The winter blues can be more than just craving the sun gracing its presence at your desk when you’re working, which can make the stress of academic life a bit more bearable. For some, weather marked by cloudiness, little light, and a drop in temperatures affects them to the point of serious debilitation to both their academic and personal lives. This is known as seasonal affective disorder.
In light of a seemingly endless bout of wintery weather, it’s understandable to find yourself in a bit of a funk. However, it’s important to be able to recognize when you’re dealing with something more, and recognizing that SAD is a treatable disorder.
SAD is essentially an exacerbated form of these winter blues. It’s a perpetual feeling of lethargy, problematic sleeping and eating, and a general reduction in focus. However, this form of clinical depression only occurs in the winter months, with the spring and summer months returning them to their normal functioning. The seasonal influence behind SAD is mostly due to the lack of light, according to Dr. Lam of University of British Columbia. This makes intuitive sense. I doubt I’m alone when I say that when the sun breaks through my window even on a pretty glum day, my spirits are instantly lifted. With those affected by SAD, the lack of light on a daily basis can actually disturb the biological clock responsible for keeping hormones in check and regulating sleep and mood. When winter strikes, this disturbance is aggravated, whereas in the spring and summer, with its glorious abundance of light, the biological clock may be closer to its normal functioning.
Understandably, Canadians are more perceptible to this disorder given the shorter day lengths in winter. You wake up to darkness, you have breakfast in darkness, get about eight hours of semi-blissful light shrouded in clouds, and then back to eating dinner in the dark. And for those of us with heating systems that are only barely functioning, wearing a couple layers on top of your hoodie can be the norm. Canadians have it rough in the winter.
As someone who originally hails from Vancouver, I’ve come to accept an impressive amount of consecutively rainy, grey days. In fact, sometimes I even enjoy the rain in a sort-of Norah Jones “I want to wake up with the rain falling on a tin roof,” type way. It can be inherently satisfying to stay inside when the rain or snow is refusing to let up. But as students, we often don’t have the privilege. We need to trek outside to our calculus class or psychology tutorial. Again, Canadians have it rough in the winter.
But some have it rougher than others. My mother has identified with SAD for as long as I can remember. Walking into her office, a light looms over her computer screen designed to simulate the sunlight missing from Vancouver’s winter season. Although glaring at first, your brain settles into the mindset that the weather doesn’t hold as much gloom and doom after all, even if it’s a trick. This is called light therapy, and according to Dr. Lam of University of British Columbia, it can usually promise a 60-70% improvement in those who suffer from SAD.
It’s difficult to differentiate between the blues and depression. There can be an undeserving stigma around depression as it is, resulting in many trying to keep their suffering quiet. Too many people dismiss depression as something that is a passing phase, but it has the potential to only be exacerbated when it’s pushed aside, as though your mental wellbeing is a lesser priority than whatever happens to be soaking up your attention, be it Facebook or homework.
Shamudi Gunasekera
The Silhouette
As I flipped through a copy of the Silhouette on Nov. 28, an editorial written by Scott Hastie, the previous managing editor of the paper, caught my eye. It outlined why he was taking a break from McMaster and the last line read “People will support you, you just have to let them.”
I couldn’t stop thinking about this line. We are caught up in the idea that we should be going through everything by ourselves. We tackle our own problems. Is there something to be said for this idea? After all, the rewards of accomplishing a task, of overcoming an obstacle, are quite satisfying.
Carrying the burden by yourself may seem attractive in that you get to be the one who rises above it. You get to be your own hero, your knight in shining armor, so to speak. You may not want others to see the side of you that’s not so strong, that isn’t so sure of yourself.
But is it really worth it to struggle on your own? Hearing another person’s opinion on the situation could really help. Simply talking to someone about what you are going through can lighten the burden that you may be carrying.
I made more than my fair share of mistakes during my first year and I wanted to correct them this year. This will be my year, I thought to myself as I sat down in my first lecture last semester.
Things did not work out the way I hoped they would. For the most part, I was doing well in school. I signed up for activities that caught my interest. And yet, I felt depressed and lonely.
I tried to keep the negative thoughts at bay by keeping myself busy. I spent my time studying and doing things that, in the past, had made me happy, such as reading and sketching. But I quickly lost interest. The negativity crept into every corner of my mind. I could only stay positive for a few minutes before becoming depressed over the very thing that made me happy.
Seeing a counselor at the Student Wellness Centre greatly helped. She helped me figure out what I should do and how I should reach out to my friends. Little by little, I began opening up to them about what was going on and they were quite supportive.
Things got better. I may not be happy right now, but I am okay. I talk to my friends when I’m feeling down which helps eradicate the negative thoughts. The thoughts don’t invade as often as they used to. I have yet to feel pleasure doing things that I used to love, but I believe that in time, I’ll get there. Knowing that I don’t have to go through this alone is reassuring. You have to let people help you and though it may not seem like much, appreciate the fact that they are doing what they can.
I’ve realized that there are certain things that I can do on my own and certain things that I cannot. And more often than not, I’ve tried to dig myself out on my own, only to find that I’ve dug myself deeper into the hole. The people I care about are here for me. They believed in me when I was starting to lose hope for myself. And, to borrow from the poet Robert Frost, that has made all the difference.
Fall is the perfect season to fall out of love. Plants are slowly dying. Midterms make you feel like you’re slowly dying. You might as well use this time to also write out the epitaph for your heart.
Right around the time when the leaves start changing and the weather begins to shift, some of us may be experiencing another surprising and potentially unwelcome change- getting dumped.
With a cold autumn comes a cold heartbreak. And on that weekend when we should be carving into turkey and giving thanks for all the joys in our lives, you may actually be sobbing alone in your room listening to Simon and Garfunkel and binge-eating McDonalds.
The “turkey dump” is a phenomenon sweeping across the nation. Wiping out long distance relationships all over North America, and working to abolish the term “high school sweetheart” forever. Blatantly defined, the turkey dump is when a university or college student comes home after their month and a half of freedom and decides to put an end to their high school relationship. Come Thanksgiving weekend, many a couple will re-unite and quickly thereafter, break ties.
Now regardless of whether you’re the dumper or the dumpee, the turkey dump will take some effort to get over. You’re saying goodbye to the person you naively believed to be your soul mate on a weekend meant for celebration, that’s gotta hurt. So here are some words of encouragement to help you get through this tough time and find something new to be thankful for this holiday season.
The Dumper
So you’re planning on turkey dumping your significant other? Or should I now say insignificant other? Regardless, good on you. Working up the courage to put an end to something that once seemed promising is a difficult task.
If you find that your relationship has been growing weaker, or your wandering eye may potentially become a problem, ending the bond is a good idea.
But remember, let your partner down easy (read: an e-card is not the way to go). Getting dumped over thanksgiving dinner can’t be easily sugar-coated.
The Dumpee
So, you think you might be getting turkey dumped by your significant other? We’ve all experienced the cut and run at one point in time or another, so there’s no need to feel ashamed or embarrassed.
Dissolve your sadness in gravy and stuffing. Bask in the glory of copious amounts of food. This may be the only time in your life when emotional eating will be socially acceptable.
If you are neither the dumper or the dumpee, be thankful that this holiday season you aren’t the one falling out of love. Enjoy your dinner and send hopeful wishes to those experiencing the wrath coming from the tail end of the turkey.
