Things To Help You Cope With Seasonal Depression
It’s officially October and while that means spooky season, Halloween, and other autumn goodies it does also bring the colder weather, the earlier nights and the overall sense of darkness. While all these things can bring some people a sense of winter warmth, it can bring others a sense of seasonal depression to others.
If you don’t know what Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is, we have all the basis covered right here.
But if you are all too familiar with the seasonal depression that can come along with the winter months, here are a few things you can do to help you cope with it…
1. Write it all down
The best way to deal with anything unwanted is to pass it off to someone else. Now, while you can’t physically throw your feelings away, you can verbally vomit them down into a diary. Writing things down can help you compartmentalise them and can help you to organise yourself and your thoughts. Trust me, things don’t seem so bad or daunting when they are all written down on paper.
2. Give yourself things to look forward to
Now, this one can be a bit hard amidst COVID times, but giving yourself little things to look forward to everyday can really help keep seasonal depression away. Something as small as a good cup of coffee can just help you look forward to your day ahead. So, find all those small things that make your day a bit brighter and give yourself something to look forward to.
3. Music and podcasts
Allowing yourself to get caught up with too much time can lead to far too much thinking, which can help seasonal depression spiral. If you have little ways of keeping your mind occupied, it’s a good help.
Music can help relax your head a little, and can be a great self-help. If you don’t think that music will do you any good you can try switching to podcasts. There are thousands of free podcasts about literally anything on the internet, go and find them. Here’s some of our favourites.
4. Creative outlets
A thing about seasonal depression is the lack of energy used. It can feel like you haven’t had a real day because it gets dark so early and now you have all this energy left unused. Finding a new outlets to put this energy into is a great way to help. Creative outlets, such as painting, reading, writing, etc. can be great to really engage your mind, keeping you occupied for hours and getting yourself into something new and exciting.
5. Walks, walks, walks
Walks are a gift from God that should be used wisely. A walk, whether one on your own or with someone, are one of the most useful tools to help your mind relax if its all muddled and can get you outside – making you feel like you have had a proper day. And the winter walks, although cold, can really give the best views with the frost and fog and pretty rain.
Remember: Everyone has bad days and we can all hit a bump in the road when it comes to our mental health. This year has been incredibly tough on everyone, so give yourself a break. But if you continue to feel down and experience very negative thoughts you should reach out to a trusted adult or speak with your school/college counsellor.
You can also contact Aware or Samaritans.