As we enter into the depths of winter and the end of the holiday season – we enter a new level of literal darkness.
The days are the shortest (although slowly getting longer each day) and the bright lights of Christmas trees and NYE sparkle are all gone. Many people get sad or blue this time of year and it’s not an original issue.
These feelings of seasonal depression can lead to a clinical diagnosis of Seasonal Affective Disorder – or aptly abbreviated, SAD. Not everyone who feels blue during the winter months has SAD, but many of the same tools used to manage SAD can be helpful to nearly everyone.
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (also called seasonal depression) is a type of depression typically occurring in the fall and winter months. Some people experience it in the spring and summer, but typically Seasonal Affective Disorder occurs in the cooler, darker seasons.
Seasonal Affective Disorder can cause many of the same symptoms seen with clinical depression, including:
Feeling depressed most days
Loss of interest in once-loved activities
Fatigued, sluggish
Sleeping too little or sleeping too much
Appetite changes
Trouble concentrating
Feeling hopeless or worthless
You can have varying degrees of any of these symptoms, some more severe than others. Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder typically show up once days become shorter and there is less natural sunlight during the day.
According to a 2012 American Family Physician article, about 5% of the U.S. population experiences Seasonal Affective Disorder each year with symptoms for about ⅓ of the year.
How Do You Treat Seasonal Affective Disorder?
There are many ways to address Seasonal Affective Disorder ranging from natural remedies to taking prescribed medication. Even people without an official diagnosis can benefit from some of the common interventions and here are five ways to battle the winter blues.
SAD Lamps
Not actual SAD lamp, but an adorable one.
There’s a reason tanning bed salons are so popular in northern states and it’s not just to maintain a tan – the light and warmth help with seasonal depression.
But! Tanning beds cause cancer so that doesn’t really outweigh the benefit. This is where light therapy boxes come in.
Light therapy boxes are an easy way to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder and are considered a first-line treatment for patients with SAD. Their purpose is to mimic sunlight in an effort to improve your mood and reduce symptoms of SAD. They’re usually affordable and something you can use year after year making SAD lamps a cost-effective treatment option for seasonal depression.
Choosing your favorite style as well as light intensity are a couple of things to consider when shopping for a light therapy box, or SAD lamp. According to Mayo Clinic, you want a lightbox that provides exposure to up to 10,000 lux of light while emitting as little UV light as possible. You can usually find this info in the fine print of the product deets.
Using a SAD lamp in the morning for 20-30 minutes is ideal, think of it as a way to help wake up your brain and improve your mood. You don’t need to be staring directly into the lamp, you just want it to be around you. A few ways you can use your SAD lamp include:
Turn it on in your bathroom while you get ready in the morning
Do something you enjoy with it nearby like baking, knitting, or watching TV
Have it on while you study and use it as a desk lamp
You can find them in various shapes and sizes, so find one that works for your personal style or preference. SAD lamps aren’t FDA-approved, but there is very little risk to using them if you’re using a light therapy box that filters out most or all UV light.
2. Physical Activity
Although exercise as a form of mental health treatment has mostly been explored with general depression rather than seasonal depression, there’s no denying the benefit being active has on your mood.
There have been a few studies looking at the specific benefits of exercise on Seasonal Affective Disorder. One study compared the effectiveness of light therapy versus physical activity in patients with SAD found them to be equally beneficial.
Being active in the morning rather than later in the day can be more helpful when it comes to SAD. This can include walking, biking, weight lifting, or doing yoga to name a few. Pretty much anything that gets your heart rate going and breaking a sweat helps boost your mood and fight off the wintertime blues.
3. Social Connection
Spring and summer are usually filled with festivals, concerts, and vacations. November and December are full of reasons to gather and celebrate. These holiday months are rife with gathering, merriment, and annoying your favorite family members.
But as the champagne flattens and balloons deflate – January, February, and March can leave a larger than normal social gap.
Big group gatherings lessen in the colder months too because it's harder to get together when you have to stick to indoor settings.
And when you’re depressed or blue, feeling lonely comes with the territory (even in a room full of people). This is why cultivating good social connections can help battle depression. It’s been proven when people feel connected and part of something bigger, they’re happier.
Your social group doesn’t have to include a large number of people, you just have to find your people. This can be a text thread where you send silly memes and check in on each other. Or a once a week wine and dine group. Or an accountability partner helping you focus on a passion, hobby, or side hustle.
But by staying connected and finding people you trust and feel safe with – you’re more likely to share when things aren’t going great. You can talk about hard stuff with your people. They help you carry the weight of whatever is going on or simply sit with you while you carry it.
4. Medications for SAD
Antidepressants can be used in addition to SAD lamps for the treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder. There isn’t a ton of evidence supporting the use of antidepressants alone in the treatment, so it’s important to continue using light therapy even if you’ve started a medication.
Many patients start medication for Seasonal Affective Disorder in the early fall to prevent symptoms as it takes a few weeks for the full effect of the antidepressant. Once spring comes along and the days are longer, people will often slowly taper off for the spring and summer.
If you think you need medication as a tool to get through the winter months, reach out to your healthcare provider.
Working with a healthcare professional means you can have a candid conversation about what you’re feeling and how you’re coping. They can also help you find a counselor or therapist to try additional therapy options so you can feel confident heading into the seasons.
5. Listen to the Rhythm of the Seasons
Now that you know a little more ways to manage it – hopefully you feel more at ease about how emotions change with the seasons.
That being said, also allow some grace to experience those feelings – it’s natural to slow down in the fall and winter months. After all, many animals hibernate during the winter. They sleep, their heart rate and breathing rate slow way down, their body temperature drops, and their digestive system nearly stops (if you want more cool facts about hibernation, check out this article by the Australian Academy of Science).
Animals are recovering, surviving, and planning for the spring ahead. So take some advice from the animals and allow the slower pace to soothe rather than irritate your soul.
Take more time for reflection (New Year’s resolutions ring a bell?), celebration, and recovery. This can look like a long walk, a hot yoga class, or taking an extra 2 minutes in the steamy shower ‘just because’.
Look, Here Comes the Sun
If you find yourself in the depths of winter depression, hopefully, this list sheds some proverbial light on ways to feel better. Some days will be easier than others, and that’s just how life goes.
We can’t escape the ebb and flow of nature, no matter how much we try (unless we spend our year traveling across the hemispheres).
As time has shown for thousands of years, winter will eventually turn into spring and summer. The days will become longer and warmer. The air will be less harsh with less bite.
But until then, stay warm, cozy, and comforted.
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