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With daylight savings times behind us and fall finally setting in, there’s one more thing that always seems to arrive with the changing season – the seasonal scaries. You know, that slump in mood and motivation when the days get short and darker? Yep, that’s seasonal affective disorder making its annual appearance. For years, seasonal affective disorder has been downplayed – treated like just a case of the winter blues or a vitamin D deficiency – when in reality, it can bring a wave of emptiness, loneliness and sadness that go far beyond that.
When the sun starts setting earlier and mornings feel darker, even getting up for class can feel impossible. Mix that with the pressure of college life, and it’s no wonder so many students find themselves barely pushing through the semester. So I have decided to give my advice to you all on this because I have struggled with this, and I’ve seen my family and best friends struggle with this. I just have things I wish people had told me about seasonal scaries.
The Semester will get hard at some point, and you have to take it day by day.
For a long time, I believed I wasn’t allowed to have bad days when it came to school. I thought feeling unmotivated- skipping a reading, dreading class or struggling to finish assignments- meant I was failing somehow. I convinced myself that if I gave in to the “seasonal scaries,” I’d be a bad student who couldn’t keep up. But that’s not true. Once I started taking the semester day by day, I became more mindful and at peace with where I was. This time of year can be tough, and it’s okay to not feel OK. Taking a weekend off from studying – or even missing a class or two (don’t tell my parents) – doesn’t make you a bad student. It makes you human.
It’s OK to get sad around the holidays; it’s normal to.
The holidays often bring joy, yes, but they also put us in situations where we might miss those we no longer have with us. For me, this is when the seasonal scaries hit the hardest. It’s not in the middle of February when it’s frigid outside and there’s little to no sun. No, it’s when you look around a holiday party and wish someone were there – and they’re not. You can sit with these feelings; you don’t have to dismiss them. They are a part of who you are, and learning to accept them makes it easier to start pushing back against the seasonal scaries.
Finding joy in the little things will make the days go by.
Being someone who has struggled with this, bringing whimsy into my life has made everything feel a little more manageable. It’s finally picking up that book you’ve been dying to read, treating yourself to the overpriced coffee just because, and – of course – blasting that kind of music that instantly shifts your mood. You have to find the little things that work for you. If that means sitting out in the snow to see the flakes come down, or listening to Christmas music from Nov. 1 to Dec. 25. Sometimes even a second of relief can make all the difference.
This is not an easy season of life for many people, and I know it is not an easy one for me.
I have struggled with the seasonal scaries for as long as I can remember, but now I do not fear them. I have found the things that work to fight them off as well as give myself a semblance of peace within the dark nights. Even when the seasonal scaries get bad, the one thing I hold onto is the fact that spring will be here before I know it — and with it, no more getting dark at 5 p.m..