Even though the snow is melting, everything we've been through this winter is fresh in our minds. We often talk about the health problems in winter -- including seasonal affective disorder and increases in respiratory problems and cardiac events because of shoveling. But one psychologist's research says there could actually be a benefit to these adverse events.

"For some people who suffer damage from, you know, their roof collapsing, or really being stranded for days at a time, this really doesn't differ that much from a tornado coming through town,” said Mark Seery Ph.D, a UB psychology associate professor.

Some of Seery's research looks at how people's negative experiences, like a severe winter, relate to their overall well-being.

"People who had experienced a lot of adversity, really the high level -- that wasn't great either. But there's a happy medium there where having dealt with some difficult life circumstances seems to leave people better prepared with subsequent stressful things," said Seery.

In his experiment, those who had some adverse experiences reported feeling less pain and less negative feelings when they put their hand in a bucket of icy water. The benefits of that adversity expand beyond.

"It's not just I'm comparing well I made it through these worse things, so it's not as bad, they're actually approaching these stressful situations differently. Just having the perception of having some control available, previous research has shown, has a lot of benefits for coping. My suspicion is having this previous experience with adversity leaves people better equipped to find that control. That can provide a little bit of hope for people who otherwise having trouble seeing hope. It's easy to imagine, when we're experiencing something negative that's bringing us down, that that's never going to change," said Seery.

Experts say focusing on what you can control right now, and trying a new winter activity, like snowshoeing, will have immediate benefits. And you can train yourself to adapt better.

"Going outside, coming back in. Not cold all the time. But periodically having this very negative cold experience can also toughen people up," said

Researchers still aren't sure about an exact timeframe for seeing a benefit to having adversity in their lives. It could take years.