JACKSON, Wyo. — Though winter can carry an immense thrill—especially in a ski town like Jackson—the short, cold days can have very real negative impacts on our mental health. In a standard year, winter’s darkness and harsh weather can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
According to American Addiction Centers, 5% of U.S. American adults are affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which manifests in symptoms lasting approximately five months of the year. These symptoms include many that are associated with clinical depression.
In a standard winter, feelings of loneliness and cases of SAD lead to increased substance abuse. Many seek to numb negative emotions, suppress undesirable thought patterns and weather the winter through unhealthy, unsustainable use of substances.
Research shows that substance use increases as winter begins – and in Wyoming, it continues for many months. Roughly half of the individuals battling a mental health disorder will also struggle with a substance use disorder in their lifetime.
And of course, this is no standard winter. We have entered our 11th month of a global pandemic, and winter only exacerbates already strained mental and behavioral health. Existing feelings of loneliness are heightened as we enter this particular winter—a season filled with short, cold days and void of the social gatherings that grow our senses of belonging and community, helping us to endure them.
Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a national increase in mental health concerns and substance abuse. Now that winter is upon us, we are experiencing a perfect storm of already heightened mental and behavioral health concerns colliding with a dark, harsh season that can keep us apart.
We have just experienced the winter solstice and the darkest day of this long year is behind us. Our days will grow longer and the lights are shining at the end of this tunnel.
We have the opportunity to tackle the rest of this winter with the most robust mental and behavioral health foundations possible. It is time to engage in conversations about our wellness, confront and identify areas in which we struggle, and develop and consider the mechanisms with which we process circumstances that tax our mental and behavioral health.
In Jackson Hole, there is an enormously supportive framework in place to allow Teton County residents to explore and improve their mental and behavioral health: Mental Health JH.
Mental Health JH is an initiative and pilot project supported and funded by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole and St. John’s Health Foundation. Mental Health JH enables anyone employed in the Greater Teton Region—or most recently employed in the Greater Teton Region—the opportunity to meet with mental health professionals for six visits free of cost. Also, for those who have already taken benefit of MHJH’s six free visits, good news – the six free visits started over January 1 of this year.
Mental Health JH empowers Jackson Hole residents to address and speak openly about their mental and behavioral health concerns. To anyone experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder on any scale, this is a cost-free chance to consult a professional about this condition, to grow in your understanding of your experience and to constructively discuss how seasonal changes affect your feelings and thought patterns.
To all in Teton County who are grieving gatherings of friends and family that could not come to be, or are experiencing heightened loneliness following holidays separated from loved ones: There are local mental health professionals prepared to speak with you about how these losses are affecting your mental well-being.
The time will come when the events that make us feel whole and connected that gather community, family and friends will return. Though we all will be adjusting to a “new normal” rather than a reset to our pre-pandemic realities, there is much to look forward to in the future.
In the meantime, we must prioritize our mental and behavioral health—a necessity made accessible and achievable by Mental Health JH.
