By: Anna Reinald, Associate Editor, The Montgomery News
When I was about 14, I more or less stopped going to school in January. I would often walk home before the end of the day, if I got myself to school in the first place. I withdrew socially, spending most of my time alone in my room. I just couldn’t see the use in school work anymore.
Instead of punishing me for my sudden disregard, my mom put me in therapy, where, after some exploration, I was diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Also called “seasonal depression,” SAD is exactly what it sounds like: depression that comes on (and dissipates) suddenly around the same time every year.
Usually caused by the decrease in sunlight hours, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a chemical response in the brain that produces feelings of numbness, sadness, hopelessness, disinterest, mood swings, and in extreme cases, suicidal ideations.
While many people experience “the winter blues”, SAD is more severe. My executive functions (what makes you fold your laundry or walk the dog or eat dinner) basically turn off. I become forgetful, angry, overwhelmed. I push away loved ones who only want to help me, and often scare them with my nihilistic attitude. But after more than a decade of winters, I’ve developed some coping mechanisms:
Getting Outdoors. There is limited daylight this time of year, and I need as much of it as I can get and capitalize on the mood-stabilizing Vitamin D that comes from the sun.
Exercise releases endorphins in the brain, which cause feelings of elation. By exercising outdoors, I get my nature fix and my endorphins all at once, like a super shot of goodness. Getting up to actually do the exercise is excruciatingly hard on some days, but my dog won’t stand for any rest days.
You’ve probably seen super bright lamps that you’re supposed to sit in front of during the winter to increase your mood. What works really well for me is a wake-up light. It’s essentially an alarm clock which emits a warm light. By the time your actual alarm approaches, it has reached full brightness. It makes it almost pleasant to wake up before sunrise to a room filled with a warm, cozy glow.
Lean In. By organizing get-togethers, finding out what’s happening around town, and throwing myself into the thick of things, I find that I almost don’t have time to be depressed when I’m busy with healthy distractions. By focusing on and making the most of what’s special about this time of year, I can trick myself into loving the season.
One of my favorite things about SAD is that it is so reliably temporary.
On my worst days, I can say to myself, “This isn’t forever,” since I have proven myself right so many times before.
I know that light is just around the corner.