A lot of us are familiar with the term “seasonal depression” but the more accurate name is seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.
Kelly Greco: Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of clinical depression. Symptoms may come up with the obvious, when the weather changes.
That was Dr. Kelly Greco, a psychologist and clinical associate professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine.
Greco: The first thing that comes to mind is what is your relationship to weather? In terms of how it impacts you, which is how you think about it, how you feel about it, and then the behaviors that come with it. It goes back to ‘what is your relationship with it?
Mai-Yen Fritz is a senior studying neuroscience. She acknowledges the relationship between sunshine and her mood.
Mai-Yen Fritz: I think it definitely will change their mood. I think especially if they are weather dependent. So they need sunshine in order to feel a certain way. Scientifically speaking, sunshine does boost serotonin. But other than that, personally for me, I don’t mind it because I just get to stay in more.
Sandy Cull is a sophomore studying political science. He shares his thoughts students’ relationships with rainy LA.
Sandy Cull: I feel like rain kind of puts a pause on like a lot of people’s social lives for the days here in LA that brings people down. Social events get canceled and a lot of people can’t do the things that they like to do, especially cause I feel like most LA hobbies are outside related.
In terms of how to deal with seasonal affect disorder, especially for students at USC who might not be too familiar with rain in such a sunny place, Dr. Greco shares her input.
Greco: If we’re hearing that we’re going to get bad weather in the next two days, let’s plan ahead and make some decisions on ‘how do I get to class’ or ‘how do I get to my internship’ or ‘where am I going to study’. So I think if you plan ahead and you don’t let the situation take control, you feel more empowered and it’s not controlling you.
With the upcoming storm, make sure to take Dr. Greco’s advice to plan ahead, and stay safe.