Suffering From Seasonal Affective Disorder? Here’s What You Need to Do!

Mental HealthOctober 6, 2021

People do suffer from the seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or winter blues as it is more commonly known. Some people find it difficult to brave the shorter days, colder weather, and suffer from the winter season blues. Absorbing less sunlight can have a derogatory effect on the circadian rhythm, the body’s biological clock may impact the brain wave activity, and may even impact hormone production. You may feel averse to a gray, wintry day and would love to stay in bed. Older people who suffer from Raynaud’s phenomenon may be particularly sensitive to cold and this weather may be particularly harsh on them. Here are some ways to handle SAD.

Adapt and Adapt Well

What you cannot avoid you need to endure, even love it. The thought of going out into the cold weather can make a shiver run down all over your body, but you can enjoy it if you discover the various finer points of the place and the weather. We mean the regular winter activities such as ice-fishing, snowshoeing, ice-skating, and many more. Enjoy them while the fun lasts. Who knows you may start enjoying it so much that you may even fall in love with it.

Don the Bright Colors

Isn’t there a link between, feeling optimistic and donning bright colors? We don’t know about you, but we definitely feel a little better when we are feeling down and out and our mood suddenly feels better when we put on something bright and colorful. Maybe our brain then gets tricked into getting on to the spring mode. If you are someone who loves to wear only black, gray, and the occasional red in the winter season, it is time for you to explore very many colors and bring back the spring into the winter.

More Vitamin D Please

We know we have to get most of the vitamin D from the sun, it’s a good idea to supplement it during the winter months. Low vitamin D levels, can cause numerous diseases including depression. The National Institutes of Health recommends that you supplement with vitamin D for at least 600 international units (IUs) a day. Apart from stocking on vitamin D supplements, you can also gorge on certain foods such as cod liver oil, salmon, swordfish, salmon, to get your required dose of vitamin D.

Make Your Favorite Movie and Book List

Winter is a great time to catch up on books and movies that you may have wanted to read and watch all through the year but didn’t have the time. Give your friend book reading challenges, this way you’ll stay invested in reading the books and may fulfill all your reading goals. Similarly, you can watch some good old comedy films too. When the outside may be dull and gray, you can add some color and laughter to your life. There are just so many comedy films to choose from – such as Airplane, Grown-Ups, or Jack and Jill, Hangover, and many more. Believe us, you can never grow tired of watching the same old comedy movies over and over again.

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Since you are spending a lot of time inside you need to spend time with people you want to be around. The weather may be deserting you, and you may not want to be left alone by your friends too. Negativity can indeed start to get suffocating. Indeed, individuals who are surrounded by happy people are generally happier. Just a phone call to your friend can make you break into a smile or just meeting up with one who never fails to make you laugh over coffee can instantly get you into a happy mode. When our social environments are not happy enough, we tend to feel sadder and more depressive. So, if you are feeling down in the dumps, just get into the company of people who have an infectious sense of humor.

There you go, whatever may be the weather outside, you can still overcome it if you take certain steps. Do you dread the onset of winter too? So, what do you do to combat the winter blues? Do you follow these hacks? Or do you have something else to keep you active? Let us know in the comment section below.