During the school year, students’ brains and nervous systems can be overwhelmed for many reasons. But when summer comes, there aren’t any deadlines or grades to worry about. 

Less Stress

For many students, school is like a treadmill that keeps running and never stops. You feel the pressure to do well each time there is something assigned to you, from tests, quizzes, and projects; the pressure of having to get good grades can be overwhelming. Even though school does provide structure, the relentless stress of deadlines and assignments causes many students to experience stress.

Increased Rest

Not only about grades for students, but sleep too, having to be at school so early in the morning when staying up studying for the test or quiz you have the next day, kids are exhausted, they are sleep-deprived throughout each semester. Teenagers usually want to stay up late anyway, and this could already mess up their sleep cycle because they have school early in the morning. Then, compared to summer, they can stay up as late as they want and sleep in as late as they want.

Weather

In addition to less stress, the weather in the summer is the nicest, which can positively increase mood. “When the weather gets too hot, we start seeing some real impacts on mental health.” As shown in Hartford Healthcare studies, when the weather is better, mental health is better as well. Not only does summer give you breaks, but it also brings warm and sunny weather, and weather can impact mental health, too. Vitamin D also plays a big part in mental health.

“Approximately 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency,” which can lead to people developing SAD, or seasonal depression. This is because they might not see the sun a lot, so it causes them to feel sad.

I talked to multiple people about this, one being my sister Kaela, and she agreed that during the summer, her mental health improves and is better overall. She stated, “Weather makes my mood better, and I don’t have to be stressed about my grades.” She said that without school, there is nothing to stress about, she can feel relaxed, and when the weather is better, she feels better in general, which I completely agree with.

Time for Fun and Social Connection

When summer comes around, there are more opportunities for fun and social connections. Without the requirement to attend school and complete all that 

 Here, your brain can just have fun, do what you want, without having to worry about school or waking up early the next day. Your brain is quite literally relaxed during summer due to many things, but when in school, your brain has to constantly be working. 

Therefore, students’ mental health improves in the summer. Students have the freedom to do the things that they want, instead of spending their time looking at textbooks and checking grades every class. During the summer, students feel less stress, or no stress at all, because they don’t have anything to worry about. 

Article Sources:

https://stvincents.org/about-us/news-press/news-detail?articleId=65405&publicid=395

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15050-vitamin-d-vitamin-d-deficiency