According to Georgetown Psychology, summertime sadness can be a result of the long, seemingly endless days with lots of light and heat, throwing off a person’s circadian rhythm. Which is like your own personal clock that experiences changes over the course of a full day. So do you just need a nap? Possibly. Yet, more remains to be uncovered about this peculiar, Debbie-downer reaction to the most apparently exciting season of the year.
It is much more sensical that feelings of depression would occur during the long winter months, where the darkness of the night creeps in way too early, and most have dreams of hibernating through the cold. But what else causes these common summertime sadness symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, restlessness? And pure, uncensored nihilism?
Well, birth months have been linked to the problem. As someone born during a literal snowstorm, I’d still rather trudge through Winterfell wearing adult snow pants and burning my tongue on hot chocolate even if no one will talk to me from December to February in the bitter coldness than play dodgeball on the beach. But to put it more scientifically, Smithsonian Magazine suggests that “researchers at Vanderbilt University pinpointed the mid-brain region that may be a source of SAD—the dorsal raphe nucleus, where many of the neurons that control serotonin levels are located.” And for some, serotonin happens to be more present in their systems during the best time of the year, (cough) winter.
How do you get better if you’re experiencing this and thought up to this point that you were the only one? Well, there are treatment options out there, ranging from light therapy to medication. But might I also suggest making #CoolGirlWinter a thing to look forward to?
For more of Oona’s sarcasm and attempted wit, visit her site, oonaoffthecuff.com
Top Image: Adam Kontor/Pixabay
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