How to Overcome Seasonal Affective Disorder

About five percent of adults in the US experience SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and it lasts about 40 percent of the year. Why don’t those people just exercise or get over their emotions? The Safe2Feel Conference Emotions are Your Superpower is on January 20th, 2024 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at Utah Valley University’s…

Utah Stories

January 19, 2024

IS THERE A BRIGHT SIDE TO THESE COLD WINTER DAYS?

Here in Utah, cold winter days, air pollution, temperature inversions, and darkness coming abruptly at 5:00 pm make it difficult to live a happy-go-lucky life.

About five percent of adults in the US experience SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and it lasts about 40 percent of the year. Why don’t those people just exercise or get over their emotions? Because when people are living with depression it clouds judgment, it causes blindness, and it causes emotional turmoil that makes people less aware of their surroundings.

If you feel like those winter blues are getting to you, or maybe your mental illness that is already difficult most of the year is getting worse, there are solutions for you.

The Safe2Feel Conference Emotions are Your Superpower is on January 20th, 2024 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at Utah Valley University’s Clarke Building, Holland Hall. There is a diverse set of speakers who will let you know you’re not the only one who has bad days, including NFL player Bronson Kaufusi.

Curtis Morley, co-founder of Safe2Feel, believes this conference can really make a difference in people’s lives. “This conference is amazing, we’ve done it a couple of times and the last conference we did, we had three people come up to me directly, and one was a 17-year-old girl that said something to the effect of, “Today I thought was going to be my last day on earth. And now I have something to live for,” Morley said. Safe2Feel leads breakout sessions on topics such as counterfeit emotions, emotional energy, mental strategies for success in sports and life, resiliency, and much more.

“The conference is all about giving people a safe place to feel, giving them a place where they can explore their emotions,” Morley said. He decided to found Safe2Feel after his very close friend from college, Jerry Williamson, took his life.

“I’m not okay with how he left this earth. And I truly believe if he would’ve understood the difference between guilt and shame, guilt being a healthy emotion and shame being it’s counterfeit. And pain and misery, pain being healthy and misery being counterfeit, I believe he would still be here,” Morley said.

Keynote speaker Dr. Greg Hudnall, who is a leading figure in suicide prevention via community-led efforts, founder of the HOPE4UTAH non-profit, and creator of Hope Squad — a suicide prevention program that is implemented in 1,700 schools nationwide, will be speaking. Other speakers and topics include an NFL player Bronson Kaufusi, who will share his expertise on overcoming adversity by utilizing mindset training, founders of several nonprofits, renowned mental health advocates, and attempted suicide survivors.

The event will also include a giveaway of several prizes including airpods, snowboards, thread wallets, gift cards, ski passes, Jazz tickets, and more.

Admission to the event is free for teens and adults (12-26), and for parents, educators, and healthcare professionals, admission is $20. Register with this link. U

Education, Healthy Utah, Inspiration, Mental Health

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Chronic Disease in America: Treating Too Late, Prescribing Too Much

Every January, Americans reflect on the year behind them and draft a familiar list of resolutions. Eat better. Lose weight. Exercise more. Reduce stress. These intentions recur not because people lack discipline, but because the underlying health conditions driving them persist.

Despite unprecedented medical spending and pharmaceutical access, the United States remains chronically unhealthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 76 percent of US adults live with at least one chronic condition, and over 51 percent live with two or more. The most prevalent conditions are well documented. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, accounting for 680,981 deaths in 2023, while obesity affects more than 40 percent of US adults. Diabetes impacts 38.4 million Americans, and nearly half of adults have hypertension, a major contributor to stroke, kidney failure, and heart disease.

Treatment typically begins once disease is clinically apparent, and often relies on pharmaceuticals. Over time, this approach can lead to polypharmacy, the use of five or more medications. Patients with chronic illness frequently average two to four comorbidities, each managed independently, increasing the likelihood that side effects from one medication require another.

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Why We’re Less Healthy Than Our Parents and What Happened

Something has gone wrong with our health. Each generation appears sicker than the one before, despite spending more on medicine than any society in history. At the same time, trust in once-authoritative sources of health guidance has eroded as pharmaceutical advertising increasingly blurs the line between reporting and recommendation. This piece examines how lifestyle, food, and institutional incentives reshaped our understanding of health—and why reclaiming it may require more courage than another prescription.

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Education

From Water Bottles to “Brain Rot”: Classroom Trends Shaping Student Culture in 2026

What may sound like noise or nonsense to adults often carries meaning inside today’s classrooms. From oversized, sticker-covered water bottles to repeated phrases borrowed from online videos, small habits have become shared language among students. This is what student culture looks like heading into 2026.
Healthy Utah

A Salt Lake City Gym Uses Fitness and Community to Support Addiction Recovery

“What I think is really special about that place is that doing hard things is a way that we can become proud of ourselves,” said nursing student Vince Minutello, who has started exercising at the gym in Salt Lake City as a requirement for one of his courses.