How to Battle SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) This Winter
Every winter it’s the same story. Bad weather, cold temperatures, and daylight that lessens each day. During this time of year, it’s common for us to notice a significant decrease in our moods. After all, as human beings our brains crave the serotonin that sunlight and exercise give us which can be much harder to come by in the winter. The phenomenon of feeling blue during this season isn’t uncommon, in fact around 20% of us experience a mild case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during this time. Being in a northern state like Washington also doesn’t help. Struggling with SAD is seven times more common here than it is in sunnier states like California and Florida. So what does this mean for those of us in Washington that tend to get hit particularly hard by SAD? We can move to a sunnier state and skip winter entirely (just kidding!), or we can try and incorporate a few tips into our lives that help us prevent SAD from affecting our daily lives. Today we’re discussing five tips to battle SAD this winter!
1.Expose yourself to sunlight or light therapy
Our bodies and minds crave sunlight. As previously mentioned, spending time in the sun gives our brains a serotonin boost. This can be hard to do when there’s only an average of nine hours of sunlight during the day. For those of us that work a typical 9-5, this can mean we might spend all daylight hours at work. But, any sort of sunlight is better than none. So, if possible, work near or next to a window. Or, go for a walk outside on your lunch break; even if the weather is bad, any exposure will help. Artificial sunlight, also known as light therapy, can also be extremely beneficial during the winter. A light therapy lamp is relatively affordable, and sitting in front of it for 30 minutes a day triggers the same serotonin boost in our brains that actual sunlight does.
2. Try to eat a well-balanced diet
Eating a well-balanced diet made up of nutritionally dense foods can actually help boost your mood. This is because these foods help our body reach its necessary daily intake of vitamins and minerals and promotes the growth of good bacteria in our body, which in turn positively increases the production of chemicals in our brain that make us feel better.
3. Avoid drugs and alcohol
While this partially goes with the previous tip of eating a well-balanced diet, avoiding drugs and alcohol is also important because they are depressants. This means that while they may provide immediate relief when we’re feeling down, they actually make us feel more depressed the day after. When dealing with seasonal depression, it’s important to try and not add additional depressants to our lives when trying to feel better in the long term.
4. Make plans to do things with people you love
Maintaining a social life during the winter is one of the best things we can do for seasonal depression. Winter can make us feel isolated and withdrawn and it’s important to fight this by making plans with people who make us feel good. Whether it’s friends or family, having social events to look forward to and regular social interaction will help feelings of isolation and self doubt subside. Any in-person interaction is good, it doesn’t have to be a big event or night out which can feel overwhelming if you’re already dealing with some feelings of SAD. Instead, try to plan low effort but fun things like movie nights, dinner at a restaurant, or a game night. Being around people we love is a great way to boost our mood without having to exert too much social or emotional energy.
5. Set realistic expectations for yourself
When going through a rough patch mentally it’s easy to make yourself feel even worse by being too hard on yourself. During the winter it can be hard to find motivation to do anything, let alone the things you need to do to maintain your life. When battling SAD, it’s important to have realistic expectations for yourself. For example, if you have chores around your house you need to do, don’t try and make yourself do it all in one day and be upset with yourself when it doesn’t happen. Instead, try breaking the tasks up over the course of a few days so they feel more manageable. Setting realistic expectations for yourself is also important when it comes to your diet. Instead of being mad at yourself if you don’t eat super healthy every day, try incorporating fruits and veggies into some of your favorite comfort meals and slowly increasing the amount of days you cook or make an effort to focus on eating nutrient dense meals. Over time, these will feel less challenging and you may be able to change or increase the expectations you set for yourself. Being kind to yourself by setting realistic expectations.
While seasonal depression is normal, it shouldn’t last forever. If you’re noticing your symptoms are persisting longer than a couple months or seem worse than average descriptions of SAD or past winters, it may be time to seek help. Book your free consultation with us today and see if we’re a good fit!