Depression

By: CertaPet Staff

What is Seasonal Depression?

With chilly temperatures and shorter days often comes lower serotonin levels and changes in mood, due to seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) as it’s formally known. What is seasonal affective disorder? It’s commonly described as the “wintertime blues,” where depression or mood shifts can occur from changes in the season. In some, seasonal depression can cause symptoms like low energy, sluggishness, or difficulty concentrating. In others, it can mean weight gain, oversleeping, and feelings of hopelessness.

According to Mental Health America, nearly 5% of Americans experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in any given year. But humans are not the only ones impacted by seasonal changes. Our fluffy friends can also experience their own form of wintertime sadness––canine seasonal affective disorder, which can cause lethargy or withdrawal in our pups during the frigid, winter months.

So where in the U.S. do residents and their pups suffer from this seasonal funk the most? The CertaPet team investigated. We turned to Google Trends search data to uncover which states were Googling terms like “seasonal depression,” “seasonal affective disorder,” and even, “dog depression” most during the months of October 2020 through March 2021. We also looked at climate data from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to uncover which states experience the most severe cold temperatures and the lowest amount of sunlight during the winter months.

We compiled these data points for all fifty states and ranked them to uncover which states’ residents and their pups are most (and least) susceptible to seasonal depression.

In addition to seasonal depression, our nation is currently undergoing a mental health crisis, spurred by the pandemic.

Google searches of specific mental health conditions like anxiety and PTSD soared in 2020. For this reason, we wanted to uncover which mental health conditions people were Googling most over the past year, both nationwide and on a state-by-state basis.

Read on to find out what seasonal depression looks like in your state

With a state score of 40.68 out of 50, Hawaii is the state least susceptible to seasonal depression according to our ranking. In Hawaii, the percentage of time between sunrise and sunset that sunshine reaches the ground during the winter months is 65%, which is significantly above average. The US average is 49.3%.

Additionally, the average temperature during the winter months in Hawaii is a comfortable 67.4 degrees. Again, far more ideal than the U.S. average temperature of 32.2 degrees during the winter months. Further, the search volume of seasonal depression terms is low across the board, indicating this isn’t necessarily a topic that residents in the Aloha State are Googling frequently.

Missouri, Florida, and Arizona follow as the next states least susceptible to seasonal depression with state scores hovering above 39 out of 50 for each state.

At the other end of the spectrum, Alaska and Ohio are the states most susceptible to seasonal depression with scores of 19.58 and 19.97, respectively. Alaska’s average temperature during the winter months is just above freezing at 2.6 degrees, while its average percentage of sunshine during the winter is only 34%. What’s more, search volume for the term “seasonal affective disorder” was 88––notably high in comparison to other states.

In Ohio specifically, search volume for the term “seasonal depression” was 100––the highest of all 50 states. To boot, its average percentage of sunshine during the winter months is only 36% and its average temperature is a chilly 29.5 degrees. Minnesota and Montana followed as states most susceptible to seasonal depression with state scores of 21.68 and 22.08, respectively.