Every winter, I write a version of this post. I wrote it last year… and the year before… and the year before. Sometimes the mail arrives in November; other times, it’s not until January. But every year, without exception, the winter season begins to negatively impact me. Maybe it’s the fact that the sun sets before my work day ends. Some years the holidays may be more challenging than usual. Sometimes it’s just the cold if I’m completely honest. Either way, winter brings with it unique challenges, something worth remembering this time of year.
It took me many years to learn that, for me, the winter months always take a greater toll on my mental health. It was harder to maintain wellness and harder to stay positive on my mental health journey. I figured since I had depression all year, there was no reason for it to be worse, right? Mistaken. It goes without saying on this blog, but seasonal depression is real. And it was surprising to learn that during this time of year, some symptoms of depression were triggering more frequently than usual.
When researching seasonal depression, I found some interesting statistics worth sharing. According to the American Psychiatric Association“[a]“Approximately 5 percent of adults in the U.S. experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and it typically lasts about 40 percent of the year.” They also noted that while “SAD can begin at any age… it usually begins when a person is between 18 and 30 years old.”
It may not seem like a large group, but that’s tens of millions of people who experience additional mental health challenges for much of the calendar year. One thing I have learned in the many years I have written this blog is how the world around us affects our mental health. The winter months, and the holiday season in particular, create unique challenges that do not exist at other times of the year. Whether you experience SAD or feel like your mental health issues are exacerbated during the winter, both are equally valid and deserve to be treated as such.
There are several ways to effectively treat SAD, as well as many other additional mental health challenges of winter (which I hope to cover in a future blog post), but that’s not what I’d like to be my main takeaway today. Instead, I hope this post serves as a reminder to be kind to ourselves this time of year. We’re dealing with a lot, and the stress and frenetic pace of this time of year can make us feel like we’re not doing enough. For some people, not doing enough is equivalent to not doing enough. be enough, and I want to put that thought to rest as quickly as possible.
As we approach a busy time of year, I hope you remember to be kind to yourself. Your mental health is important, and for some people, it’s even more important this time of year. I would also encourage anyone who is struggling with their mental health to take this time to reach out to someone if you feel comfortable. This is a time of year when people connect, reconnect, and have the opportunity to spend time with people they don’t see as often; Maybe this is your chance to share something you haven’t been able to share before.
Anyway, I hope you remember the added challenges of winter. If you need to do even more than usual to take care of your mental well-being, that’s okay – I’ll do the same! At the end of the day, we need to do what we can to take care of ourselves and that can change daily. And that’s not only okay, it’s invaluable for our mental health.
Now I want to hear from you! How do you take care of your mental health during winter? Do you do something you don’t normally do all year?
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