This past week of weather has been crazy. We either have gloomy cold days, or dark and rainy days, and we are barely seeing the sun.

It’s clear that we are starting to head into the time of the year where seasonal affective disorder (SAD) comes into play for a lot of people.

SAD is something that is very common in the world. Around 4-6% of people here in the United States have SAD.

SAD is something that is dealt with very differently by every person who is affected by it.

And while a lot of people support whoever deals with this, there are still those people who think that this is not really a big issue and people are over-exaggerating it.

That is not the case at all.

Any mental health issue is a mental health issue. We don’t downplay how people are feeling just because it is only a short period of time out of the year, or some people aren’t as affected by it as others.

This is a time where we all need to be there for each other and supporting one another.

Yes, we do have great counseling services on campus, and they are doing their best. But sometimes we need more than the few therapists we have.

We need to come together as the Gannon family we all say we are and figure out a way to supply more mental health services, whether that be a support group having a meeting o­nce a week or having classes on mental health.

Anything along these lines would be a great deal of help for people.

I also know that there are people who prefer to not talk about their issues with others, and that is OK too.

People cope and deal with things differently. For the people who prefer to do things on their own, I have a few tips that might be able to help.

A few different things that I do and have heard of others doing to help them during these times include prioritizing social activities, making a schedule for yourself, working out, adding aromatherapy to your lifestyle, opening your blinds to let a little bit of sunshine in, starting to journal, etc.

As simple as some of these tips sound, they could be the reason people are feeling better.

While SAD is something that typically only affects people during a few months of the year, mental health is an issue that needs to be addressed all year long.

Most people push mental health aside until they are dealing with it, and this is not how it should be.

Remember, no matter what you are going through, the sun will shine again, and you will overcome this.

CHLOE PALMIERE

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