SEASONAL DEPRESSION

q&a with dr. monica zozone osburn

Nubian Message sat with Dr. Monica Zozone Osburn, licensed professional counselor and executive director of NC State’s Counseling Center, to discuss seasonal affective disorder and its effect on college students.

brandon loyd Correspondent Brandon Loyd: What does seasonal depression look like for a college student?

Dr. Monica Zozone Osburn: So, seasonal affective disorder [SAD]—it looks very similar to depression. Sadness, changes in appetite, difference in motivation, increased sleep, sometimes not being able to sleep. Those are the primary factors. Loyd: How is this going to affect a student’s work and social life compared to somebody who may not be a student at a university? Osburn: I think the impact for college students is [that] it’s a summative impact, meaning you have the semester and it is such a short period of time. For someone to be out for a week can have great implications in this kind of environment compared to if they were just on the

job or something like that, because in college, a week is a long time and you can get behind and grades can start to stack up.

If you miss some of the fundamental components of that week, it might be hard to catch up, and with seasonal affective disorder and different kinds of depressive disorder—the strong underpinnings of that are lack of motivation, fatigue, sadness. When you are struggling with all of that and then you are behind in your work, it’s a cycle.

Loyd: Is SAD something that the counseling center sees often during this time of year?

Osburn: Not particularly. This time of year, we see some of it, but it’s not as prevalent in NC because of the access to sunlight as we see in other areas. When I used to work in New Jersey, I saw a lot more of it there than in North Carolina.

Loyd: What is the difference between SAD and major depressive disorder (MDD)?

Osburn: Seasonal cycle. So, SAD tends to come at the end of fall through winter, and there is an automatic uplift that comes spring and sometimes summer. You can actually have it in spring and summer, but it’s far more prominent in fall and winter.

Major depression can come anytime of the year. It doesn’t have a seasonal or cyclical cycle. The symptoms tend to be greater with MDD. There is no automatic way for it to come out, and the timing it occurs is the impact of the sunlight. If it’s true SAD, then light therapy is going to show improvement.

Loyd: What does diagnosis look like for SAD?

Osburn: Well, it always starts with a clinical assessment—just finding out what the cyclical nature of the symptoms are, how long they’ve been present, when they started, the duration of the symptoms, where the impact is felt most. Just gathering a lot of information, making sure the criteria is met, and we are definitely going to want to do what we call a differential diagnosis to determine if it is truly SAD or MDD, and we can do that by just measuring the severity and timing of the symptoms.

Loyd: So what exactly is the cause of SAD?

Osburn: I don’t really know. It’s not clear, but we do know that the absence of sunlight is a contributing factor.

Loyd: What does treatment look like for someone with SAD?

Osburn: If someone truly has SAD, one of the best treatments is actually sunlight. It’s to be able to get outside on a sunny day, even if it’s cold, because what you are trying to do is increase serotonin levels and dopamine. Something as simple as sunlight can impact that.

There is actually light therapy that is prescribed. We don’t do that as much here, because in NC, the sun is out a lot. But in places that don’t get a lot of sun—New York, Rochester, Ohio—they’re going without sunlight for multiple days. You see the impact, so they have these portable light lamps that students can just spend time in front of and get some support.

Loyd: What are some other important things you think people should know about SAD?

Osburn: Wellness is a holistic concept, whether it’s dealing with SAD or anything else. It’s thinking about taking care of yourself in all areas of your life.

So, going out and sitting in the sun—that is absolutely going to help—and so is going on a walk and moving your body… how are you feeding your body—so paying attention to your nutrition—and physical exercise. Are you spending time with friends and family as well as others? All of those factors.

If we look at wellness from a holistic perspective, that is how we are going to take care of ourselves the best.

the semester in review

Keilah Davis Editor-in-Chief kennysha woods Managing Editor OCTOBER

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

AACC gets renovated

African American Cultural Center renovations began during the summer and were completed in August.

David Tracey/Staff Photographer

Nubian Message launches new website

We ditched the black yellow for the green and white. Finally! A website that matched our brand!

NC State fails diversity report card: September 26

University of Southern California Race and Equity Center published a report card that rated NC State an “F” in representation equity and a “B” in completion equity.

Curly delivers Latinx Heritage Month keynote: September 27

Curly Velasquez of Buzzfeed’s Pero Like, spoke about his journey to becoming a video producer, the fruition of Pero Like, and the importance of supporting each other in our artistic endeavors. NOVEMBER

ICE incident: October 1

Campus police turned a non-student in to ICE after discovering them in the construction site behind Alpha Delta Pi. Student Body President Jess Errico released a statement saying campus police had “no abnormal partnership with ICE.”

US Postal Service debuts Kwanzaa Forever Stamp: October 10

The African American Cultural Center was chosen to host the reveal of U.S. Postal Service’s new Kwanzaa stamp.

courtesy of NC State university

Michael Arceneaux visits NC State: October 11

Michael Arceneaux, author of New York Times bestseller “I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé,” came to campus for a discussion about topics such as race, sexuality, intersectionality, and Beyoncé.

University Commons becomes Holmes Hall: November 1

University Commons was renamed Holmes Hall to honor Irwin Holmes Jr., NC State’s first black graduate. Holmes was also the first black athlete of the Atlantic Coast Conference and co-captain of a varsity team, as well as the first black varsity letter winner.