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Clarification: A previous version of this post stated that the Crowley MindSpa had only 1,100 bookings between the Spring 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. The mind spa rooms had 1,100 bookings in that time frame, whereas the Crowley MindSpa, which hosts other amenities, had 2,559 appointments total in that time frame.

For junior Gabriel Gonzalez, the change from fall to winter comes with more than just a need for more layers and a flu shot appointment. It carries the looming threat of seasonal depression.

“Overall I get really unmotivated to do my work,” Gonzalez said. “I start isolating myself from my group and my people. I start feeling really stressed out in general.”

As the falling leaves lose their vibrant yellow, red and orange colors, and the trees start to look bare, many people are preparing for what the change of season means for their mental health.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, seasonal affective disorder, also known as seasonal depression or SAD, is a form of depression that follows a seasonal pattern. People with this disorder experience similar symptoms to depression, including fatigue, loss of energy, difficulty concentrating and change in appetite and sleep. The changes typically last through the fall and winter and start to improve in the spring.

Students said they’ve reached the point in the year where seasonal depression is back in focus. And this year experts have said it may affect more people than usual due to the pandemic.
While Syracuse’s winters are significantly colder than other areas in the US, people don’t discuss seasonal depression as much as some would think, Gonzalez said.

“We all feel it. I think it’s inevitable, but I don’t think everyone really talks about the problem itself,” Gonzalez said. “They don’t take it as seriously as they should.”

The Barnes Center offers the Crowley MindSpa, which includes muse biofeedback software that measures heart rate and brain activity to help track response to stimuli as well as a light that mimics sun rays. Students can book up to 30 minutes in the spa through the BeWell portal.

But even with these amenities, the MindSpa rooms only had 1,100 appointments from Spring 2021 through Spring 2022, according to the Barnes Center.

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Graduate student Yashaswini Kulkarni appreciates the resources the school provides, but said the university could do a better job of encouraging students to take advantage of them.

“They have to be advertised more – we need to speak more about (SAD) and make (resources) more easily accessible to people,” Kulkarni said.

An administrator from the Barnes Center declined to comment about its resources for SAD.

Many students like Gonzalez and senior Assul Larancuent still believe the stigma surrounding the disorder affects how willing people are to seek help.

“The university and society in general don’t understand the actual effects and the repercussions that seasonal depression has on its students and its members,” Larancuent said.

Last November, the LGBTQ resource center hosted a talk that discussed seasonal depression, its symptoms and ways students could seek help. Conversations like this are a good step in destigmatizing the disorder and reminding people how serious its effects can be, but they need to happen more often, Larancuent said.

A lack of awareness also causes people to take seasonal depression too lightly, said freshman Angelina Arnst.

“People use it as if everyone has it. It’s just like, ‘oh no, you get sad in the winter, everyone does,’” Arnst said.

Though some young people are using social media to shed light on the seriousness of seasonal depression, students like Larancuent feel there is still work to be done on bringing the conversation to our everyday lives.

“I think having open discussion forums, where people get to talk in a space where they’re not judged and they’re not being ridiculed for what they’re experiencing, will allow people to communicate effectively and communication is the start of any solution,” Larancuent said.

Published on November 2, 2022 at 11:01 pm