Spring Break
The Daily OrangeWinter blues
Seasonal Affective Disorder can cause mood swings, depression during coldest months
By Jeffrey Moses
Posted: 2/22/08, 12:27 AM EST Section: News
Michelle Henderson, a junior Spanish language, literature and culture and African- American studies major who has lived in Central New York all her life, said some people are more tired in the winter months because of the lack of sunshine.
"Everything is harder in the winter," she said. "It is just depressing. It gets dark early. It makes you feel like your day is so short. In the morning when there is no sun, there is no motivation to get out of bed."
Henderson used to work at a tanning salon, and she said many people go to a salon in the winter months - not to only to get a tan, but also to get their sun in.
"Tanning in Central New York is for the light and the warmth, not for the tan," Henderson. "People come in a lot more in the winter. It is an escape from the gray skies."
People who live in the North are more affected by it because of the shorter days, Schwartz said.
SAD is a recently coined disorder and was first proposed in 1984, she said. "Because it is so new we do not know that much about it."
Kristine Casciari, a sophomore mathematics major, said because students get used to the gray sky after seeing it every day, they always notice when the sun comes out.
"I never noticed the gray skies, but when my parents come up here, they do," Casciari said. "When they drive from the outskirts of New York City to come here, they say that the difference is huge."
Ayla Crumpton, a resident of Central New York and a sophomore biochemistry and psychology major, said there are light treatment centers in her hometown to treat seasonal affective disorder.
"In my hometown of Watertown, N.Y., there is a light treatment center for seasonal affective disorder at the local hospital," Crumpton said. "My county has one of the highest rates of depression."
Crumpton said this is partially because of the lack of sunlight.
"Living here for my entire life I am used to it," Crumpton said. "But after I graduate, I plan to move some place sunnier, like Florida."
jmoses@syr.edu
"Everything is harder in the winter," she said. "It is just depressing. It gets dark early. It makes you feel like your day is so short. In the morning when there is no sun, there is no motivation to get out of bed."
Henderson used to work at a tanning salon, and she said many people go to a salon in the winter months - not to only to get a tan, but also to get their sun in.
"Tanning in Central New York is for the light and the warmth, not for the tan," Henderson. "People come in a lot more in the winter. It is an escape from the gray skies."
People who live in the North are more affected by it because of the shorter days, Schwartz said.
SAD is a recently coined disorder and was first proposed in 1984, she said. "Because it is so new we do not know that much about it."
Kristine Casciari, a sophomore mathematics major, said because students get used to the gray sky after seeing it every day, they always notice when the sun comes out.
"I never noticed the gray skies, but when my parents come up here, they do," Casciari said. "When they drive from the outskirts of New York City to come here, they say that the difference is huge."
Ayla Crumpton, a resident of Central New York and a sophomore biochemistry and psychology major, said there are light treatment centers in her hometown to treat seasonal affective disorder.
"In my hometown of Watertown, N.Y., there is a light treatment center for seasonal affective disorder at the local hospital," Crumpton said. "My county has one of the highest rates of depression."
Crumpton said this is partially because of the lack of sunlight.
"Living here for my entire life I am used to it," Crumpton said. "But after I graduate, I plan to move some place sunnier, like Florida."
jmoses@syr.edu
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