It’s the darkness. It’s only 5:00 pm and the black curtain over the sky has dropped for the night. Slight depression slips in and laziness is at its all time high.
It’s the cold and you’ve noticed that you are suddenly gaining weight, you’re craving the sweets and starches; you are tired and constantly trying to stay focused in class but cannot; the worst part of it all: final exams and the stress on you make you irritable and increase in your anxiety.
What you are experiencing may be SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). The change of the seasons is the cause, and you’re not alone.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, as many as half a million people in the US are diagnosed with the full-blown SAD disorder. While another 10-20% of the US population experience a milder form.
As the seasons change, the loss of light usually causes some strange effects.
“I don’t know why, but now I’m pissed off a lot, like all the time,” said freshman Addison Myer.
Other students said they noticed no change in their emotion and behavior, but some said the winter makes them feel “sad or depressed for no reason.”
The effects are stronger in women than in men, but anyone can experience the symptoms.
The tolerances are short, and the fuses are even shorter.
Irritability and short-tempers are common in the hallways of Penn Manor, especially now with the on-set of winter.
“I’ve noticed it a lot in my friend,” a sophomore here at Penn Manor said. “Tension is really in the air now. I feel like anything I say she’ll snap and get mad at me for, and then I get mad because she got mad at me for nothing!”
“I think I mostly get grumpy and unhappy because it’s getting colder, and exams are coming up.” said senior Marie Ondeck.
By Alyssa Funk
This is such an important topic to explore in a public setting. There are so many people out there who suffer from depression and so many more at risk both because of SAD, but also because of what is happening in our economy that impacts all aspects of your every day lives. Congratulations on your efforts to examine critical issues facing students and adults at Penn Manor. Maybe you helped someone seek out professional help with this article. I hope that anyone who reads this and sees him or herself goes right to Mrs. Butterfield or the guidance office.
Sweet, a new medical condition with a catchy abbreviation that will be lead to widespread misdiagnosis with those “affected” getting loaded up on a new pharmaceutical.