Beating the Winter Blues
The busy lifestyle of a New Yorker may make it difficult to overcome seasonal depression
It was the winter of Susan’s first year in college and something just didn’t feel right. She was sleeping all the time, missing classes, and ignoring her friends. What was going on? What happened to all of the excitement she felt from meeting her Carman suitemates at the beginning of the semester? Susan, CC ’09, whose name has been changed by request, was concerned.
“I remember ... coming in August so pumped and willing to take on Columbia,” she says. “But by the time November, hit I remember it hurting my back to get out of bed, so all I wanted to do was sleep. I missed class, I missed outings with my friends, I missed New York City, and that made me even more depressed.”
Susan was diagnosed in February of her first year with Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression that corresponds to seasonal conditions. People who suffer from SAD are typically affected during the fall and winter months, but feel ‘normal’ in the spring and summer. In very rare cases, a condition known as “Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder” can affect people exactly the opposite way by being depressed during the spring and summer.
New York City’s cold, gray weather can be conducive to feeling especially sluggish in the winter months—over the past 20 years, however, what used to be simply the ‘winter blues’ has developed into a large area of study for specialists in mood disorders.
The most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not list SAD as a disorder in and of itself, but rather it’s described as a “seasonal pattern specifier” for pre-existing depression and bipolar disorders.
Those suffering from the disorder will, according to the manual, experience regularly occurring episodes of depression during fall and winter, but full remission of any symptoms during the spring and summer. During the depressive episodes, sufferers reported increased desire for sleep, increased appetite (particularly for starches and carbohydrates), weight gain, and irritability.
It’s unclear as to what exactly causes SAD, but a variety of studies have indicated that the disorder is connected with light exposure. It’s thought that melatonin, a hormone connected with human sleep patterns, is produced at increased levels with decreased light exposure. Melatonin is one of the hormones that is also responsible for symptoms of depression. The increased melatonin production ultimately alters the body’s rhythm and the sleep cycles, which is why neurological research has been concentrated on the theories around melatonin secretion.
“The doctor recommended that I start using some special intensity light bulbs in my floor lamp, and if that didn’t work, then possibly some pills,” Susan recalls.
SAD varies in its severity; experts in the field estimate that as many as 20 percent of people experience a mild form of the disorder, but probably in a form mild enough that it doesn’t merit special treatments. In its most severe form, SAD affects approximately 2 to 3 percent of people.
The regular Columbia student, however, may have more reason to worry than the average person when given the risk factors for the disorder. Research from the Canadian Mental Health Association concluded that SAD is most commonly onset in people who are in their early twenties and urban dwellers. It has also been found that women are four times more likely than men to develop a severe manifestation of SAD.
As SAD is connected with the amount of light exposure one receives, it’s no wonder that cases of SAD are found in higher concentrations in urban areas. Gregg D. Jacobs, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says, “We spend our days working or living indoors away from natural light while, at night, we are exposed to indoor light and the constant illumination of city-lit skies.”
And, as an added bonus, he continues “The ‘light pollution’ of urban environments means that many people also don’t receive exposure to true darkness anymore.” Both the reduction of natural light and natural darkness cause unnatural fluctuations of melatonin and serotonin and create the perfect condition for a disorder that will mess up a person’s schedule enough to sleep through more than a few lectures.
“What was even harder though, was that I didn’t think anyone understood here,” Susan adds. “I thought everyone just thought I was lazy or a slacker. And I didn’t understand what was going on, so even though it’s a big city, I struggled alone.”
As SAD grows in recognition as a potentially harmful condition, the market for treatments has been increasing rapidly. Studies across the board have shown that light therapy is generally effective in treating SAD. Increased exposure to sunlight or even a spring break trip down to a warm, sunny location can also be enough.
If the merriment of fun-in-the-sun isn’t enough, is unappealing, or is highly improbable, the markets in phototherapy have been exploding. Special light bulbs that emit light comparable in intensity to the light emitted by the rising or setting sun are available for any home fixture.
For all the opportunities that New York City offers, it’s not a place where SAD, or just general winter blues, can be avoided. Even though April is only a few months away, the cold winter grayness of the Big Apple makes the days drag on longer. Add on stress and schoolwork, and Columbia seems just about as fun as root canal treatment without anesthesia. Brighter days are only a few weeks away, though.
“It started getting warmer and sunnier again in April, and I started feeling like my old self,” Susan says. “I got my friends back, I got my city back, I got my life back. And now that I have treatment, November feels more like April.” g