I have noticed a trend in my mood and how it changes with the weather. When wintertime comes around, I feel like I lack purpose. I feel more fatigued than usual, and I have no motivation. This may be due to the sun setting at 5pm or my own personal life. This also made me question if I was the only one feeling this way. Turns out, I am not the only one. The term seasonal depression gets tossed around often, but what is it and is it real? There actually is such a thing as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is also referred to as seasonal depression. According to the Intermountain Health Care, SAD is a treatable form of depression that should not be brushed off as ‘the winter blues’. SAD affects around 10 million Americans. As for the ‘winter blues,’ it can be said for a lot of people that they do feel a lack of motivation and happiness during the winter seasons. 

For me, coming back from Christmas break was a struggle. During the months of January and February, my schedule was packed. As an alpine skier, I would have races and practices all week long and I wouldn’t get home until at least 8pm. This was a lot on me mentally. I felt like I was in a cycle and I never had time to relax or take a break. Once ski season was over for me in mid-February, I felt burnt out. I felt as if I had no energy to get up and do things. Throughout the fall, I would get up at 5am every morning to workout, now I can barely get out of bed at 7am. On top of that, the second semester for me has seemed a lot more intense than the first semester. I have definitely felt that my overall happiness has gone down a lot since the fall. Over spring break, the weather started to warm up. I was able to get outside and not feel freezing cold when I got into my car. With the weather warming up, I feel my happiness is increasing. My happiness fluctuates with temperature. 

When thinking about my winter blues, I asked myself if I was the only one feeling this way. To my surprise, the overall response in my junior class has been that everyone feels a decrease in their happiness after winter break. Some people even went on to say they have never felt as low as they have this winter. When talking to my classmate Anna Holmes, she said that finding happy things to do is hard in the winter, it is just too cold outside. I asked her this on the warmest day of spring break and she said, “Today was the first day I felt a moment of pure bliss because of the weather outside.” She was driving down the road with her windows down, enjoying the 57 degree weather. I think that with the weather getting warmer, days getting longer, and spring sports season starting up, the overall happiness in myself and my class will increase.