Yup, seasonal depression is a thing. Often abbreviated as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), it is characterized by a sense of hopelessness, social withdrawal, and moodiness. Typically, it can be self-diagnosable. Perhaps something that people in the West Coast or in the Southern Coast will never understand, it can be a very disruptive and disheartening condition for people.
In my case, moving away to college in a part of my state that would be up to ten degrees colder than home during winter – I felt it like never before.
Living in the Northeast, gloomy, frigid days don’t come as much of a surprise to me or just about anyone. But, I realized how being far away from home and living on one of the largest campuses in the nation really heightened my SAD. Isolation is often inevitable, it’s hard to socialize or find the motivation to do so when it’s freezing cold outside or even in the single digits as it was this year during this astonishingly cold, and Nor’easter prone winter. Going to club and organization meetings, which typically take place in the evening, was something I was so unwilling to do because of the latter.
It is especially frustrating when, not only is it cold out and you live in a large campus setting, but you’re also in the middle of practically nowhere. The nearest town-like setting has no more than a few drug stores and some cafes to offer. Without much to do, it seems as though seasonal depression has hit me even harder as a result.
But, living in the middle of nowhere can be nice when it’s Springtime or the Fall. You get incredible views and you get to appreciate nature in a way that no city campus could ever allow you to. So for now, I’m just gonna keep on waiting on that.