SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- Syracuse residents know to expect cold, snowy, and overcast winter days in Central New York. However, these cloudy days with limited sunlight can pose a serious mental health condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder. At Upstate University, Dr. Christopher Lucas says it’s a depression that occurs at a particular time of the year mostly starting in the fall or winter and ending in the warmer and sunnier months.
Lucas says Central New Yorkers are more prone to developing seasonal depression because of Syracuse’s northern great lake location.
“The biggest risk factor is how far away from the equator you live, so the more norther you are the greater rates of depression,” Lucas said.
The rates of seasonal depression are greater in locations with heavy cloud coverage and long winters like New York and Alaska compared to sunny states like Arizona and Florida where the rates of seasonal depression are as low as two percent.
“Overall about ten percent of New Yorkers have depression, about one-third of those tend to be seasonal depression, so I guess you could say three to four percent of Central New Yorkers could very well have seasonal depression,” Lucas said.
Lucas says the best therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder is using a light therapy lamp for thirty minutes every morning, which can be as effective as an anti-depressant. But what people with seasonal depression shouldn’t do is stay inside and not leave their house.
“(Seasonal depression) is made worse when you’re not outside when it’s darker or particularly if the days are very cloudy,” Lucas said.
Ways to be active in the winter include taking walks, socializing with friends, and going to the gym.
