By Alondra Tamayo, March 12, 2024
Southern California is famous for its year-round sunshine, yet recently, the days have been consistently overcast and dreary.
Both January and February have seen an unusual deluge, making this year potentially the wettest yet. According to CBS News, Southern California has seen more rain in the past few days than the entire last year.
According to Mayo clinic, though California always needs rain, gloomy weather can heighten unmotivating feelings such as lethargy and low mood during prolonged periods of cloudiness and darkness, sadness, lack of energy, oversleeping and loss of interest in daily activities.
In a study conducted in 2020 by a Journal of Psychiatrist Research, they discovered that individuals were more likely to experience symptoms of depression when the weather was rainy or overcast.
Psychology professor Alejandro Morales explained the clinical term seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that occurs during cloudy and rainy days.
“This usually happens when people don’t get enough sunlight,” Morales said. “People need enough vitamin D daily to function how they normally would.”
Sunlight enhances the body’s vitamin D levels. Inadequate sunlight exposure leads to vitamin D deficiency which eventually leads to feelings of lethargy.
“With seasonal depression, we know that it exists, and I don’t think probably a lot of college students realize they may be experiencing that because they see it as just a gloomy day,” Morales said. “For some people, it might just be a lethargic day, but I do suggest that everyone gets checked with a medical provider to see if this is part of a larger problem.”
California’s recent drastic weather changes have affected CPP students in their academic, mental health and personal lives.
Jaylean Arce-Elias, a kinesiology student, is shocked by the recent rain Southern California experienced. She struggled to get to her classes since she was used to the sunny weather on winter days.
“I have missed classes because I refuse to step outside with all the rain, it just makes me feel unmotivated,” Arce-Elias said.
Arce-Elias admits to having experienced seasonal depression, but this year she has felt a major decrease in energy due to the recent high amounts of rain. She desires to stay in bed all day since the sun also sets around 5 p.m., creating the illusion of night.
With hopes that the next day will be filled with blue skies, Arce-Elias prefers to stay home in her pajamas until that’s possible.
Jordan Harkov, an animal science student, has felt a recent shift in her energy and has become unmotivated to do her schoolwork.
“I feel like I have less energy when it’s dark, gloomy and rainy, it makes it harder to get up from bed” Harkov said.
Although Harkov has attended all her classes, she struggles to keep herself motivated to attend classes and keep up with her schoolwork. Outside of school, her unmotivated energy to complete activities and routines remained.
During warmer and sunny days, students’ energy levels differ compared to dreary days.
Harkov’s and Arce-Elias’s energy and moods completely shift when the sun makes an appearance.
“On sunny days I do feel like my energy increases, I actually feel energetic and social” Harkov said.
Fortunately, Morales explained viable solutions to address low energy levels on gloomy days without relying on sunlight.
According to Morales, he mentioned that students from the University of Michigan host light therapy groups where they face a lamp on themselves for 20 to 30 minutes to increase their energy levels.
“If the recent gloomy weather is impacting your day-to-day functioning or life, there are a lot of things you can do to help yourself,” Morales said.
Morales suggests that exercising, maintaining a healthy diet and receiving talk therapy are a few other ways to relieve symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Vitamin D supplements are also an option.
For additional resources, visit CPP’s Counseling & Psychological Services located in the Bronco Bookstore building
Feature image courtesy of The Poly Post.
