Beating the Winter Blues: How to Thrive Throughout the Season
If you’re feeling down this winter, you’re not alone.
January can be a hard time for many people - the holidays are over, the days (while getting longer) are still short, flu season is in full swing, and it can be challenging to feel motivated to get outside.
This January has been particularly trying in Toronto, where on January 13th a record was set for 22 straight days without sunshine. And even when there are bright days in January, the sunshine typically lasts for only a few hours, which are conveniently sandwiched in the workday. Sigh.
Although it may take more conscious planning, the winter months don’t necessarily have to coincide with suffering. An underlying belief of mine is that you always have a choice to engage in practices that can impact your mood and wellbeing.
Positive mental health practices can include the things that you do and the ways that you choose to reframe or accept a distressing situation.
If you’re struggling this winter, read on to find out about the difference between the winter blues and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and five practical ways that you can start feeling better today.
Winter Coping Spectrum – Winter Blues vs. Seasonal Affective Disorder
For some people, seasonal shifts in mood and energy can be initially unpleasant, but straightforward to manage. It can take some time to get used to gearing up before going outside, brushing snow off the car, or overheating on transit. For some people, like those who actually enjoy winter, these challenges are met with acceptance, knowing that inconveniences are made up for by all that the season has to offer. The odd few people that I’ve met in this category tend to be outdoor sports enthusiasts (just in case you’re wondering), and even these folks will have low-mood days in the winter.
Other people feel the weight of winter more seriously. Maybe the symptoms aren’t severe enough to seek a doctor’s opinion, but the effects are experienced as a lack of motivation, energy, and low mood some of the time.
The main difference between the “winter blues” and seasonal affective disorder is the frequency and severity of symptoms and the disruption that these symptoms cause in people’s lives.
Having a diagnosis of seasonal affective disorder is a diagnosis of major depression that comes with the onset of a season – usually the fall, with symptoms remitting in the spring.
If you feel that you have bad days or moments in the winter, I want you to know that that’s within the realm of normal. It’s normal to feel sad in the winter sometimes.
If you’re worried that your mood may meet a threshold beyond what is “typical”, it may be useful to have a look at the symptoms of depression with seasonal patterns as outlined by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Symptoms of major depression include:
Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day
Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
Experiencing changes in appetite or weight
Having problems with sleep
Feeling sluggish or agitated
Having low energy
Feeling hopeless or worthless
Having difficulty concentrating
Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide
Symptoms of winter-pattern depression can also include:
Oversleeping (hypersomnia)
Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates
Weight gain
Social withdrawal (feeling like “hibernating”)
If you think you may be suffering from major depression with seasonal patterns, please speak to your doctor or a mental health professional immediately. There are well researched treatments to provide relief, and you don’t have to suffer alone.
If you’re feeling the winter blues, read on to learn a few ways that you can make the best of the season.
TIP 1: TURN UP THE LIGHT
Research shows that depressive symptoms can be triggered by a drop in daily sunlight exposure. Exposure to sunshine in the morning regulates the body’s circadian rhythm, the body’s 24-hour clock that influences wakefulness and sleepiness, hormonal activity, digestion, and other important bodily functions.
Going for a stroll in the morning is a great way to balance the body’s natural rhythm. Even on a cloudy day, this can contribute to an increase in daytime energy and a better night’s sleep.
However, if time constrains or worries about walking in icy conditions make going outside a challenge, you may be surprised to learn that bright light therapy can be an effective way to bring the sunshine in.
Far from being a fringe treatment, bright light therapy is now recognized as a first-line therapeutic modality for seasonal affective disorder.
An article published in Harvard Health in 2022 outlines bright light therapy, which involves sitting in front of a light box for 30 minutes each morning, as soon as possible after waking up
Across a range of articles that I’ve read, research demonstrates that symptoms can improve in as early as one week, with minimal side effects (although you should contact your doctor before using bright light therapy to ensure that there is no contra-indication based on your unique health needs).
If you’re interested in trying out a light box, I recommend this article that can help you pick one based on specifications for effectiveness, which can be found here.
TIP 2: WATCH OUT FOR THESE COGNITIVE ERRORS
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is recommended as an adjunct treatment to bright light therapy for seasonal affective disorder. CBT involves becoming aware of your thoughts and challenging common thinking mistakes that contribute to mental health challenges. I’ve listed a few cognitive errors that people experience as they relate to winter. I challenge you to see whether you’ve fallen into these thinking traps, and to practice reframing your thinking around winter.
Black and white thinking: This type of thinking involves seeing something in all-or-nothing terms, without any grey area in between. Black and white thinking often fuels perfectionism – if something isn’t done exactly the way you want it, there’s no use in doing it at all. As it relates to the winter blues, you may say something like “it’s a miserable day outside, I’m not doing anything today”. Reframing this thought may look like “I can shift my activities to align with the weather outside. There are still things I can do to stay involved and active”.
Catastrophizing: Catastrophizing involves believing that the situation at hand is worse than it actually is, with the difficulties exaggerated. A thinking mistake in the winter may look like “it’s too icy to go outside today, I’m going to be at home forever!” Reframing this thought may look like “I’ll have to do an indoor activity today, and I’m curious to see how long the ice will last” or “January is almost over, April will be here before I know it”.
Labelling: Labelling involves taking one characteristic and applying it globally. Thinking about the winter in labelling terms could look like saying “winter is the worst”. Reframing this thought could sound like “I’m learning to change my relationship to the colder, darker, months. This year I’m going to focus on keeping cozy and finding comfort”.
TIP 3: GET MOVING
While the winter months may have you wanting to hibernate, getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise three times a week is essential to staying mentally healthy. If you need some support to overcome the barriers to starting a physical practice or maintaining motivation, check out my article about exercise for mental health here.
TIP 4: PRACTICE ACCEPTANCE
Thriving through the winter does NOT look like practicing toxic positivity. The goal isn’t to trick yourself into liking something that you don’t. It’s important, however, to differentiate pain from suffering, and to know that the way that you frame an uncomfortable situation can make that situation worse.
Pain includes the things that you can’t control in life - illness, aging, a colleague you don’t get along with, or the weather.
Suffering is the tension that is created around the pain – lamenting having a cold, fixating on wrinkles, gossiping about your colleague, and feeling distressed about the weather.
I can’t deny that winter in Toronto can be difficult to deal with. AND, it may be useful to notice that your thoughts and attitude, while initially arising in a way that you’ve been conditioned to react, does not have to be the way that you choose to respond.
TIP 5: STICK TO A STRUCTURE, WITH ROOM FOR FLEXIBILITY
A part of practicing positive mental health means that you have to prioritize it and book it into your calendar. This could look like figuring out which days you’re going to go for that morning walk, taking the time to journal as a way of becoming more aware of your thoughts, or booking regular therapy sessions to engage in the practices outlined in this article with support and accountability.
No matter what practices you choose to engage in, be kind to yourself if plans need to change. If a blizzard happens and you’re not comfortable driving to the gym, it’s okay to practice flexibility and reschedule. You can do your best to set up a nourishing structure, but you can’t predict the weather.
I sincerely hope that you’ve found this article useful and that you feel inspired to practice positive mental health all year long.
If you’d like to book a therapy session, join the waitlist here. I look forward to hearing from you.