If shorter days and colder temperatures cause you to feel the winter blues, you’re not alone. It’s not uncommon to experience sadness, fatigue, loss of interest in usual activities, difficulty concentrating and a disruption in your sleep pattern during the winter season.
For some, this mood change is short-lived and easily managed with lifestyle adjustments. But, for others, the winter blues can turn into a more severe type of depression called seasonal affective disorder or SAD (more on this later). Regardless of the severity, there are things you can do to help conquer the winter blues.
Tips to Help Beat the Winter Blues
Keep Up Your Sleep Routine
Sleep has a major effect on mood. Without adequate, regular sleep, our circadian rhythm can get disrupted, which also disrupts cortisol rhythms and impacts hormone production. To improve your sleep:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Follow a regular bedtime routine that signifies rest, such as brushing teeth, reading, turning down the lights, taking a bath or drinking a cup of herbal tea. Whatever helps you feel most relaxed.
- Expose yourself to light as soon as you wake up.
Boost Your Mood with Food
One way to help improve your mood is to make healthy food choices. For example, eating protein with your meals can enhance mood and prevent sugar and carb cravings later in the day.
Including foods high in vitamin D such as fish, and vitamin D fortified foods like milk, orange juice, breakfast cereal and yogurt can help balance your mood.
You might also want to talk to your doctor about taking a Vitamin D supplement, especially during the winter months.
Get Physical
Staying active has been shown to boost mood and decrease the symptoms of depression and stress. Try to work up to 30 to 60 minutes a day of an activity you enjoy.
Seek Out the Sun
Getting outside daily, even for a few minutes a day, can make a huge impact on your mood and help target the specific symptoms of SAD related to a lack of daylight.
Being in the sunlight helps balance serotonin activity, increases melatonin production, balances your circadian rhythm and increases vitamin D levels, which can lead to an improved emotional state.
If you cannot get outdoors, move a chair, workstation or kitchen table next to a window that gets sunlight. Aim to sit in this location for at least one to two hours a day.
Call On Your Support System
Loneliness and isolation tend to make the effects of the winter blues worse. That’s why your support system, which may include family, friends, neighbors and co-workers should be on speed dial. Finding a way to spend time with supportive people is key to boosting your mood. This may include walks outdoors, talking on the phone or virtual dates.
Seek Professional Help
If lifestyle modifications and other basic self-care interventions do not provide enough relief from the winter blues, you may be dealing with a more serious case of the seasonal depression known as SAD, and it may be time to consider seeking professional help. Psychotherapy is highly recommended to treat depressive disorders and would likely benefit any individual suffering from SAD.
Unlike the winter blues, SAD affects your daily life, including how you feel and think. Fortunately, treatment can help you get through this challenging time. Treatments include light therapy, talk therapy and antidepressants.
Light Therapy
Since the 1980s, light therapy has been a mainstay for treating winter-pattern SAD. It aims to expose people with SAD to a bright light to make up for the diminished natural sunlight in darker months.
For this treatment, the person sits in front of a very bright light box (10,000 lux) every day for about 30−45 minutes, usually first thing in the morning, from fall to spring. The light box, which is about 20 times brighter than ordinary indoor light, filters out the potentially damaging UV light, making this a safe treatment for most.
