PEA Grapples With Seasonal Mood Disorder
Students accustomed to warm weather and blue skies find a change of pace during New England’s winter season. Exonians returned from winter break in the midst of a blizzard– one of the worst in Exeter’s history. While the majority of students enjoyed the subsequent snow day by relaxing and spending time with friends, for a select few, this event only signaled the beginning of a season-long suffering.
"The cold and the darkness made me want to stay in my room all the time, so I spent my prep winter ... alone in my room trying to do work. But mostly, I was just really sad."
Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression related to changes in seasons, most often occuring during the winter months. According to Dr. Thurber from the Counseling and Psychological Services in the Lamont Health Center, “Many people feel a dip in their mood when they exercise less and have less exposure to light.” Also known as seasonal depression, some students within the Exeter campus suffer from this disorder.
Upper Elizabeth Yang first discovered she had seasonal affective disorder after coming to Exeter. “Prep winter was probably one of the worst few months of my entire life,” Yang said. “The cold and the darkness made me want to stay in my room all the time, so I spent my prep winter, when I was supposed to be going out and still meeting people and spending time with others, alone in my room trying to do work. But mostly, I was just really sad.” For Yang, seasonal affective disorder impacted not only her mood, but her ability to interact with people.
Lower Lilly Pinciaro frequently noticed symptoms of seasonal affective disorder in a close friend. “I can sort of sense a depression in her—not really a depression, but there’s a certain sadness. She never wants to go out for dinner—she just wants to stay in her room and watch TV,” she said. Pinciaro believes that other students on campus may have a similar problem, with the winter weather giving little reason to go outside. “I think the winter makes everyone want to relax inside with hot chocolate and read a book,” said Pinciaro.
The health center currently has measures in place for students that suffer from this disorder. According to Dr. Thurber, seasonal affective disorder is highly treatable. The main treatment methods are exercise and exposure to full-spectrum lights, which are now far less expensive than before, thanks to LED technology. Dr. Thurber recommends that “anyone who feels a dip in their mood that has persisted for multiple days or has affected their functioning should consider making an appointment with one of the clinicians in Counseling & Psychological Services.”
However, seasonal affective disorder is not as prevalent as one might think. “Only a handful of students meet criteria for Seasonal Affective Disorder each winter,” Thurber said. “But we all benefit from maintaining our exercise routines and getting some exposure to sunlight or full-spectrum indoor lights.” Medical Director Dr. Myra Citrin agreed, saying “We tend to see more kids seeking appointments with our counseling staff during the long, dark, winter months as well. However, as Dr. Thurber states, few meet criteria for seasonal affective disorder.”
While seasonal affective disorder affects only a few members of the Exeter population, many students suffer from a lack of energy or change in mood with the coming of winter term. “I definitely used to get sadder in the winter all the time. It’s really cold outside and I would expect that people are at least a bit sad,” senior Vivi Kraus said. “It’s definitely harder in the winter than other terms.”
Upper Chandler Jean-Jacques agreed with Kraus’s sentiments. “Especially at Exeter, it gets really cold and that may affect people,” she said. “The dark clouds make you sadder than seeing sunlight everyday.”
One of the most commonly cited reasons for this seasonal depression is the cold and dreary weather associated with New Hampshire. Prep Bea West thinks that where students come from could affect their susceptibility to seasonal depression. “The weather would probably affect me more because I’m from Houston, Texas,” she said. On the other hand, prep Morgan Lee from New York said, “Being sad in the winter isn’t just a new phenomenon that occurs here at Exeter so it isn’t a special problem for me.”
In addition to the stark weather conditions, Pinciaro suggests that an increase in coursework could also explain why winter term may be harder for many. “Our classes [during the winter] are often very demanding because the winter season is the off season for a lot of people so they take harder classes,” Pinciaro says.
Going forward, students still have varying opinions on the topic of seasonal affective disorder becoming a problem in the Exeter community. Kraus believes that seasonal affective disorder is not an illness all together, and therefore not a significant problem. “I wouldn’t say that seasonal affective disorder is an actual thing, but I would agree that the weather does affect students at Exeter,” says Kraus.
Yang, from her experience, believed otherwise. “I feel like seasonal affective disorder could become a big problem here at Exeter especially because Exeter’s winters are so harsh,” she said. “Exeter is a big enough school where people are able to recede into themselves and people won’t notice because you can pretty much hide from everyone if you wanted to—and that’s what I did. I couldn’t make strong relationships prep fall so there wasn’t really anyone looking out for me or noticing.”
Yang believes that if the health center were to reach out more and spread awareness of seasonal affective disorder, the experiences that she had to go through could be prevented for other students. “Because seasonal affective disorder is so internal and so hidden, possibly being more informative about it—maybe holding a forum or some kind of means to make people aware before it actually starts happening would be helpful so that students know they have places and people to go see for help,” Yang says.
Until the health center finds an effective method of spreading knowledge about seasonal depression, students are left to resort to their own methods of treatment. This was the case for upper Sophie Faliero, whose mother bought her a “happy light” after reading several articles about its benefits—among those including natural sunlight and vitamin D that is essential during the winter. According to Faliero, “The light actually made me a bit happier. I guess the studies are true. The light itself was white and I know some people really like yellow lights but the white lights worked for me. Especially doing homework with it.” Faliero continues to say that a “happy light” could definitely help students with seasonal affective disorder, and recommends it for those that are more upset in the winter than in other terms.
Finding an effective way that personally works to combat winter blues is the key to staying positive, productive and social during these colder months, and all Exonians are welcomed and encouraged to seek help and guidance from the Lamont Health Center.