Don’t think I can’t see you frowning. Hoods up, heads down, you mourn the sun’s disappearance and subsequent cold, dreary weather like a fourth ‘W’ on your transcript. Your lips are chapped. Your skin is dry. The outside world becomes a brooding enemy as you accept that damp sidewalks and gray skies are here to stay. Winter depression is sinking in.
I try to smile at you. Yet as you pass by, bundled and hurried, you seem so melancholy that smiling at you feels about as appropriate as Taylor’s on a Friday night. You look depressed and discouraged. Routines have become a strain for you, and skipping classes grows easier as the weather permits. When you do attend class, you race to and from campus in order to return to the warmth and isolation of your own home because the outside world looks bleak and uninviting.
Maybe you resent your proximity to the North Pole, and wish you had gone to college in a more tropical setting. Perhaps having the comforts of beautiful scenery, clean air and neighboring mountain ranges fails to make up for the sun’s gloomy absence.
This depression is entirely understandable. Exposure to sunlight produces serotonin. Serotonin makes you energized and happy. Exposure to darkness produces melatonin. Melatonin makes you sleepy, hungry and irritable. Also, you might be genetically predisposed to depression. It is likely that as days grow shorter, your circadian rhythms (the body’s natural clock) are thrown off-kilter. Whatever the possible reasons, winter term, and its lack of sunshiny happiness, inevitably brings about a cyclical shift in behavior. Just as the days grow darker, so does the general demeanor around campus. We remain indoors, sapped of emotional and physical energy, left to our own mental dialogue. Feelings change. Relationships end. We are more disconnected, anxious. Our bodies succumb to sickness. Our thoughts snowball into negativity.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, students in their early 20s, especially women, are prone to wintertime blues. Maybe it is the fact that transitioning into adulthood is emotionally trying. Perhaps as college students, with frequent stressors, irregular sleeping patterns and the propensity to treat our bodies less than favorably, we are much more susceptible to feeling down. Maybe it is our campus that is especially reticent during winter term because, no matter how bad the weather gets, there are no snow days. Regardless, the change in overall mood is apparent.
So whether you’ve been struck by a little weight gain or the sudden urge to cry yourself into a bitter slumber, it is important to remember that you are not alone. Just look around you; notice the solemn faces and the scarcity of laughter. Everyone around you, on some level, feels the emotional effects of winter.
Do not sink passively into your metaphorical hole of lethargy and gloom. Be active throughout the winter season. Hit the slopes, hike the butte, or travel to the hot springs. Explore new opportunities to get involved. Learn a musical instrument, or meditate. Whatever you choose to do, make a conscious effort to find your own sunshine. Be proactive in the improvement and maintenance of your own well-being, no matter how unrelenting outside conditions may be.
Most importantly, talk to someone. Reach out to those around you. It’s a simple as making eye contact and acknowledging someone else. Make a new friend. Generally, people are open to meeting someone new, although not many have the drive to initiate contact. Embrace the fact that while you do live in nasty weather, you also live among others who are experiencing the very same conditions. The point is, that while you are not alone in your depression, it is only you that can actually do something about it.