By: Lance Lawton
Winter can be a fun and joyous time for a lot of people in our country.
However, some may not agree with the previous statement. Although it is a small percentage, there are plenty of people out there who are diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
SAD is a type of depression that can be found in different populations throughout the country and the world. This disorder is similar to regular depression, but with a twist. SAD affects people once every year, whether that may be late fall/winter or even during the beginning of summer.
Dr. Jon Mandracchia, a Western psychology professor, doesn’t specialize in SAD knowledge, but still provides plenty of information about the disorder.
“People will figure out if they have seasonal affective disorder after they have experienced it for two years,” Mandracchia said. “I think it’s connected to what we call ‘cabin fever’ when we’re shut in for a while – we don’t have as much social life as we should. People need to just get up and get active.”
Mandracchia believes that both depression and seasonal depression share common symptoms.
“A lot of the symptoms are not that different than what you would think of with regular depression,” Mandracchia said. “You have feelings of hopelessness and feeling bad, but what differentiates from depression and SAD is could be becoming lethargic, eating a lot and gaining weight.”
Since Mandracchia is not considered a SAD expert, Director of Counseling Harold “Dave” Brown volunteered to give his perspective on the disorder.
“The higher populations who are diagnosed with seasonal depression tend to be in areas where there is less sunlight during the day,” Brown said. “Some believe this is why when winter rolls around, a ton of people travel south.”
Brown says that there are a couple of ways to help tone down the effects and symptoms if someone is struggling with SAD.
“There are special lighting tools and SAD equipment that you can buy pretty cheap online,” Brown said. “All of this special equipment that’s available for those in need has shown to actually provide some benefits.”
Both Brown and Mandracchia say that the first place they would send people suffering from SAD is to the Counseling Center, located in Eder Hall 203.
“The first thing to do is to recognize that this (SAD) is a problem and it’s real and to go find help immediately,” Brown said. “Once you recognize it, you can start to come up with a plan to begin confronting and correcting the problem.