Seasonal Depression

Although our species is considered to be incredibly advanced, we often fall victim to our own emotions. This question has been asked many times, but it has not been resolved. One of the possible answers to this issue could be found within the seasons. During the winter season, some of your friends might seem to be very down or out of their usual social behavior. This could be caused by seasonal affective disorder; which is “a mood disorder in which there is a predictable occurrence of major depressive episodes, manic episodes, or both at particular times of the year” and this pattern is correlated with major depressive episodes during the fall or the winter months (APA, 2022). For some, this means that they feel depressed during the winter months due to its gloomy feel and lack of sun all the time, while in the summer, they feel exceedingly happy and sometimes manic due to the presence of good weather, as well as increased presence of the sun in the daytime. This condition is very important to people; however, it is not talked about enough. It is also not widely understood by those around the person suffering from it. 

It is also important to note that a condition that is not widely known can lead to the failure of people around the person with it to understand them. A good example of this could be someone suffering from seasonal depression as they are going through something that gravely affects their daily lives (during specific seasons) and as such, leads the people who were friends with them to feel off-put with their current attitude and potentially not want to be friends with them anymore. This effectively isolates the person from their social environment, leading them to believe that they are the problem which, in turn, leads them to internalize their feelings in order to receive positive feedback from those who surround them. This is precisely the issue with this type of logic; as they are not the problem, but due to their surroundings they believe that they are and alter who they really are to appease those around them. If we were to provide a source of information or increase the amount of public awareness about disorders such as seasonal depression i.e. seasonal affective disorder, then this type of event would never occur and those suffering from disorders might feel more inclined to be true to themselves in social settings. In doing so, they not only free themselves from their current shackles, but they are also allowing themselves to trust in others and to trust that they will both assist them in their day-to-day life (if needed) and treat them the same way they would treat anyone else. 

As humanity continues to progress, it is important to realize that we are not perfect. Although we try our best, we can never be completely satisfied with what we have. Even though we sometimes struggle with our daily activities and moods, we can still be perfectly fine in our own way. This is why it is important that we try to understand other people's points of view and not only agree with them, but also acknowledge that there are times when a person may be suffering from a condition that is not widely known. In order for this to occur, we must enlighten the public on disorders and the social stigma that surrounds them. Currently, much of society attributes the flaws we see in others as “defects” or issues that you don’t wish to surround yourself with and our own flaws as something that occurs due to external factors such as a professor not teaching you the proper material therefore, you performed poorly on your exam and feel sad as a result. The problem with such logic is that it fails to see other points of view and it fails to accept people for who they are. Only when society changes its way of seeing and accepting others' points of view, will we see progress be made. 

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Apa Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 25, 2022, from https://dictionary.apa.org/seasonal-affective-disorder