As the winter season is at its peak, it has come to my realization that seasonal depression really is a thing. I spent a whole day lying in my bed a few weeks ago because I emotionally could not get myself out of bed. According to ClevelandClinic.org, “Approximately half a million people in the United States suffer from winter SAD, while 10 to 20 [percent] may suffer from a more mild form of winter blues. Three-quarters of the sufferers are women, and the depression usually starts in early adulthood. SAD also can occur in children and adolescents. Older adults are less likely to experience SAD.”
For those who don’t know, seasonal depression is a type of depression that is related to the changing of seasons. There are many different causes to having seasonal affective disorder such as a change in serotonin or melatonin level and even your biological clock. According to MayoClinic.org, “seasonal affective disorder symptoms appear during late fall or early winter and go away during the sunnier days of spring and summer. Less commonly, people with the opposite pattern have symptoms that begin in spring or summer. In either case, symptoms may start out mild and become more severe as the season progresses.”
As I observe my peers, I start to notice how some of them become completely different people in the winter and fall. Some are more sad, while others are happier. For example, my younger sister loves the winter, and being in the winter season makes her genuinely happier, while the winter season makes me genuinely sad. Obviously, not every person is the same, and my sister may have her days of being sad in the winter while I have my days of being happier, but overall, we are definitely opposites when it comes to what seasons we feel the best in.
Over time, I have learned that each person has their own ways of figuring out how to handle their seasonal affective disorder. There are some that go and participate in activites. Some draw; others start journals. Each person is a individual, so not everyone can handle things the same ways. But, for me, I can say that giving myself activities to do, whether they’re outside of my house or in my house, have all helped me greatly. I go around my house and clean. Sometimes I start drawing or painting. Other times I decide to leave my house. If it’s not snowing, I will go outside because I want to realize that the winter seasons shouldn’t make me as sad, especially if it is sunny outside. If I don’t go for walks, I’ll just go for drives around the community to see the beauty of areas that are near to my house. I definitely recommend finding an activity to do so that you can keep yourself busy.