there are less events and reasons for someone to go outside.
“An easy way to [improve mood levels in winter] is by being more intentional,” Dr. Lichtman said. “If you recognize that you are pulling away, try to make yourself go out, even though you don’t 100% feel like it. Part of addressing any kind of depression or down mood is by putting yourself in opportunities that are gonna naturally lift you out. If you notice somebody’s pulling away more, be a good friend and kind of try to make the extra effort to pull them out.”
For more serious cases of SAD, people have begun to use light therapy or cognitive therapy as a treatment. Light therapy exposes the body to bright light, simulating the sun’s light, to influence brain chemicals. Cognitive therapy attempts to change negative behavior or unhelpful thoughts to improve emotions and behaviors.
“Anywhere from 20 minutes a day to 45 minutes a day in front of that additional light balances out the chemicals in your brain that are associated with mood and maintaining your circadian rhythms,” Dr. Lichtman said. “When you’re trying to manage a seasonal affective disorder, you might find you have a lot of unhelpful thoughts about your mood and engaging in life, so cognitive therapy can help to change your thoughts to become more helpful.”
There are many outlets and resources to use for people who are beginning to feel unhappy or struggle with SAD in the wintertime. If you are struggling with any of these symptoms, or showing signs of depression, please reach out to [email protected].
