Haven’t you loved the several brighter, warmer days we’ve had this month? With the daffodils already starting to poke up, it makes you feel like spring is just around the corner.
But that little taste of sunshine, as pleasant as it has been, might also have shown you how blue the winter weather had been making you.
The winter blues, like the Indiana weather forecast, don’t last very long. And they have a specific cause: post-holiday-fun let-down, financial worries when all those Santa bills start rolling in, that kind of thing, just made worse by the relentlessly gray sky. It’s a phase, not a diagnosis.
Not so Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is an annual breakdown of your body’s clock.
“During the day, your brain sends signals to other parts of the body to help keep you awake and ready for action. At night, a tiny gland in the brain produces a chemical called melatonin, which helps you sleep. Shortened daylight hours in winter can alter this natural rhythm and lead to SAD in certain people,” says the NIH.
Did you know Alaskans experience 10 times the SAD of Floridians? It’s the light! Or the lack thereof, prompting a depression that is more than “just” the winter blues.
The blues are bad enough and require some effort to get through. In addition to the usual advice—eat better! Exercise! See a counselor!—you might also try painting a wall or even your nails a bright color. In other words, look for ways to stimulate your dulled winter senses. Also, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D. Investigate a light therapy lamp, readily available and inexpensive online. Small changes like these may be enough to bump you out of the blues.
Treatments for Seasonal Affective Disorder? See all the above, plus more intensive therapies and antidepressants.
It can be hard to tell the difference, since both can affect sleep, concentration and energy. When in doubt, you know who to call—us! But in general, while the winter blues can make you feel lethargic, SAD can make you feel hopeless. With the winter blues, you’re less happy than usual—with SAD, you might be thinking about hurting yourself. Winter blues are episodic, based on events that will pass, but you can set your clock by SAD—your crappy, crappy internal clock.
Symptoms run the gamut in between these extremes, so if the gray outside seems to have seeped inside, do your best to summon the energy to pinpoint the cause because there are all kinds of help available.
Also, this being Indiana, wait 10 minutes—different, hopefully better weather is on the way.