Seasonal Affective Disorder is a mental disorder that causes many individuals’ mood and overall mental health to be negatively impacted over the fall and winter months. Compounded in part by Northeast Ohio’s infamous weather, Baldwin Wallace students are not immune to the effects of SAD.  

Kayela Swansiger, a junior psychology major, shared her experiences with SAD and how it affects her bipolar disorder.  

“The weather outside can potentially trigger manic episodes in me as result of the comorbidity of seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder. Even just going outside and seeing that it is not so [nice] out, does not make one feel so pretty on the inside,” Swansiger said.  

Timothy Hall, a therapist that works with Timely Care at Baldwin Wallace University, said it can be difficult to tell who all is suffering from stress and changes to their affect due to SAD because of all the other stressors happening to students in their daily lives.  

“Here in Cleveland, you’re going to see a good bit of mood disturbance on account of the weather and the seasonal patterns just because the weather can get so glum during the winter months,” Hall said. “It certainly doesn’t help anything.”  

However, Hall said it is difficult to determine how common SAD is among BW students.   

“You know, I don’t know that we can discern that really because of the context of the academic year in which we work,” Hall said. “There’s this ebb and flow of the stress of the academic year. With new semesters, new classes, midterms, finals, adjustment to campus, adjustment back home, there are so many variables that impact mental health for students on campus, but the seasonal pattern is certainly one of them.”  

According to Evelyn Campbell, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist from Pennsylvania, SAD is widely attributed to a lack of sunlight. Specifically, it is the reduced level of sunlight that disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm.  

Campbell compared SAD to a depression, in which people become sad for periods of time, often lose interest in various activities, develop a tendency to eat more, have difficulty concentrating and have lower energies causing them to sometimes sleep too much.  

Nevertheless, Swansiger said she has found a way to cope with SAD in those days.  

“Light therapy has probably been the most beneficial for me, especially since Cleveland is very gray,” Swansiger said.