<\/p>\n
Griffen Lovely is a lot like other 20-somethings you would know. He enjoys spending time with his family, hanging out with friends and playing sports. On the surface, he appears to be just like anyone else his age. In reality, Griffen has been battling with a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder for several years.<\/p>\n
Griffen has lived in Aroostook County his entire life, where harsh winters for months on end is something that is expected. For years, Griffen never understood why his mood would worsen and his motivation would dwindle during the winter months. \u201cIt would feel like a switch would flip inside of me come the end of December. I would just want to hole up in my bedroom and just sleep all day,\u201d Griffen said.<\/p>\n
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a disorder that is often overlooked. One reason for this may be due to its less severe symptoms compared to Bipolar Disorder or Manic Depression. It is a disorder that is hard to diagnose because it is primarily a seasonal disorder and its direct causes are hard to pinpoint. Despite all this, SAD is very serious and can lead to debilitating depression in people affected by it.<\/p>\n
The symptoms of SAD would only get worse for Griffen as the years continued. As someone who was normally cheerful and highly motivated, Griffen began to get very concerned. It eventually got to the point where Griffen\u2019s grades were starting to suffer, and he was turning to negative influences to help him deal with his depression. \u201cI began to feel hopeless and was frustrated that I couldn\u2019t figure out what was wrong with me,\u201d Griffen said. \u201cI started drinking alcohol on a regular basis because that was the only thing that seemed to numb my pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was not until Griffen felt that he had hit rock bottom in the winter of 2015 that he decided that it was time to do something about it. \u201cAt that time, I had distanced myself from my friends and family. I had just dropped out of college and was living back at my parents\u2019,\u201d Griffen said. \u201cI finally said enough was enough and decided to go seek a medical professional to help me figure out what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to reach out to a professional ended up being, as Griffen put it, \u201cThe best decision I\u2019ve ever made.\u201d When Griffen told his doctor about the symptoms he was having, the doctor told him about SAD and encouraged him to look into it. This was the first time that Griffen was able to pinpoint the cause of his depression and mood swings. When he got home that day, he started researching SAD and the steps he could take to fight the symptoms associated with the disorder. \u201cOnce I researched SAD, it helped me immensely. It was relieving to learn that I wasn\u2019t the only one going through this. There are a lot of people who suffer from SAD during the winter months,\u201d Griffen said.<\/p>\n
As of today, Griffen still falls into the patterns of SAD, but now has the knowledge and the tools to not fall into the heavy patterns of the disorder. Griffen says spending time outside during the winter is helpful against fighting SAD because the added sunlight increases his serotonin levels and helps balance his melatonin levels. \u201cEven though we\u2019ve had a lot more snow this winter than in the past, it\u2019s important for me to get out and stay busy with outdoor activities because it is therapeutic for me,\u201d Griffen said.<\/p>\n
Griffen\u2019s long-time girlfriend, Leslie Meija, is also a source of support for her partner in dealing with SAD. \u201cEvery time Griffen is starting to fall into the old patterns of SAD, I\u2019m always there to help him overcome it. Whether that be listening to him vent or participating in activities with him, I\u2019m always looking to help,\u201d Leslie said.\u00a0 \u201cGriffen has a hard time expressing his feelings and he doesn\u2019t like to open up voluntarily, so sometimes I have to pry a little to figure out what is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing that bothers Griffen about SAD is that many people don\u2019t believe it is a real disorder. He often finds that people just assume he is depressed or that he just hates winter and the lack of sunlight. \u201cI\u2019m a northern Mainer at heart,\u201d Griffen said. \u201cI\u2019m not just not used to the long winters, I\u2019m actually very active during the winter months. SAD goes much deeper than just hating the snow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, Griffen would like to use his personal experiences with SAD to educate others on the effects it can have on someone who does not seek help. The person who has learned the most from Griffen\u2019s battle with SAD is Leslie. \u201cAfter learning about his experiences with SAD, I gained so much more respect for Griffen,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine having to deal with a disorder like that for so long. It really shined a new light on a disorder that I had only heard about in books or movies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite all the hardships, Griffen has turned his experiences with SAD into something positive. \u201cSAD has been a burden in my life, but it has shaped me into a stronger person,\u201d Griffen said. \u201cIf anything, it has shown me that I have a great support group of friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Griffen Lovely is a lot like other 20-somethings you would know. He enjoys spending time with his family, hanging out with friends and playing sports. On the surface, he appears to be just like anyone else his age. In reality, Griffen has been battling with a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder for several years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8496,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5820\/revisions\/8496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}