Seasonal Change and Mental Health:
Strategies for a Better Winter
By Kirsten Petersen, DC
When you notice the leaves starting to change around you, the air becoming brisk, and the evening light waning, how does it make you feel? Some people can’t wait for this season of coziness, home time and holidays, but for others these positive connotations just aren’t enough to overcome the dread.
Autumn is a time of endings, and endings mean change. Intolerance to change or uncertainty is part of being human and can bring on all sorts of feelings – anxiety, depression, fear, protecting – feelings that negatively impact our experience in the fall and winter. The more we can build our tolerance to uncertainty though, the more adept we become at dealing with change. This is why I include some suggestions in this article to work with our emotional landscape as well as the physical one in preparation for winter.
We know our physical landscape changes with the seasons. We may have a little less energy, have drier skin and become more susceptible to sickness.
I’ll share a few tips below on how to support your mind and body through the seasonal shift.
6 Strategies for a Better Winter:
1. Sunlight exposure
Our skin absorbs UV radiation from the sun and our body turns it into Vitamin D. So the slow loss of sunlight in winter takes with it our natural source of Vitamin D.
Make a point to maintain outdoor time in the fall. If you start now, you will slowly adapt, and the January temps won’t feel so bad when they arrive! Even if the air is cool, it can be surprisingly comfortable if the sun is out and you have maximum skin exposure. Just soak it up for 15 minutes a day.
We just know that the sun is good for us. It just feels good. So if not for all of Vitamin D’s other benefits, take it in for the happiness factor.
2. Monitoring Vitamin D levels
Did you know that Vitamin D is not truly a Vitamin, but a hormone? This explains why it is so integral to so many bodily functions, and how it can really change how you feel, just like hormones do. Aside from thyroid hormone, this vitamin is possibly the only thing that every single cell in your body needs to function properly!
Getting a baseline on your levels by doing a blood test is so valuable so you know how to supplement. And most of us should be supplementing, unless we live in a very sunny place and are outside without sunscreen most of the day. In functional medicine, we aim for an optimal range between 60 and 80 ng/mL. Depending on where your starting levels are, you may need to take anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day for a designated amount of time. These higher levels should only be taken under the supervision of a clinician who would then retest to gauge how your vitamin D level optimization is going, backing down to a maintenance dose when the time is right.
This is a common test and most doctors will likely be fine with ordering it if you ask.
3. Preparing for change by building resilience
No one says it’s easy, but taking baby steps toward embracing that unsettled feeling we may have as we move out of our warm-weather routines has value. We can actually consciously build in exposure to, a tolerance toward and perhaps even an appreciation of times when we don’t know what is ahead and feel out of control. Seems unlikely, right? But it is indeed true.
We can do this by:
- Consciously choosing to do things that are slightly out of our comfort zone, little by little.
- Stepping back and just observing the world around us, encouraging mindfulness.
- Weaving bigger themes of nature and purpose into quiet moments of meditation to build a broader perspective.
- Taking stock of the year behind you. This is harvest time, and we can “harvest” what we have sown during the year by looking at what has happened in a non-judgemental way. What has this past year brought to you and your life that was unexpected?
4. Using a lightbox
These little powerhouses are surprisingly helpful! While they do not provide Vitamin D, they do mimic outdoor light. It’s thought that this type of light may cause a chemical change in the brain that lifts your mood and eases other symptoms of SAD, such as being tired most of the time and sleeping too much.
Generally, the light box should:
- Provide an exposure to 10,000 lux of light
- Produce as little UV light as possible
Typical recommendations include using the light box within the first hour of waking up in the morning for about 20 to 30 minutes, with your eyes open but not looking directly at the light. Using a lightbox under the supervision of a health practitioner is advised.
5. Scheduling activities
Bringing something new into your schedule could help to engage you and give you something to look forward to. This might be a new project you enjoy working on in the evenings, like a craft, learning a language, a puzzle, reading a book, something you get in the habit of coming back to. Or it might be a weekly gathering or class with others. Keeping community around you is so important during winter months.
6. Infrared sauna
Infrared saunas might be something worth considering bringing into your winter routine. Infrared has been shown to boost mood, promote healthy skin, improve circulation, provide immune system support, enhance weight loss and more.
Infrared wavelengths from saunas are an effective way of accessing the positive benefits of the sun’s rays and harnessing the good, mood boosting benefits the sun provides. Warmth and light, the two things many of us crave in the winter, can be enjoyed in an infrared sauna.
Get proactive this year and try something new to beat the winter blues!