I moved to Ithaca in August, when the fireflies were still busy in the swampy expanse behind my cottage in nearby Brooktondale. At night, that stretch of grass turned into a field of quiet, blinking light — steady and unreal. I’d recently accepted a job as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Cornell and I remember thinking: “Okay. This isn’t so bad for a Turkish girl from the Mediterranean coast. I can do this. I can make it here.”
Fast forward several months, and welcome to Ithaca in winter. Gray sky. Early darkness. The first snow: a full foot of it. The cold season arrived all at once.
It is a beautiful experience learning about winter through its quintessence. The first snowfall. The icicles that appear overnight. The way snow quiets everything — roads, fields, even thoughts. The brightness of a white-covered landscape when the sun decides to appear.
The experience is not all romantic: navigating hills when roads turn dangerously slick, my German shorthaired pointer refusing early-morning walks because the salted paths sting her paws, Ithaca’s steep grades wearing and wearying my car’s transmission, hands and feet staying cold no matter what I wear. The loneliness that settles as deep as the unremitting chill when you’re new somewhere, and the weather gives good reason to stay inside.
As I was adjusting to a new job, a new town and a new season, I began hearing parallel refrains from students coming to my office for mental health support:
“I don’t know — my mood has dipped.”
“I’m tired all the time.”
“I have no energy.”
“I haven’t left my apartment in days.”
These sentiments and behaviors often have multiple causes. My own feelings probably stem from the normal strain of moving and starting a new job, combined with a mild seasonal dip. Winter in Ithaca is not just cold. Unlike cold yet bright and sunny locales like Colorado, Ithaca winters are frigid and dim.
Shorter, grayer, colder days can change how people feel. Energy drops. Motivation falters. A low-grade sadness can roll in. For many, this ‘winter blues’ feeling is tied to reduced exposure to natural light. When symptoms are more intense, showing up predictably between fall and spring and interfere with daily life, clinicians call it seasonal affective disorder: a type of depression that follows a seasonal pattern.
The good news is that light therapy can help.
How Light Affects Mood
Light is one of the strongest signals your brain uses to set the day. When mornings start dim for weeks, your body can drift later: sleep feels less refreshing, energy lags and motivation gets harder to access. Bright light early is a clearer “daytime” signal, translating into feeling more awake, steadier and more able to engage with life.
How Light Therapy Can Help
In my clinical work, I recommend light therapy boxes liberally because they are evidence-based for seasonal affective disorder, and many people with milder winter blues symptoms also find them helpful.
The idea isn’t to “force happiness.” It’s to replace a missing environmental cue — a brighter morning — that some brains depend on more than others. Research also suggests that, for some people with seasonal depression, consistent morning light therapy can be comparable to an antidepressant in improving symptoms.
Light therapy is simple: place a light box off to the side while you start your morning, have coffee, read, journal or answer emails, and let the brightness reach your eyes indirectly for 30 minutes. There is no need to stare into the light. The key is consistency. The more frequently one uses light therapy, the more benefits most people see. If you have bipolar disorder, certain eye conditions or take photosensitizing medications, check with a clinician first. Light therapy can occasionally worsen insomnia or trigger agitation.
Keep in mind that light therapy works best alongside regular sleep/wake times, movement, nutritious meals, vitamin D if you’re low and some kind of social plan during the darker months.
Where To Get a Light Therapy Box
Light boxes are sold in the Cornell Health Pharmacy (for $20), online and in many local stores. Look for light boxes that emit up to 10,000 lux.
If you do want to buy your own, Wirecutter has some good recommendations.
Making Light Therapy Work
Make it bright enough to matter. Look for a 10,000-lux light box. Standard indoor lighting is usually far too dim to treat seasonal symptoms.
Make it a morning habit. Earlier is generally better — soon after waking, ideally before noon. Late-day use can be less effective and may interfere with sleep.
Make it easy to stick with. Set it up where you already sit in the morning so it becomes automatic. Follow the device instructions (often 12-24 inches away).
Don’t overthink the “right way.” Let the light reach your face/eyes while you do something else — no staring required.
Give it time. Many people need near-daily use, and it can take a couple of weeks to feel a real shift.
Stack the basics. Light therapy works better alongside regular sleep/wake times, movement, nutritious meals, vitamin D if you’re low and some kind of social plan during the darker months.
The Bottom Line
If Ithaca winter is dimming your mood, don’t power through it alone. Get a light therapy box. Use it consistently. Build a morning routine that gives your brain the daytime signal it’s craving. You can also add movement, vitamin D and small points of social connection and see if weathering the season becomes more manageable. And if you need additional support, please schedule an appointment with a medical or mental health provider at Cornell Health, or stop by “Let’s Talk” to consult informally with a Counseling and Psychological Services counselor.
I’m learning how to winter, too. Still working and adjusting. If there’s hope for a Turkish Mediterranean girl trying to find her footing amidst an Ithaca winter, there is hope and support for you too.
Happy wintering.
Güney Acipayamli, DNP, PMHNP, RN is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at Cornell Health. She can be reached at guneyacipayamli@cornell.edu.
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