Got Those Winter Blues? 17 Ways to Ease Seasonal Depression

Seasonal depression is no joke. 

Especially in Idaho: It’s dark all of the time, the temperatures are freezing cold and the sun is rarely out during daytime hours because of the weather inversion… plus, add a worldwide pandemic, a climate crisis and everything else that seems to be falling apart, and you may as well just dive down a deep pit of despair.

Are you just sad, or are you SAD?

If you feel yourself having some of these feelings during the wintertime, you have classic symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). 

It is more common among women than men, and it affects about 5 percent of the population within the United States. 

According to the American Psychiatric Association, “SAD has been linked to a biochemical imbalance in the brain prompted by shorter daylight hours and less sunlight in winter.” 

Symptoms can include: 

• Sleeping too much
• Loss of energy
• Increased fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating
• Fidgeting/inability to sit still
• Changes in appetite or weight gain
• Feeling worthless or guilty
• Suicidal thoughts

What can we do to help?

It’s hard not to feel helpless when we have the winter blues, and sometimes it’s even harder to recognize that we even need help to pull ourselves out of this funk. So what can we do?

The following is a list of activities and tricks to help ease the weight of seasonal depression: