Winter is not the favourite time of year for many individuals. The days get shorter, nights get colder, and everyone tends to spend more time at home. For plenty of people, it can lead to them to feel anything from a bit moody or out of it, to full blown ‘seasonally depressed’ (aka ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ or SAD). But why do people get seasonal depression? Read on to find out more.
What Causes the Winter Blues?
There are a number of key reasons that can lead to getting the ‘Winter Blues’. The short, dark days can make it tough to get enough sunlight. This lack of sunlight can throw off your circadian rhythm, which can lead to feelings of depression. This is especially noteworthy for people living in areas that use daylight savings. For some, Winter can also lead to a decrease in the body’s serotonin and melatonin levels. Reduced serotonin and melatonin can lead to changes in your mood, as well as depression. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to help reduce the effect and severity of SAD.
1. Hug a Loved One
Physical contact with another person, in the form of a hug, can work as a great boost to your mind. The act of getting a hug has shown to trigger the release of Oxytocin (the bonding hormone) in to your system. Most of this passed into the rest of the body, but some will stay in the brain and may help to lift your mood.
2. Exercise
Frankly, regardless of the time of year, this is probably one of the best things you can do to lift your mood. Regular mild exercise will increase dopamine in your body and help to regulate your mood. You don’t need to exhaust yourself, just exercise to the point of being a bit out of breath will do the trick. Regular exercise will also help you get a good restful sleep, which has numerous health benefits.
3. Planning Something to Look Forward To
With all the rain, darkness, and cold of Winter, social events can sometimes be few and far between. Often in Winter, we find ourselves going through the motions with nothing particularly special or interesting coming up. The combination of mundanity and loneliness can lead to feelings of frustration and isolation. A great way to overcome this is to give yourself something to look forward to. It could be a short trip away, a booking at a nice restaurant, or tickets to a show. Giving yourself this special thing to look forward to will really help to keep you looking forward and positive.
4. Practice Meditation
Even if you don’t get the Winter blues, meditation is a great idea! The benefits of meditation, regardless of the type you choose, are numerous and well reported on. Take 20 minutes per day to meditate, and over time, you will find it will bring a stillness to your mind. As a tool to beat the Winter blues, this stillness will help prevent you getting frustrated and help to regulate your mood.
5. Enhance Your Diet
Lets face it, in the cold and dark months, it can feel like a real chore to work up the energy to go and buy groceries, and then prepare a meal at home. With the plethora of food delivery options that are available to us these days, it can be tempting to just order in and relax. However, it is important to try and resist this urge, and make yourself fresh food as often as you can. By making fresh meals out of unprocessed wholefoods, you will be making sure that your body is getting the nutrients that it needs to function properly.
6. Make a ‘Gratitude List’
Instead of focusing on all the things you don’t like over Winter, remind yourself about all the aspects of your life in which you are grateful for. You can do this by writing yourself a gratitude list. A gratitude list is a great way to remind yourself of all the good things going on in your life. Whenever the Winter blues are biting and you are feeling like everything in your life is miserable, you can refer to your list. Look at a big list of things you are grateful for to help remind yourself that it’s not all bad.
7. Sip on a Warm Drink and Stay Cosy
As silly as it might sound for some, coping with the Winter blues is as simple as giving yourself enough time to rug up and enjoy a nice warm drink. Warm drinks are like a hug for your system and will invigorate you for what comes next in your day.
Most important of all, remember that Winter doesn’t last forever, and soon enough the heat will return and we will all be annoyed about how hot it is at night.
