5 Ways to Fight Seasonal Depression
The winter blues is a real thing, and it can get all of us down. Today I've compiled a list of five simple ways to combat seasonal depression that have helped me, and will hopefully help you too!
Dress for the Day
While I don’t put on makeup every day, I do always get dressed for the day. Something about putting on real pants (even if those pants are joggers or leggings), makes me feel capable of accomplishing more than just watching Netflix. This has practically become a neurosis, because if I stay in my pajamas too long after getting up, I begin to feel a sense of discomfort from all the comfiness and must make my way to some brushed denim and mock-necks.
Drink Warm Beverages
My morning drink of choice is coffee always, but I can only handle about one cup per day, otherwise it’s too much caffeine. However, if I’m really hurting for some warm beverage comfort, I’ll graduate from decaf coffee, to black tea, to ultimately: herbal tea. You know I’m fighting off some demons if I’m brewing something that does little more for me than settle my tummy and fill my nostrils with a sweet, refreshing scent. That, friends, is the magic of a warm beverage on a down day. It warms, not just the esophagus, but undoubtedly the soul.
https://www.healthline.com/health/tea-for-depression#A-quick-look-at-the-best-teas-for-depression
Get Outside - The sun might be too far away to get ample vitamin D, but that doesn’t mean a little sunshine and time outside won’t still do its work in me. Especially after long days where I felt like I couldn’t leave my desk for hours at a time, moving my body in God’s green earth seems to reset me, remind me that I’m not a machine, and that I’m just a small part functioning in the great big world.
https://www.thesca.org/connect/blog/how-going-outside-improves-our-mood-and-health-even-winter/
Make Your Space Cozy
What better place to enjoy your mood-lifting tea than in a beautiful home.
Lighting for me is key. Now only did I look at every corner of my house and say, “You get a lamp! You get a lamp,” sheerly for the sake of ambiance, but I also started using a happy light. It’s something I keep behind my monitor and turn on when the days are feeling long and gray. Whether or not it works, I honestly don’t know, but I’ll try what I can in the winter months.
https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a25940709/happy-light-lamp-therapy/
Connect with the Safe and Trustworthy
In my moments of extreme anxiety, it wasn’t chill Spotify playlists or eccentric throw pillows that got me out of my misery, but it was my support system. I found people in my life who were safe (as in, I could share things with them without fear of judgment) and trustworthy, and I could connect with them. Be it a phone call, FaceTime, cocktail hour, or a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel binge, connecting with those people could take me from feeling like I was in full on emotional-spiral-of-no-return to feeling completely grounded and like the day was suddenly doable and overall, things were not that bad. I keep these people on a short list in my phone’s contact list, so that when I’m at a loss for who to talk to, I just go to the list. That also just generally helps me stay connected with friends and family in the meantime.
See my YouTube video on this topic here:
