This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing weekly perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
Aaron Surma leads the Juneau chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI. He said winters in Juneau can be tough, and it takes creativity — and small steps — to keep your mental health strong when it’s dark and cold.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Aaron Surma: I just see it as people turning into molasses. It’s just — you slow down, you hunker down. And like, there’s pieces of the hunkering down that can be charming or pleasant. But I think it also speaks to people losing their routine, losing what was working for them, the other six, seven, eight months of the year, where the weather was less difficult, where there was more sunshine.
My name is Aaron Surma. I’m the Executive Director of NAMI Juneau.
I’ve been addressing my own mental health, like, actively doing it for 25 years, and like, just like feeling the effects of my crummy mental health for multiple years before that. And I have probably done most of the things that exist. I’ve been in inpatient treatment. I’ve seen therapists. I’ve taken medications. I’ve gone to support groups. I’ve done a lot of the stuff that you can and I’ve just done like things in my life to also improve my mental health.
And it’s been a ton of trial and error, and I think it’s some trial and error that came out of me not having any help or guidance along the way. So I think my main motivation is I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what worked for me, and I hope that I can be helpful to other people so they don’t spend as much time, kind of like spinning their wheels, so to speak, trying to figure out how they can feel better than they feel.
I would think about what works for you in summer, and how can you replicate some of that stuff? Like, for me, being around other people is really important, and it’s easy in summer to be spontaneous and like, “Hey, it’s a nice day out. Let’s all go have a bonfire at this place at 7pm today.” And that seems achievable. There’s a lot more spontaneous social interaction that I have with my friends in the summer that doesn’t happen in the winter. And so having things that are scheduled helps me to still get my social needs met.
So I turned into a much bigger jock than I’ve ever been in my life, once I moved to Juneau. I started playing a ton of sports. I played basketball sometimes before moving here, but I really crave that teamwork, connection and social engagement, and that’s one great way to do it — especially in the winter.
What is something that you know will feel good if you do it that seems achievable? And there’s like a classic example of just making your bed in the morning, so you give yourself one gold star for the day, or check off one thing on your to-do list.
Just what does feel realistic? Is it just going outside and looking around for 10 minutes and coming back in, just so you don’t feel stuck in your house? Maybe that’s the thing. And I think that that stuff does snowball.
But when I feel stuck — just walking outside, it’s like, “Oh yeah, there’s a whole world out here. I am not just inside the four walls of whatever room I’m in.” And so I think just going outside for one minute is meaningful for me.
A lot of people are feeling stuck in the winter, and those invites to do something — and just explicitly saying, like, “hey, let’s just get out of the house and let’s do this thing,” even if it’s small. Even if it’s let’s have a cup of coffee together. Let’s have a cigarette together. Whatever it is, making those choices feels good. Those are small, achievable things. It’s nice to feel like you’re in it with other people.
Many people who choose to live here choose to live here because of the summer stuff, and you aren’t doing that stuff anymore, it feels like there’s less options. When it’s raining sideways and 35 degrees, the world doesn’t feel as accessible. And so I think those lifestyle things are meaningful and real as well.