Seasonal Thinking
February 3, 2023
Author: Rachel Cohn
Editor: Lynn Sabieddine
“Wow, it's going to be so cold! Can you handle it?” That was the first thing said to me when I told my family from Atlanta, Georgia that I was going to school in Michigan. They warned me of endless winters and dark days as I rolled my eyes, not understanding why weather would change my opinion about a school.
That was before I finally went to University of Michigan.
My family wasn’t wrong, it was freezing, but the worst part was probably the lack of sunshine and time spent outside. I knew seasonal depression existed, but I thought it was only for people who “couldn’t handle” the cold. That was not the case, and I soon learned the real biological components that come along with developing seasonal depression, including a change in serotonin levels due to a lack of vitamin D and a disruption to your internal sleep clock due to the change in day lengths. Overall, it was a rough first winter, as it was not only my coldest winter ever experienced, but also my first winter away from home. I thought that traveling back home for the summer would cure everything, as in April, Atlanta was already in the high eighties and sunny. While the sunshine did help my mood, I still felt a little down, and could no longer blame the gloomy weather. I was forced to think beyond the seasons to uncover the true cause of my negative feelings.
It was this moment that altered my perspective about my mood completely. When I was unable to justify my feelings due to the weather, I noticed how many things in my life I let slip by while I was at school solely because of the cold. I blamed winter for everything happening in my life and therefore felt hopeless trying to solve anything. Of course, seasonal depression is a real disorder that has biological components, but it is also a mindset. I began to make excuses that prevented me from living my life simply because of the snow. Yes, snow is incredibly inconvenient, but I turned the snow into a powerful villain that I could never overcome.
When moving into summer did not magically solve all my problems, I learned an important life lesson. People can feel sad all the time, sometimes for no known reason, and bad days can occur no matter the season. So, we must be alert in recognizing and taking advantage of the days when we feel more like ourselves or when we feel the burdens of life weighing down on us less than usual.
Last year, I would let winter prevent me from doing things even if I knew deep down that I was feeling up for the task. My friends and I joked about our seasonal depression and used it as a scapegoat for things such as worse grades, being flakey on plans, and not leaving our beds. This year though, I am taking winter head on and not letting it control my life anymore. Of course, the lack of sunlight and the darker days are going to make me grow more tired and probably a little depressed, but at least this year I can control my mindset. I can force myself to think about what makes me happy, and I will do those things no matter how viciously it is storming outside.
Winter is currently at its worst, and life may seem pretty bleak. But I promise you that if you just spend some time with your mind thinking about how you feel and about what things or people bring you joy, you will be able to manage seasonal depression. Again, I do not want to undermine the real symptoms of seasonal depression, I just want to give you an alternative way of thinking that may help you realize that you can find happiness in life even in winter. We cannot let frozen water that falls from the sky dictate what we do and how we feel and we can find ways to regain control and find hope in a time of year that always seems so hopeless.
Image: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/213639576064517859/
