Is your mood affected by the weather? As the weather of the colder months persists, it is important for students to keep their mental health in check.
Seasonal Depression is a type of disorder that only occurs during certain months of the year.
According to an article from Boston University, SAD, also known as seasonal affective disorder, affects around 10 million Americans (O’Keefe, 2019). To avoid it, it is important to recognize the changing weather and how moods and motivation changes with it.
Lucia Ruiz,a PVHS alumnus and freshman at the University of Michigan, notes on her experience moving from sunny California to the colder Midwest.
“It makes you appreciate the sun,” says Ruiz. She says it is much harder to stay motivated when the weather is acting up. She also talked about how universities in colder climates can bring the sun to their students. “The University of Michigan and many other colleges around provide sun lamps in libraries and union centers,” says Ruiz.
Sun lamps, which can mimic sunlight, are able to provide students with a range of benefits and ease students’ symptoms of seasonal affective disorder or depression.
If you are ever feeling down about the weather, remember that the wind and the rain cannot stop you from working hard.
“Be conscious. If you are aware the weather is affecting you, recognize that it is an external factor,” says Ruiz.
A simple solution is to change our mindsets to get through gloomy days.
Senior Gabriella Dicamillo gives some advice on staying motivated.
“The colder weather reminds me that I am almost at the finish line,” Dicamillo said.
Remember that we are already in the second semester. We are more than halfway through, and we can do it!