By Satoko Arai, Third Year, Sociology
As winter deadlines approach and the daylight hours start to shorten, there are various tips and tricks to make it easier for students living with ‘SAD’ to get through the darker days.
‘Wait, what do you mean the clocks go back?’
Three years ago, just as I was about to experience my first Halloween in the UK, I encountered the concept of daylight saving. Little did I know that not long after, I would also come across Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. Now, every year, as people start to get excited for Halloween, I’m not just thinking about what I should dress up as. I’m also thinking about how I should get ready for the shorter days, and the arrival of SAD—and if you feel like you don’t quite feel your best once the days start to shorten each year, you might want to continue reading.
Specific causes are yet to be known, but winter-pattern SAD is seen as being linked with sunlight exposure change. Sunlight stimulates the hypothalamus, an area of your brain where the circadian rhythm (your internal body clock) and the production of melatonin and serotonin are regulated. When there’s less sunlight exposure, these functions can be disrupted; and with SAD, your melatonin level might be higher than average, meaning you may feel sleepier than usually. Not having as much sunlight exposure can also lead to reduced vitamin D levels, which then negatively affects your serotonin level, and these changes together can affect how well you feel, eat, and sleep.
The NHS lists symptoms of SAD which may include irritability, difficulty concentrating, a decreased sexual drive and a craving for carbs. Speaking to some University of Bristol students on their experiences with coping with SAD while at university, they raised several struggles. One third-year Law student said they ‘generally just felt unmotivated’: ‘I felt very tired and didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning’, while a third-year Sociology student spoke of having to ‘manage the exhaustion and the overwhelming dread of winter deadlines…I find myself drifting from my routine, isolating myself…and forgetting to take care of myself.’
There are various treatments for SAD, but there are also several low-cost self-help methods for adjusting the student lifestyle during the short winter days:
Firstly, maximise sunlight. It seems obvious, but when you’re deep in SAD, your sleep cycle can be messed up before you even know it. Remember—the days are shorter, but that doesn’t mean it’s dark all the time: rise early, and open your curtains straight away. Take a short stroll to your nearest park, or even just around the block; if that feels like too much, even sitting near an open window can help. Try studying at spots with big windows, like Queen’s Library, Hawthorns or the Richmond Building.
Take care of your physical health. Maximising sunlight can be difficult on cloudy winter days. To top of that vitamin D, eating healthy foods containing the vitamin can help, such as red meat, egg yolk, and oily fish—you can also take a vitamin D supplement. Try to exercise; it can be indoor or outdoors, and doesn’t have to be super hardcore. Aerobic exercise such as yoga, tai chi or simple stretches can help, or even walking up the hill everyday to get to university. Incorporating exercise into your everyday habits, such as a five-minute workout while you make your morning coffee, can release those neurotransmitters which make you feel good.
What’s important is sustaining something that suits you, and Mind has a good guide to help you get started. One third-year Sociology student talked about ‘taking the day bit by bit and remembering to be kind to yourself’.
Thirdly, stay social. When you’re not feeling your best, you might want to stay in bed and close yourself off from the world, but sometimes the smallest chats can make you feel better. Try volunteering, or joining a society from the student union page, and if meeting new people seems like a lot, keeping in contact with your close ones or even taking a quick study-break with a friend can help.
Try to track your everyday life, and develop a consistent routine that suits you. When dealing with SAD, keeping a diary where you track your symptoms can help you understand yourself—a friend of mine writes down her habits, goals, priorities and reflections in order to stay accountable to herself.
Most importantly, remember that you can always talk to friends and family, or reach out to professional to help. These services might include the university’s own wellbeing support services, Mindline, Shout, and more. Acknowledge the changes you might be experiencing—it’s what many people, including myself, go through each year. With darker days, deadlines, and exams approaching, it can be difficult to balance your mental health, so look out for yourself and others, to get through the winter together.
Featured Image: Satoko Arai
What are your go-to tricks for coping with the short winter days?
