Spring Fever

Shakespeare wrote about it, Elvis Presley sang a song about it, Huck Finn taught Tom Sawyer about it and animals have gone crazy from it: and now it’s back. Spring fever has arrived and it’s thriving here at East.

Spring fever, which Merriam-Webster defines as a “lazy or restless feeling often associated with the onset of spring,” has attracted the attention of doctors and psychologists alike. After scouring through textbooks and conducting extensive research, doctor’s have reached a consensus on its medical legitimacy: it’s not real.

According to pediatrician Megan Loeb from Leawood Pediatrics, just because spring fever isn’t a medical condition doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. She validates the so-called “illness” as simply a feeling of excitement.

“It can make high schoolers not concentrate as much on their work and make grades not be as wonderful as they were before. But it can also make people more cheerful,” Dr. Loeb said.

Even though it isn’t technically a medical condition, there are studies that show how the season’s increased sunlight can positively affect sleep cycles and brighten moods. This is mainly a result of the ending of winter, the season most common with depression.

There is such a thing as Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD), a type of depression that takes place at the same time every year. According to the Mayo Clinic, SAD is more common in the fall in winter months rather than spring and summer.

Students feel these effects and get excited for the warm weather. Teachers notice that around this time of year, students seem to become restless and less dedicated to their schoolwork. Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen recognizes the problem and has tried to come up with ways to keep her students engaged in their learning.

“The best way to handle that is to do hands on projects that allow the kids to get up and move around discuss, talk, present, anything that allows them to move around and not sit still the whole time. That helps,” Rasmussen said.

However, spring fever isn’t something you can really cure considering that it technically is not an illness. Students should try to stay focused in school and fight through the negative effects of spring fever in order to stay happy and bask in the warmth of success.