How I cope with SAD
Mayumi Izumi (she/her) // Contributor
Lily Jones (She/Her) // Custom Type
Tin Raganit (They/Them) // Illustrator
Every autumn, daylight savings time comes to an end and we set our clocks back one hour. Many of us start our day by waking up early in the morning—when there is no sunlight to be seen—to then head home in the absence of light. Add Vancouver’s cloudy, rainy and moody weather to the darkness of the fall and winter months, and it equals SAD. Some may be unhappy with the change of season, but still find ways to cope with our daily routines without too much difficulty. However, there are people who suffer a condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
According to the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, SAD typically starts around the same time every year and the people that it affects may be depressed beginning in the fall and throughout the winter. Severe Seasonal Affective Disorder affects two to three per cent of Canadians, while mild SAD affects approximately 15 per cent of Canadians. Options for treatment include light therapy, psychotherapy and medication.
In my past experiences with SAD, I tried Vitamin D supplements and had success with them. The winter blues that I experienced were the mild form of Seasonal Affective Disorder and was not a deep depression (I have experienced this too). The vitamins helped to eliminate SAD pretty quickly.
Never having tried a SAD therapy lamp, I instead have two Himalayan salt lamps: one in my living room and the other in my bedroom. With the warm light they emit, I feel an instant mood shift, a softening of my emotions. When I turn my lamp on for days that feel stressful or edgy, the light makes me centered and relaxed. Even now, as I write this article and very cognizant of the deadline, I turn on my Himalayan salt lamp in the living room and I feel ahhh . . . calm and tranquil. Using the one in my bedroom before going to sleep helps me relax while I cozy up with a book at the end of a long day. The warm light of my lamps helps to keep the Pacific Northwest’s cold darkness outside my windows and doors. Inside my home, I am surrounded by a soft orange glow.
Connecting with community and keeping active are other alternatives to combat SAD. Join a CSU Club or two, attend events on campus or reach out to your friends! When I came back to Capilano University, I decided that I wanted to become involved in all that the university and the students’ union offered us. I took part-time classes, worked full-time and joined Capilano Radio Club, Young Women in Business and the CSU Board of Directors as the Mature and Parent Students Liaison. Keeping busy truly helps in keeping the blues away. If you are attending classes, and going back home again without connecting with the campus community, this can lead you to feeling isolated and alone.
We can all be susceptible to depression, whether it is SAD or another form during the winters in Vancouver. But, we can all have ways to combat it; those who need support can reach out to friends, families or a professional to help you overcome it. Full-time (nine credits or more) CapU students have mental health and wellness benefits through the CSU’s provider, Studentcare, which provides counselling with a mental health practitioner in their network. There is also a 24/7 student assistance program called EmpowerMe.
For more information, contact Studentcare’s Mental Health and Wellness service, EmpowerMe.