2008 Woodie Awards
Health Services Sheds Some Light on Seasonal Affective Disorder
Julia Agresto
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: News
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It is mid-November, the temperatures are slowly falling, and the days are steadily growing shorter, with dusk now falling around dinner time. Around this time of year many of us feel a bit melancholy, realizing that another sun-soaked season has receded to a place far away, not to return for several months. We are literally left out in the cold until it revisits us again. But this feeling of sadness that is ushered in for many by the onset of the winter months could be something much more serious, and there may be a way to treat its effects.
With winter well on its way, Health Services recently announced that it is offering light therapy for students, faculty and staff afflicted by seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. The therapy is administered via special lamps intended to increase an individual's light exposure. Research has shown it to be an effective treatment method. According to Dawn Zitney of the Health Services Office of Health Education and Promotion, there is no cost to receive the therapy.
"Light therapy at Health Services is free of charge to the entire UNH community, including students, faculty, and staff," Zitney said.
SAD is a mood disorder, also known as winter depression or winter blues. It is defined as a pattern of seasonal depression beginning around the same time every year, generally in the late fall or early winter months and lasting until the beginning of the spring. In general, the symptoms of SAD include increased sadness, higher irritability, increased anxiety, lack of energy, problems concentrating, and increased sleep. According to a document on the Health Services website, those at higher latitudes, women and younger people, are at a higher risk for SAD.
The latter of these three trends can be seen here on the UNH campus, with many young people feeling the disorder's effects. Although the majority of students interviewed have not been diagnosed with the disorder, many experience its symptoms in the wintertime nonetheless. Zack LaForet, 18, a freshman at UNH from Amherst, N.H., is one of these students.
With winter well on its way, Health Services recently announced that it is offering light therapy for students, faculty and staff afflicted by seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. The therapy is administered via special lamps intended to increase an individual's light exposure. Research has shown it to be an effective treatment method. According to Dawn Zitney of the Health Services Office of Health Education and Promotion, there is no cost to receive the therapy.
"Light therapy at Health Services is free of charge to the entire UNH community, including students, faculty, and staff," Zitney said.
SAD is a mood disorder, also known as winter depression or winter blues. It is defined as a pattern of seasonal depression beginning around the same time every year, generally in the late fall or early winter months and lasting until the beginning of the spring. In general, the symptoms of SAD include increased sadness, higher irritability, increased anxiety, lack of energy, problems concentrating, and increased sleep. According to a document on the Health Services website, those at higher latitudes, women and younger people, are at a higher risk for SAD.
The latter of these three trends can be seen here on the UNH campus, with many young people feeling the disorder's effects. Although the majority of students interviewed have not been diagnosed with the disorder, many experience its symptoms in the wintertime nonetheless. Zack LaForet, 18, a freshman at UNH from Amherst, N.H., is one of these students.
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