You wake up early in the morning, as you have done every week for school. Yet, this time is different. You can tell, from the bits of artificial streetlamp-light peeking through your window blinds, that the sun has yet to rise. You seem to have woken up prematurely, you think with annoyance. But after a few more seconds, your brain processes a sound that has been incessantly emitting from your phone for the past minute. You clumsily grab your phone and press around until it goes away. You are then faced with the time: 6:06 am.
Throughout the day, from class to class, you are struck with lethargy, fatigue, and a lack of motivation. However, these feelings are not simply you being “lazy”; there is a chemical culprit behind this phenomena.
The body’s internal clock is disrupted by the lack of sunlight in winter. “Sunlight is linked to…chemicals in our brain that help regulate mood and that help regulate sleep,” says Ms. Lauren Ferguson, South’s school psychologist. Specifically, in winter, two key chemicals, serotonin and melatonin, are thrown out of balance.
Skin-sunlight contact produces vitamin D, which promotes the production of the mood-regulating hormone serotonin. “Serotonin plays several roles in your body, including influencing learning, memory, happiness, as well as regulating body temperature [and] sleep. Lack of enough serotonin is thought to play a role in depression, anxiety, mania, and other health conditions,” according to Cleveland Clinic. As daylight hours decrease during the wintertime, the brain has a tough time regulating mood because serotonin levels decrease. This drop is the root cause of low energy and sadness often associated with winter.
The second chemical, melatonin, regulates the circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock, and plays a key role in sleep. Melatonin production increases when it’s dark, and decreases when it’s light. “Teenagers…are already not sleeping enough as it is, and then winter hits, [making] them sleep more because we have less sunlight hours. It’s harder to get up in the morning when the sun is not coming up,” said Ms. Ferguson.
The domino effect of melatonin increase and serotonin decrease directly impacts the brain’s ability to get quality sleep. “I would argue it’s one of the pillars of what supports our mental health—getting regular, consistent sleep,” said Ms. Ferguson. Lack of sleep affects our mood and concentration, directly resulting in winter blues.
Sometimes, this winter slump can make you feel hopeless. How are you going to motivate yourself to get back into the swing of things if motivation is what you lack? There are no “instant cures” that immediately make you feel “normal” again, but there are small things you can do to fight back against the frost.
As Ms. Ferguson says, “Getting a little bit of sunlight every day is a really important thing.” Just 5-10 minutes outside is better than nothing, even if you have to force yourself out the door in thirteen layers. Bonus: if you have a backyard fire pit, it will give you added comfort against the cold.
Maintaining exercise is also a good way to de-stress. Exercise releases endorphins—the “feel-good” chemicals—which reduce stress and boost mood. Regular physical activity has also been shown to improve sleep quality and make it easier to fall asleep. If space is an issue for you, try squats and in-place lunges, or other exercises that don’t require much space.
Remember, social connectedness is a vital factor supporting mental health. The cold does make it hard to walk around town with your friends, but it puts low-key cafe “study sessions” into season.
In this chilly time of the year, it can be very easy to push others away and “hibernate,” but that will only exacerbate the misery. Even if there is ice in the air and cold creeping into your skin, please try to keep it out of your heart.
