Are grayer skies and colder temperatures making you blue? If so, you’re not alone. It’s common to feel winter depression, when the days get shorter, the nights get longer, and a lack of daylight causes hormonal changes in our bodies that lead to negative shifts in mood.
You might be able to pinpoint other specific qualities of the colder season that make you unhappy, such as a reduced ability to enjoy the outdoors, a minimization of opportunities to exercise, additional chores like shoveling and snow blowing, and a longer commute on slippery roads.
For many people, it’s even worse as they suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), defined as a type of clinical depression that presents itself only during the fall and winter.
According to Michael Terman, a psychologist and director of New York City’s Presbyterian Hospital Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms, SAD is a very serious affliction marked by poor mood, anxiety, physical and mental fatigue, depression and lowered sex drive.
Proven Ways to Cope with Winter Depression
Fortunately, there are ways to combat seasonal affective disorder and less-severe versions of it without resorting to antidepressants or an expensive extended vacation to a more tropical locale. Here are five ways to beat winter depression, all courtesy of SAD expert Dr. Terman:
1. Maintain Consistent Sleep Hours
If your work schedule and family obligations allow for it, it’s best to maintain the same sleep hours every day of the week – and that includes weekdays as well as weekends. Although it may be tempting to sleep in indefinitely on Saturday and Sunday mornings, doing so can throw your internal body clock out of whack. You’ll have more difficulty getting to sleep on Sunday evening, which could make for a dreary start to your work week.
Along these same lines, it can be useful to wake up as close to sunrise as possible. The goal is to shift your waking hours so that they match daylight hours. This will combat the effect that 6pm or even 5pm darkness has on your body and mind.
2. Maintain Consistent Eating Times
Your internal biological clock is affected by the timing of your eating just as it’s affected by the timing of your sleeping. Consistency is one of the keys to fighting anything from mild winter sadness to full-blown seasonal affective disorder.
If you’re accustomed to eating a late dinner, consider changing that as well. Try to consistently eat dinner well before 8pm each night (6pm or even 5pm would be ideal), giving you more time to unwind in the evening before retiring to bed.
3. Get Outside
Yes, I know it’s cold. Your best bet is to bundle up and brave the elements anyway. That’s because the main factor behind the fall and winter blues is a lack of natural sunlight. Even when the sky is overcast, some of the sun’s UV rays manage to break through and provide similar effects to the summer sun. A lack of exercise is certainly a factor as well. You can kill two birds with one stone by getting outside and exercising during daylight hours.
Your choice of physical activities will largely depend on your climate. If you live in an area with lots of snow accumulation, exercise types such as snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, snowboarding and even a good ole’ fashioned snowball fight will fit the bill. If you live in a drier area, get out and walk, jog or run.
If you simply can’t bare the cold, exercising indoors at a gym or in your home fitness area is far better than not exercising at all, even if it means getting little sunlight. Again, consistency is key, so it’s best to exercise at the same times each day.
4. Consider Buying a Light-Therapy Box
This tip is a little more drastic, if only because it requires spending actual money, but it may be well worth the cash for those with more serious forms of seasonal depression. A light-therapy box, also known as a light box, is a simple device that emits bright, natural light, mimicking the light emitted from the sun.
According to Therman, the ideal application of a light-therapy box is to use it for roughly 30 minutes each day before work, preferably as part of your morning breakfast routine. The natural light will help to keep you energized throughout the day while minimizing mood swings.
It’s important to note that some light boxes are better than others. Look for one that’s backed by clinical testing and offers broad illumination when positioned out of your line of sight, allowing you to avoid looking directly into the intense light. Light boxes with smooth diffusion and UV radiation filtering are best, says Therman.
5. Install Light Bulbs With Appropriate Color Temperature
Whether or not you purchase a light-therapy box, you can take some inexpensive steps to modify the lighting throughout the rest of your home. The next time you’re at a department store, browse the light bulb aisle and look for bulbs with a color temperature of roughly 4,100 Kelvin. Higher color temperatures provide increasingly unnatural light, and Therman recommends staying away from any bulbs with a color temperature exceeding 5,500 Kelvin.
Don’t be tricked by advertising recommending full-spectrum bulbs as a means of fighting seasonal depression. They’re roughly ten times as expensive as normal light bulbs, and they’re so uncomfortably bright and glaring that they may do more harm than good, even if the light appears more natural.
Winter Depression: The Bottom Line
If winter has you feeling down, then consistency may be a step in the right direction. That means regular exercise, regular sunlight, regular eating hours and a regular sleep schedule. Purchasing natural-esque indoor light sources including bulbs with a color temperature of 4,100 Kelvin and a light-therapy box may help as well, if you can afford the added expense.
If you’re still feeling blue after following these tips, then it may be a good time to consult your medical physician. You may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a very real form of clinical depression that calls for professional treatment.
