Spring fever — that fabled and catchable infection that hits each year as flowers bud and temperatures rise — has often been attributed as the cause for students’ wandering focuses and restless desires.
Matthew Vess, an assistant professor in psychology, said spring fever was historically associated with actual illness.
“People speculated it was due to vitamin deficiencies,” he said. “In the winter, people didn’t have as much access to the sun, fruits and vegetables and, as a result, would become ill.”
Taking on new meaning through the years, spring fever is now something that describes a common experience, Vess said.
“It’s a general restlessness or fluctuations in mood and energy that come on as spring emerges,” he said. “It’s not an actual illness; it’s more just something that we call whatever happens to us in the spring.”
Valorie Worthy, an assistant professor of medieval renaissance literature, said she notices a change in her student’s behavior each Spring Quarter.
“How could we all not be moved by the beauty of spring’s return?” she said. “It is the archetypal cycle that gives us all hope to anticipate that spring will come again and that life will improve and we will move forward with our lives.”
Although many say they have encountered spring fever, the phenomenon is supported by biological and hormonal evidence, Vess added.
“Hormonal changes do occur with the changing of the seasons, which would certainly underlay and explain these effects,” he said. “Temperature plays a role; there is a lot of research showing that when the temperature is warm, people tend to be happier.”
According to Dr. Norman Rosenthal of the National Institute of Mental Health, spring fever could be a biological response to Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Erin Craig, a sophomore studying psychology, said she sees Athens change along with the season.
“I feel like when the sun comes out and it’s nice, everyone wants to go out and do something,” she said. “Winter Quarter is just so cold and miserable. People tend to just stay inside and hibernate.”
The study also found that the warm weather and increased activity might also release more endorphins in the brain — a hormonal high.
Spring fever has been frequently mentioned in literature — for good reason, Worthy said.
“Spring fever is our response to all of this and the longing that comes with it,” she said. “The wanderlust that leads one to want to travel, the sap rising that causes romantic yearning. ... We all have or do experience it, I hope.”
The added physical activity associated with spring also improves moods, Vess said.
“In the winter, energy levels are low,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of light; you can’t really get out and be active. But in the springtime, you can.”
Worthy said springtime in Athens is especially striking.
“Who could not pass by the cherry trees blooming by the (Hocking) River and not be revivified by their splendor?”
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