Shedding Light On Our Moods
The S.A.D. Truth About Our Moods
Ruth Anderson
How Much Is Too Much?
Students Caught in a Web of Distraction
Alison Choi
Shedding Light On Our Moods
The S.A.D. Truth About Our Moods
Ruth Anderson
So picture this: you peer over at your blinding digital alarm clock that is incessantly flashing 7:30 a.m., roll over on your comfy mattress, peek out from under your duvet only to find a terrible surprise outside your window. Not only is it dark, but it’s dreary and grey. Not much of an incentive to jump out from underneath your cozy covers and head outside, is it?
Winter
• Above - A winter view taken from a window in JCI.
• Below - A warm beach seems much more enticing than the cold above.
Summer beach
We can’t fool ourselves and say that sunlight, or lack of it, doesn’t affect how motivated we feel when we open our sleepy eyelids in the wee hours of the morning and try to pry ourselves out of bed.
As high school students a huge chunk of our day is occupied by our time and energy inside school, diligently working away, completely engulfed in our world of notes, assignments and social interactions; but does the weather outside the walls of Jarvis really have an effect on how we feel and act?
Many Jarvis students have spoken up on how important the climate outside the classroom is to them. A group of 100 Jarvis students, ranging from Grades 9 to 12, were asked if weather and climate affects their moods, and how they function. Of the students surveyed, 45% responded with yes, 7% answered no, 37% felt that the weather affected them on a small scale, and finally, 11% of the students hadn’t ever considered if the temperature and/or sunlight affected their moods at all.
Bibi Rahim-Hahn, a cheerful presence in the Jarvis attendance office, comments on her mood in relation to sunlight: “When it’s sunny I feel more alive. I have more energy but when it’s dreary and dark I just want to curl up in my room and read.”
Many people feel inactive and constrained by the extreme Canadian climate and find themselves to be more rejuvenated by the presence of frequent sunlight during both spring and summer. As high school students, we spend the winter indoors, in class, and often we attribute our feelings of discontent and restlessness to being cooped up inside. Or is it just the season’s dreary weather that makes us feel this way?
Some of the symptoms many of us feel during the darker and blustery months of the year include both increased fatigue and lack of initiative for physical activity. These feelings are natural and quite common, but they are capable of becoming much more serious, and severe in certain situations. Many people across the globe, especially people living in northern regions of the world at higher latitudes, are SAD.
SAD, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, is a form of depression that occurs each year. It includes both Subsyndromal SAD (a.k.a “The Winter Blues”), beginning in the fall/winter and ending in the spring/summer. There is also a rare form of SAD known as “summer depression” which begins in the spring/summer and ends in the fall.
Many of the people who suffer from this condition during seasonal changes experience anxiety, drastic changes in appetite and diet as well as decreased immunity levels. According to Mood Disorders Society of Canada, SAD occurs in approximately 6% of individuals living in northern climates. In a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 20.2% of the populations between the northern latitude of 45° – 50°, in one degree or another, suffer from Subsyndromal SAD (winter blues). Yet in tropical regions closer to the equator, such as Mexico, south Texas and Florida, only 7.5% of the populations suffer from the disorder.
The cause of SAD is not completely clear, but it does have biological roots. Subsyndromal SAD is directly related to the reduced hours of daylight in winter, and when dramatic seasonal changes occur our body gets out of its normal rhythm. SAD is more prevalent in Canada and Scandinavian countries due to the light-deprived location of these northern countries.
Many of the people who suffer from this condition...experience anxiety, drastic changes in appetite and diet as well as decreased immunity levels.
Many people who suffer from Subsyndromal SAD find a replacement for the lack of sunlight during the winter months with the use of light therapy. Light therapy is used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder by replacing the natural rays of the sun with a light box made up of fluorescent light bulbs. It acts as a substitute for the sun during light-deprived months of the year.
Natali Luzardo, a Cuban native, comments on the importance of sunlight, and how deep rooted it is in our psyche: “Sunlight is this natural nutrient for your body that fills your soul and gives you motivation and happiness to do trivial things like going to school.” She has a point.
According to Psychology Today’s June 2003 publication, the sun’s ultraviolet rays help the body manufacture Vitamin D. This essential vitamin is formed naturally when our skin is exposed to sunlight, and is crucial for bone growth and healthy teeth. So, not only is the presence of the sun aesthetically pleasing, but it also satisfies a biological need; no wonder it makes us feel so damn good.
Living in Canada, where our winter season is capable of lingering on for months on end, we are often left craving warmer temperatures and outdoor activities. Ledah McKellar, a Grade 12 student, expresses her feelings on Canada’s exhausting winter season: “Winter, like summer, can get really long and you can get to that point where you just really want that 30°C weather.”
Yet, even though bitter wind and sub-zero temperatures can really put a damper on things, it forces us to find other ways to brighten our day, instead of relying on the unpredictable nature of weather.
So, not only is the presence of the sun aesthetically pleasing, but it also satisfies
a biological need; no wonder it makes us feel so damn good.
To help survive these seasonal changes, we should all find ways to keep our spirits up. Gabby Moro is someone who dedicates a large amount of her time each year to doing just that. She is one of the coordinators of Kensington Market’s “Festival of Lights”- a colourful event celebrating the Winter Solstice on December 21st when the days begin to get longer, and the nights shorter. Hordes of eager volunteers and partiers come to commemorate the solstice, reach out to neighbours and help endure the long winter season together. “There is a need for us to be together, huddling and being around the ‘fire’ or ‘light’ through these long, long winter nights,” says Gabby.
To cure our varying degrees of ‘January and February Blahs’ we should all make an effort to stay warm, healthy and surrounded by family and friends during the darker months of the year. Let’s hope that will keep us fairly satisfied until Mr. Sun decides to reappear behind those grey clouds once again.
How Much Is Too Much?
Students Caught in a Web of Distraction
Alison Choi
You’re sitting stiffly on your chair, butt numb from slaving over the computer for the past two hours. Your eyes burn from the constant fluorescent beam and your hands are typing away furiously.
You’re just finishing up your last sentence when suddenly your computer crashes. You let out a horrifying scream as the jar full of M&M’s you’ve been munching on scatters all around you. Cursing, you re-start your PC and go into a hysterical fit about your lost document.
Was it an English ISU that you’ve put so much effort into? Nope, it was the MSN conversation you were having with your friends on the latest gossip at school. That’s right, you’ve once again been sucked into one of the hottest entertainment sources for teenagers today - the Internet. But when it comes down to how much time you spend online, do you know your limits?
MSN
• Above - MSN, along with other computer-related distractions, is contributing to the increasing problem regarding students’ lack of focus.Walking down the Jarvis hallway, you will often overhear conversations that revolve around the Internet, from the latest fashion website, to the chats with people from around the world, to the addicting games that you just can’t pull away from. Students seem to be eating, sleeping and breathing the Web lately but hey, who can blame them? Who wouldn’t take a couple relaxing hours chatting with friends and surfing the Web over endless amounts of homework?
Yes, the Web may be one of the top sources of entertainment, but it also is one of the top distractions. Most students would be lying if they said that they’ve never sat down to write up a history report but got carried away as soon as they clicked the dial-up button on their screen.
In a recent survey conducted among 100 Jarvis students, 93% said that they get distracted by online activities when sitting down to do research or to type up an essay. Out of that 93%, 52% admitted to actually abandoning their school work to have a little online fun.
So, has it gone far enough that students are replacing homework with online chatting and games? You know things have gone out of control when you walk into Web Station - a popular Internet café located conveniently for students just off the corner of Wellesley and Yonge - and see at least five Jarvis students literally sucked into the world of the Web…during class time.
A Grade 12 student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that, “It [Web Station] is a good place to go when you don’t feel like going to class. Sometimes you’d just rather be playing games than sitting in class.”
Too much time spent on the computer can lead to obesity, social separation from family and friends, back aches, dry and swollen eyes, severe headaches, and the worst of all, a big, fat, stinking “F” on your Calculus test.
Spending countless hours on the computer laughing at the new gossip you’ve just been chatting about, spitting harsh words at your computer screen for making you lose the last round in Counter Strike, or drooling over the sexy pictures of Tila Nguyen can all pay off the next day at school when it gives you something to talk about. In the end, however, you’ll be nothing but an unfortunate computer addict. Sure, it’s all fun and games now, but sooner or later you’ll be very sorry.
Too much time spent on the computer can lead to obesity, social separation from family and friends, back aches, dry and swollen eyes, severe headaches, and the worst of all, a big, fat, stinking “F” on your Calculus test.
Surfing the Web occasionally isn’t a bad thing. “I go online whenever I have free time,” says Yuxuan Liu, a Grade 11 student at Jarvis, “but I don’t let it interfere with my [school] work.” As you can see, there are teens out there who know how to manage their time online, but some teens just don’t know how to answer the question of “how much is too much?”
You know you’ve reached the “too much” limit when you’re too focused on a game to get up and take a trip to the washroom.
Although surfing online can be highly enjoyable, there are serious consequences that can damage you psychologically and physically. Compulsive computer use can be symptomatic of depression, anger and low self-esteem, and can lead to addiction.
Also, medical research has shown that excessive hours sitting in front of the computer can lead to the potentially fatal Deep Vein Thrombosis, which is the development of blood clots from sitting in one position for too long.
If you’re a compulsive Internet junky like the 46% of the surveyed students, then try pulling away from the computer an hour or two before you usually do, and set a schedule to restrict your computer time.
Now, we all know that pulling away from the computer is a very difficult task to do, but unfortunately the loving connection between your aching, red eyes and the blinding screen must be cut. Understanding that there is a whole world for you to encounter away from the computer may be hard to digest, but when you think about it, your life is not going to end.
Your computer will always be there, but your honour roll status and slowly-fading-away social life is in the palm of your hands – or more like the tips of your fingers.
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