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Jaylee Elsts
It's no secret that there has been great changes within our weather lately. These cold dreary, short days, with an influx of bright warm and sunny days have not been great towards mental health.
As we see, there are over 10 million Americans living with seasonal depression, the impact is great. With these dark, wintery nights, the vitamin D our bodies crave has created a great change in emotional health. With the acronym of SAD, ironically it means seasonal affective disorder. Which in this case, means a severe change in mood and depression as the seasons change. This disorder can affect the very way your mind and body may function. According to Dr. Sandford Auerbach, it changes your ability to wake up, fluctuates hunger cues, creates a difficulty in your concentration abilities, and can go into drastic manics of motivation. Whether it is barely functioning, and sleeping too much in those winter months, to over-working and sleeping less in those summer months. The difference may become drastic. There have also been reports women have proven to be 4 times more susceptible to this depression.
Now there are many ways you can go about getting treatment. There are different medications, light therapy options, and the one you may hear all the time, eat well, drink water, and exercise. In many ways, your body needs dopamine and serotonin. Some easy alternatives, as Ms. Burgener, a math teacher at Central, stated, in her own experience, have been the usage of vitamin D supplements, and a light therapy lamp. As the chemicals that these transmit through your body will work to improve your mood and sleep. Again, if you notice the signs, always take your mental health as a priority. You are not alone.
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