by Leah Peloff ‘18

As the weather warms up and spring is in full bloom, many students are hit hard with the desire to be outside enjoying themselves instead of being cooped up in some small, stuffy classroom. This distraction from educational duties is largely due to the mere happiness and excitement that an increase in sunlight sparks in people worldwide.

Is this ‘fever’ a figment of imagination or are there really facts to back it up? A student’s grades drop, work ethic fades, and attention in class becomes hard for a student to maintain due to the annual spring fever. Recent investigations have proven the shorter periods of sunlight and colder weather throughout the winter, known as the ‘winter blues,’ leads to a higher production of melatonin in the pineal gland; an endocrine gland in the brain that secretes hormones throughout the body. Melatonin is the hormone that indicates to the body that it is time to go to sleep, so it makes sense that people feel more tired, and even depressed during wintertime.

Dr. Michael Terman, the Director of the Light Therapy Unit at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, found that about five percent of the population is affected so severely by the winter blues that they are clinically diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder. This disorder is defined as a type of depression that comes from the changes in seasons.

As the number of hours of daylight increase with spring approaching, the amount of melatonin shrinks and the body instead creates more serotonin, known as the ‘happiness hormone.’ This hormone is exhausted over the dark winter months, which causes the melatonin to have a more profound effect on the body than it would in the spring or summer months.

Not all people experience the same symptoms as a result of this fever. It is not uncommon for some people to actually feel more depressed during the spring months. Dr. Norman Rosenthal, the director of season studies at the National Institute of Mental Health, noted that hospital admissions for depression and alcoholism reach a peak in the spring months. This is partly because there is heightened feeling of loneliness and hopelessness in some as they watch others enjoy the nice weather.

“Some people appear to be unable to adapt physiologically to the rapid seasonal change; their bodies break down physically and emotionally under the strain,” explained Dr. Rosenthal in The New York Times.

For the most part, however, spring brings happy vibes that make people want to go outside and enjoy themselves. These desires leave many classes full of daydreamers and many homework assignments untouched. There is nothing wrong with this natural, psychological cycle of sunlight-induced distraction as long as students learn how to contain the fever and hammer out the last bit of school before they are free to fulfill their laissez-faire attitude that comes with warmer weather.