It’s reaching that time of year again when the days get shorter, the air gets colder and mental health declines. Gone are the long, hot days of summer spent with friends and relaxing. Your days are now filled with school, stress and a feeling of recurring seasonal depression. Seasonal depression occurs annually around the holiday season and often continues throughout the new year until the weather gets warmer again. It’s a difficult and stressful time for some and often feels inevitable. However, there are a few things you can do this year to see if you can try to avoid, or lessen seasonal depression.
Create a Happier Habitat
In the colder weather, you end up forcibly spending a lot of time indoors studying or hiding from the snow. Your bedroom can start to feel like a prison cell as if you’re locked away hibernating for the winter. One method you can try to avoid seasonal depression is to redecorate your space to create a warmer and happier environment. Add a bit more colour, cozy blankets and things to visually stimulate your mind into a happier state. The amount of time you spend inside increases substantially in the winter, so you might as well make the best of it.
Journaling
In the summer, you want to spend as much time as possible doing things with friends and enjoying every moment but in the winter there are often fewer options for things to go and do. One indoor activity that assists in mental health is journaling. Some may think of this as a daunting task, especially if you aren’t a writer or have previously not been interested in writing. Journaling can come in a variety of formats including simple daily storytelling journals, gratitude journals, manifestation journals and even photo journals. If you’re going through a tough time this winter, sometimes writing out how you feel can relieve a lot of the stress as well as help you work through any tough emotions you’re feeling.
Move your Body
Exercise is one of the best ways to improve mental and physical health but is extremely underrated in the former. It may be difficult to get outside and go for a walk or a run in the winter but there are a variety of ways in which you can move your body to improve your health. For instance, getting a gym membership during the winter months can give you a good indoor hobby to pick up. If you have no access to a gym, there are a variety of online workouts to do from home including fun dance workouts you can do with friends. Making sure you move your body at least a bit every day is the key to stabilizing both your mental and physical health during these difficult months.
Find a New Hobby
The wintertime is a perfect opportunity to pick up a hobby you haven’t tried before. Whether this is knitting, baking, reading, writing or painting, your time spent indoors can be enjoyable with the assistance of a new creative project. Finding a passion project that isn’t just school and work can create a good balance in your life, especially during the months when it’s harder to find social activities to take part in. Even if it’s something you’re not exactly great at, that’s okay! You may even discover yourself getting better at and loving the new hobby in the end.
Listen to Podcasts
I was never an avid podcast listener until recently, and now my daily podcast listening is something I look forward to. They have helped change my mindset in the most positive ways possible. There are podcasts for every person, with themes such as gossip, true crime and self-help. The ones which changed my mindset and made my days start a little better are Emma Chamberlain’s Anything Goes podcast and Lexi Hidalgo’s Moments Podcast. These two podcasts single-handedly made my mindset change about so many different things in life and overall made me feel happier and calmer after listening to them.
Seasonal depression may be a difficult thing to try to prevent but with a little determination and trying different methods to lessen the symptoms, it can be done. Prioritizing yourself and allowing yourself to get the proper self-care and time to relax is key during this season. Knowing that you probably won’t be your best self during these months and accepting that that’s perfectly fine is the first step to having a calmer and more stress-free winter season. It’s a difficult time for many and making sure you’re easy on yourself will help to ensure your mental health will remain stable during this tough time.