Well, that time of year has officially begun; the chilly, rainy, grey days are upon us. And if you’re sensitive to your surrounding environment or simply hate change, then you may experience seasonal affective disorder, conveniently SAD for short. The “winter blues” come once a year and leave many feeling depressed, antisocial, and tired. These symptoms make the disorder self-diagnosable, but treatment for this seasonal sadness comes slim to none. Light therapy and visiting a therapist are the top recommendations for dealing with the disorder but can become costly, so I’ve made a short list of a few coping techniques that have helped me get through the gloomy mood that comes with the fall-winter months in the previous years.
Get outside
Although this may seem a little backwards in dealing with a weather-induced disorder, getting yourself out into the environment prevents you from making yourself a recluse for most of the season. Think of it as reverse psychology, forcing yourself out of that instinctual hibernation mode and first making an effort to expose yourself to the change in climate. Finding fall/winter activities around you makes for great motivation. A few that come to mind are ice-skating, hiking in the fall-colored forest, and bonfires. Pushing through and experiencing the cold months only make the warmer months even more enjoyable, and maybe even a small newfound love for October-February may arise. ;)
Countdown to exciting dates
November brings Thanksgiving, holidays of all religions are sprinkled throughout December, and soon after, New Years begins. Making a point to look forward to or even making a countdown for holidays and celebrations could lift your spirits just for the time being. I know these chilly months are the ones in which I see distant family members and friends from my hometown the most. The winter festivities are filled with good company and even better food, just another excuse to appreciate the gloomy months of the year.
Exercise and eat right
These top two tips for living a happy healthy life year-round can fade into staying in bed, binging those cult-classic holiday movies on Netflix, and eating your favorite comfort foods during the colder months. Keeping up the healthy habits of daily exercise and eating clean help keep you motivated and clear-headed for the chilly days ahead. I’ve personally enjoyed making smoothies in the winter to remind myself of warmer days where this fruity kind of meal made sense. I also practice yoga with a little pilates to relax and get in a good sweat before my day begins. As much as I’d love to stay snuggled up in my twin-sized bed, I’ve noticed a difference in the later parts of the days when I skip this habit and the concentration slips and fatigue sets in.
Natural light and indoor plants
If you can’t dish out $40+ on a decent light therapy box, make a point to keep blinds up and windows uncovered whenever the sun decides to make a guest appearance during those short hours of daylight. This helps keep your place warm and filled with neutral light exposure, in turn creating a cozy indoor environment for you to thrive in. A personal preference of mine is keeping a lot of greenery around my apartment, a needed distraction from the dying plants outside. Easy to maintain plants are common ivy, aloe, a snake plant, and a spider plant. These all require minimal or just window light and need to be watered 1-2 times every couple of weeks. Keeping a brighter room decorated with green plants in your living area constitute cheerier mood and setting.
Hopefully these easy methods for how to work through the mood swings caused by the change in seasons help create a reversal in the usual melancholy of the chilled months of the year. These are in no way a definite fix for seasonal depression, but after a few years of research, they have personally added positivity to my annual mood shift. Spring and summer are just around the corner. :)