With the end of the semester weeks away, and the weather getting colder as winter approaches there are a lot of negative feelings that many students might be experiencing. Stress, depression, fatigue, hopelessness, and an overall social withdrawal from friends and family. Some days it’s hard to get out of bed, knowing that all that waits is more stress and more work to be done, the tediousness taking its toll on one’s will to do anything else. It’s important more than ever to know that you are not alone with these feelings and that there are people there to help you. 

Lots of doctors agree that a reason for these feelings is the lack of light since the time has changed and now it gets darker much earlier. Seeing how late it looks could make someone feel lazy and feel like they haven’t accomplished anything, or not as much as they could have when in reality it’s barely 5 o’clock. Though, the thing with depression is that reality isn’t always taken into account by those being affected. With the days getting darker earlier it’s also easy to just want to lie down and end up feeling less energetic and drowsy.    

There are lots of ways to help treat and counter-seasonal depression. One way is through light therapy and more exposure to natural light when possible. For light therapy, it’s possible to get a special light box that you’d put at your desk, normally people use them in the morning. Another common method is regular therapy, talking with a therapist can help calm a lot of the negative feelings one may be feeling. The wellness center in our school’s main office is a great place to start. 

One last important thing to note is that it’s called seasonal depression, which is a change in mood and behavior that happens at the same time of year, and it is not mutually exclusive to the fall-winter time. And even if it isn’t seasonal depression, never be afraid to ask for help when it’s there for you year-round.