As the year goes on, the leaves change color, the air gets colder, and the nights get longer. With this drastic change in weather, many people feel sad or lethargic.

This phenomenon went unexplored for a while and was explained away by just being “the blues.” More recently, hundreds and thousands of people have shared their similar experiences with this seemingly random wave of melancholy around the winter and fall seasons.

Medical institutions like Johns Hopkins Medicine and Mayo Clinic have researched this condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder. Both say that decreased sunlight from shorter days can alter brain chemistry and can cause people to exhibit symptoms of low energy, anxiety, and even loss of appetite.

Despite this medical conclusion, many still don’t believe in its existence. It is a relatively new concept for many, but is being talked about more and more often by teens on social media.

To further investigate this fascinating phenomenon, I surveyed local students about their thoughts and experiences with seasonal depression. With the recent end of daylight savings time, it was the perfect time to photograph the solemn mood of the fall season.

“I have friends who have told me about their experience with it. They would tell me when the winter came around, they just lost all motivation they had to do anything. They felt drained and lost all will to interact with other people.” — Isaiah, 17

“Personally, I don’t experience it on such an extreme, but I always find myself more unmotivated and irritable in the winter.” — Neelam Chadha Jimenez Potter

“Yes, I actually struggle with seasonal depression, especially when I’m not preoccupied with anything and life is just moving really slow. I feel as if reality starts to settle in and it just makes me really depressed.” — Anonymous VOXer

“I believe there are times when I get seasonal depression especially in winter time. I think it affects my motivation to do things throughout the day and physical health.” — Na’ilah 

“Something that helps me with seasonal depression is keeping myself extremely busy to the point where I don’t have time to even be sad. I’m constantly working on a project or hanging out with friends to keep myself from being in a standstill to where I feel depressed. ” — Anonymous VOXer

Emotions are impacted by the change of seasons making normal tasks harder and their motivation more strained. I know many people who suffer from it.