Austen Hunzeker
News Editor
As the fall semester comes to a close, daylight hours are limited, walks on campus are accompanied by an icy chill, and the pressure of upcoming finals has hit its peak — the perfect conditions for what many mental health professionals refer to as the “winter blues.”
Winter blues is a common nickname for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a subset of depression that typically occurs during the fall and winter months of the year in the form of sadness, low energy, sleepiness, loss of interest in one’s day-to-day activities, and more. Amber Greening, a senior staff clinician and Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) at Idaho State University’s Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC), said that people can still experience the symptoms of SAD without being diagnosed or meeting the full criteria for it.
“Sometimes people might feel a depressed mood, feeling more irritable, or just noticing disruptive mood patterns, feeling less energetic, maybe sleeping more, noticing changes in appetite,” Greening said. “Maybe this is also just happening…within the context of their responsibilities. Classes are becoming more intense. There are projects they need to finish, and there are finals…We also have holidays that come up around the time that winter starts, and we have the time changing, so all of this is going to disrupt our ability to feel well and to engage in the world outside of us.”
Because the student population on campus dwindles during the summer months, it is difficult to determine if there are more student visits to the CMHC during the winter months, but according to Greening, the number of visits remains consistent throughout the school year. In helping students cope with darker days, the CMHC and the Association of Students at ISU (ASISU) have partnered in bringing about “Wake Up On Wednesdays,” which has offered free coffee, tea and hot chocolate in the Student Union Building (SUB) and Rendezvous — as well as opportunities to chat with mental health professionals during the last two weeks of the semester.
“We kind of alert students or individuals that notice if they’re feeling a little more down because of these darker days or because it is winter, and (if) they’ve noticed this pattern over the last several years,” Greening said, referring to a key aspect of SAD being yearly patterns of seasonal depression. “Things that we like to tell students is that there are options for enhancing access or exposure to light.”
Light therapy, such as UV light lamps and getting outside on sunny days, which still occur frequently during the winter in Southeast Idaho because of its high-desert location, is recommended by Greening, as is maintaining regular exercise, a nutritious diet, a good sleep schedule, and social connection.
For senior accounting major Mollie Pisterzi, regular exercise is a helpful combatant. The CMHC also proved to be a beneficial resource for her on more than one occasion.
Freshman nursing majors Faith Ford and Morgan Notman fight winter blues by going to the gym and spending time with friends.
“We go out a lot, and we make sure to go do our laundry at least once a week, we go out to lunch, we make sure to try and get out of the house,” Ford said. “I think people just need to get off their phones…If people just got off their phones to enjoy life a little bit more, it could help stop it.”
CMHC services are free to ISU students and can be scheduled by calling (208) 282-2130 or through MyISU. Visit www.isu.edu/counselingcenter/ for a voluntary and anonymous questionnaire and more information. If you are in urgent need, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
“As students are just noticing their mood change, it’s okay,” Greening said. “It’s not to be scared of…but when it’s really starting to impact the way that we’re able to engage in our daily lives, that’s when we really need to start being intentional.”
