The SAD Winter Blues

I may not speak for all, but I find the weather in middle of the year – from around May until November – really takes a battering on my mental health and well-being. The lack of sunlight, clouds, rain, frost, ice, dark mornings – none of that makes me excited about this time of year.

The depression hits harder than usual, motivation is hard to muster, the line between keeping afloat and drowning gets thinner and more difficult. Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a type of mood disorder, medically classified as, “mood changes and symptoms that are similar to depression where the symptoms usually occur during the winter and autumn months”. This is much more than being sad, but where mood and behaviour changes can be so intense and overwhelming whereby daily functioning and living is impacted.

I am a lover of getting outside, soaking up the sunshine, breathing in the fresh fair – for me these are the little things that make my day that much easier to get through. The walks around University where I’m not in five layers or getting absolutely drenched, the warm environment when I’m at work, the amazingly-tasty summer berries and stone fruit, heck – having to wear sunscreen when I’m outside; all these seemingly small things a part of a normal day that we would normally take for granted are things that make my day.

When the middle of the year hits, the little things that make my day become either impossible or occur once or twice in a month. This leads me to trying to find some creative solutions to avoiding the depths of my mood and behaviour changes coming to fruition.

While I am no magician that can pull sunny days or fresh berries out my behind, there are some hacks I have stumbled upon to avoid any disorder/ed behaviours.

• Fresh cold air is better than no fresh air. Sometimes, the crisp air combined with a brisk walk can surprisingly get you feeling rather chipper and, especially in the morning, can put your feet in the right direction for a positive (or at least less shit) day

• When the sun gets out – so do you, regardless for how short or long that period may be. Be like sunflowers; where the sun goes, follow it – 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes, it does not matter! You chase those beautiful rays of gleaming warmth and happiness and tell anyone who gets in your way to back off. Your boyfriend or teacher will understand – if they don’t, make them!

• If exercising is your thing, switch from the outdoor arena to indoor venues such as the gym. Getting those endorphins going regardless of how or where they come from can get you a good buzz that sets your day, or evening off right

• Frozen berries may not be as good as fresh, but they come bloody close to it. Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries – any berry can happily get in my belly!

• A little bit of tinted moisturiser to bring back that ‘summer glow’ can make you feel a bit better about yourself. Sometimes, it is not the sun we miss, but rather the products of what summer gives us. If you keep a manicure, pedicure, or a wax during the summer, keep those things going during the winter – make your body feel and look as if summer never stopped happening

• If you have a fire, use it. The crackling noise and seeing a burning flame can be very warming. If a real fire is not possible, YouTube or buy a DVD of one, they are bloody magical. When we cannot find the warmth from the sun, a fire is the next best thing.

• Embrace the small list of things good about the colder months. For me, this includes: warming soups, hot curries, tangy tamarillos, sipping cups of tea while being rugged up with a blanket, electric blankets, spas at night time, fresh baking

While the list may be small, and made up of rather simple things, I will take anything I can get my hands on in order to make me feel even the slightest bit better. If any of you out there have some golden gems of advice you have that gets you through this time of year – hit me up! I am prepared to do pretty much anything if it could offer the possibility for any of my symptoms from getting worse.

It is hard but trying to switch from a negative to positive frame-of-mind is crucial for this time of year we are in – but is really key for living in general. If we focus of the bad, we overlook the specs of good things right in front of us in favour of a bad thing that happened to us a while ago, is potentially happening in the future, or what is lacking or missing from our lives. Society tells us to look at what we don’t have, what bad things are going in the world (just look at the news headlines if you don’t believe me), what others are and what we are not. It is time to start changing the status-quo of the world we live in. This is a big ask, but starts will the little people, us, turning the table and becoming change-makers.

Until next time.

Your friend,

Rawing Meg

xx