Winter blues: a clinical disorder

More studies are showing that those with winter blues aren’t just whining from the cold. It’s actually due to a serious form of depression, called seasonal affective disorder.

According to the American Family Physician Journal, patients who suffer from seasonal affective disorder have depression at certain times of the year. This thought to be most likely in the winter months when there is less sunlight throughout the day.

“The cold contributes to my laziness from the moment I wake up,” sophomore Journalism and Technical Communication major Camille S. said. “Not wanting to leave my warm bed makes me late usually on winter mornings. Between that, layers and layers of sweaters, and getting snow in your boots, winter brings me nothing but stress and unhappiness.”

It’s those dark months of the year the American Family Physician Journal says is the hardest for sufferers. Although the symptoms may be unique to certain months of the year, it is not a unique disorder in itself – rather a form of “major depression” that takes effect in the winter.

Camille believes the light does often affect her mood in the winter.

“At times the snow and cold bring me inside with a cup of hot chocolate, blanket and a movie, but ultimately it creates a dreadful mood in which I feel lazy and depressed,” she said. “Each ray of sun beaming through my bedroom window makes me more exuberant. The more sun, the more joy.”

Another CSU student, junior French major Brian S., also believes he suffers from seasonal affective disorder.

“Seasonal depression sucks because you know it's coming and you can't do a thing to stop it from happening,” Brian said. “It starts coming on around October when all the leaves fall and cold wind starts blowing. When warm months come around, it is almost indescribable how good you feel compared to the middle of December when you're shivering everywhere you go.”

According to Health Wise WebMD, there are steps periodical victims of seasonal additive depression can take to treat themselves, including the use of ultraviolet light boxes for “light therapy,” vitamin D supplements and in some cases, antidepressants.

But Camille said she doesn’t feel like it is severe enough for her to need to seek treatment. Many leave their mild seasonal additive disorder untreated, because they know spring and summer relief is just around the corner.

“The blossoms of flowers along with the cheerful sounds of people outside contributes to the never ending happiness on a summer day,” she said.

Brian agrees.

“I guess a good aspect of it is that you also know that it will eventually turn around once the depressing winter mood turns into warmer days and more sunshine,” he said.

Note: For online purposes, last names were not included at the advisement of Kim Spencer.