The winter season brings colder weather, holiday traditions and thicker sweaters. For some, the shorter days and grayer skies can take a toll on their emotional wellbeing.
Every year, about 5% of Americans experience seasonal affective disorder, perfectly labeled as SAD, with women being four out of five of those affected. Mimicking many symptoms of clinical depression, SAD differentiates itself by coming from less sunlight in the fall and winter months, causing issues with a person’s circadian rhythm.
Similar to plants, light plays an important role in the circadian rhythm of humans, which is the biological rhythm synchronized with your day and night cycle, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
“We sleep, we wake and when we don’t sleep enough, we can’t think. Our emotions go awry … so an appropriate sleep/wake schedule is just as critical to function [and] survival as eating,” said Steven Siegel, USC professor and chair of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department.
Siegal explained when the “clock genes,” the parts of your brain that control the rhythms, are messed with, there are downstream effects on one’s mental health.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the main symptoms of SAD is feeling sad or depressed all day, nearly every day. Siegel emphasized this sadness is not like the typical sadness associated with negative emotions.
Another symptom is sleeping too much or too little. Changes in our rhythms because of lack of light affect melatonin production levels. The faster it gets dark outside, the more people’s internal clocks can be disrupted, causing their brains to produce too much melatonin or not enough.
Messing with this rhythm can also result in eating disturbances, or overeating or undereating.
Mia Gifford, a 23-year-old woman from Minnesota, has struggled with SAD for the past four years. For Gifford, the standard day-to-day activities can be extremely difficult and draining to do during the darker months.
“I noticed as I’ve gotten older, the winters have affected me a lot more,” Gifford said. “I think the biggest thing is just getting out of bed can be very difficult. I just want to stay in bed and not do anything.”
Gifford said she can’t abandon her responsibilities to stay in bed all day, so she has to force herself out of bed to do the bare minimum of what she needs to do, but nothing more.
“It’s okay to feel this way,” Gifford said. “I have really struggled with beating myself up if I’m more depressed one day than another day and I do a lot less. I would beat myself up for not doing all the things I should have done.”
She recommends anyone who is feeling this way should take care of themselves. Gifford said taking walks almost every day for about 20-30 minutes to get some sunlight and movement has helped her.
“It got me outside, it got me moving and I got fresh air,” Gifford said. “It’s such a simple, easy thing to do for yourself.”
Siegel recommends people seek help from medical professionals right away to get the proper help they need.
“If you were physically weak and couldn’t lift a weight, you would recognize that you need to train,” Siegel said. “If you don’t know how to train, you want to work with someone who knows what they’re doing to help you get stronger.”
Siegel emphasized that mental health should be treated the same as physical health.
“If you’re feeling down, come get help,” Siegel said. “Be your own best advocate.”
The USC Student Health Center has a variety of resources and options to get help. If you or someone you know is struggling with SAD or other mental health issues, call their 24/7 hotline at 213-740-9355 (WELL).