With temperatures dipping into the 20s and freeze-watches issued in Florida this winter, some are feeling the effect of gray skies on their mental health.
“Everything just seems kind of dead,” said Mia Cacciola, an 18-year-old UF psychology freshman. “It’s universal — no one wants to do anything anymore.”
Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a type of depression that reoccurs in a pattern about four months out of the year — often during the winter. It affects about 5% of adults in the United States, according to the American Psychological Association.
Fewer sunlight hours during the winter cause lower serotonin and vitamin D and higher melatonin levels for people with SAD. This causes fatigue, difficulty concentrating and oversleeping, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, or NIMH.
“Winter blues” vs SAD
SAD doesn’t occur often among Floridians, with people from Alaska or New England more likely to develop the disorder, according to NIMH. But many Floridians still suffer from a less extreme version: the “winter blues” or “holiday blues.”
Although not a diagnosable disorder, winter blues present as a less extreme version of SAD that can result from winter patterns both related and unrelated to light changes, like stress from family holiday visits or final exams.
For Cacciola, traveling back and forth between UF and her home in New York for Thanksgiving and Christmas break while studying for upcoming final exams has proved anxiety-inducing. Shorter windows of sunlight have made things worse.
“Sunlight makes me more productive … it just makes me feel better,” she said. “I still have finals, and I’m pushing myself to go out and study, but, I don’t know, I’m just feeling kind of ‘eh.’”
Robert Averbuch, a UF psychiatrist, has treated a handful of SAD cases, although he doesn’t see it nearly as much as psychologists up north, he said. However, winter blues related to holiday and family stress are still common — especially among students, he said.
“There’s a lot of transitions,” he said. “Seeing families gather and folks getting together that don't always agree on everything, that creates tension, and the stress of preparing for the holidays. So it's kind of a mix of the social part of it, the weather part of it, the time.”
As for the line between “winter blues” and SAD, Averbuch recommended that people whose symptoms last longer than two weeks or leave them unable to function in their jobs, school or relationships should seek further help.
Treatments for SAD include light therapy, where people spend time sitting close to specially designed light sources each day, in addition to traditional therapy and medication, he said.
John D’Alessio, a 23-year-old UF mechanical engineering senior and Florida native, said he tends to be happier when it’s warmer outside. He keeps himself from letting negative emotions get him down through prayer and exercise, he said.
Despite his distaste for the cold, he still enjoys winter for its traditions, he said.
“I enjoy Christmas time. It’s probably my favorite time of year,” he said.
Summertime SADness
Although less common, some people, especially in warmer climates such as Florida, experience summer-pattern SAD.
While those with winter-pattern SAD experience high melatonin levels that can cause oversleeping, summer-pattern SAD may lead to lower melatonin levels, which worsens sleep quality and causes depression symptoms.
Summer SAD sufferers were more likely to report anxiety and decreased appetite, while winter SAD presented as lethargy and overeating, in a 2023 study from Norman Rosenthal, the psychiatry professor who first identified the SAD diagnosis in 1984.
Rosenthal recently spoke about his concerns that rising temperatures due to climate change will increase the number of people suffering from summer SAD. Florida’s 2024 summer was among the top 10 warmest on record.
Megan Jenkins, a 20-year-old UF English and political science junior, said she feels happier in colder weather and cherishes winter days above all others.
“This, today, is my ideal,” she said, holding a coffee outside Turlington Hall on a 58-degree Sunday. “Whenever I get to the Swamp, starting in August… I normally hate it so much.”
However, Rosenthal’s love for the cold doesn’t extend to a love for shorter days.
Florida’s daylight savings time ends the first week of November and doesn’t return until March. The shortest day of the year happens on the winter solstice in late November, with about a two-and-a-half-hour difference from the June solstice.
“Once it’s dark, I want to be in my bed,” Jenkins said. “I want to be watching a holiday movie. I want to be chilling out. But I can’t do that. I have to sit in Marston most nights until, like, midnight… it definitely messes with me a bit.”
Contact Zoey Thomas at zthomas@alligator.org. Follow her on X @zoeythomas39
Zoey Thomas is a media production junior and the Fall 2024 Enterprise Health Reporter for The Alligator. She previously worked on the University and Metro desks. Her most prized assets include her espresso machine, Regal Unlimited movie pass and HOKA running shoes.
