Winter Blahs
Photo Courtesy of Foter.com
It’s snowing, windy and freezing, the thought of going outside literally makes you shiver. After the holidays, everyone can’t wait for the snow to melt and the heat to rise. Why is it that when the temperature drops so does our mood?
Many people start the day in the dark and end up coming home from work in the dark. This literal darkness and lack of sunlight exposure can actually affect your mood. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder that affects people who normally aren’t depressed in the spring or summer months but become depressed during the autumn or winter year after year. According to Mind for a Better Health “When light hits the back of the eye (the retina), messages are passed to the part of the brain (the hypothalamus) that rules sleep, appetite, sex drive, temperature, mood and activity. If there’s not enough light, these functions are likely to slow down and gradually stop.” Your body’s biology dertermines how you react to the lack of light, some people aren’t affected at all and others are.
But most of us experience some sort of mood changes during the winter and summer months.We’re more isolated in the winter and tend to stay indoors and socialize less. We’re wearing more clothes, eating more and moving less. All these factors contribute to the winter doldrums. Think about it, as soon as the sunshine hits your face how much happier do you become? Combine that with some outdoor activities, al fresco dining, barbecues and people dressed showing more skin—it’s bound to put a smile on your face.
So, besides moving to a Caribbean island, what do you do to avoid getting into a funk in the winter? Please leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading,
Guest Blogger – Ashu
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It could also be because we lived in Africa for most of our prehistoric past, so we are evolved for life in Africa.
Evolution is a slow process, so it hasn’t had time to catch up with our immigration to other parts of the world.
Have you ever noticed that your mood sinks if you stay indoors all day, but rises the minute you go outside? Same principle: we lived outdoors throughout most of our prehistoric past and evolution hasn’t had time to catch up.
I don’t know all the scientific stuff, but Humans respond to sunshine. When we don’t have it we feel down, or blue. When we have lots of sunshine, we feel better and are more productive. If you take Vitamin D it does help to combat the winter blahs. You can now go to special cafes and salons where they have sun-type lamps which are supposed to help.
Our circadian rhythms are tied directly to sunlight; we have a shorter life expectancy if we work night shifts as opposed to days (and not because of increased violence). However, we also feel slight depression with colder temperatures because of the fact that when cold, your body puts less energy into the circulation of endorphins and more into circulating heat. I work 12 hours a day in the cold at a gate during a Utah winter and I personally recommend hand warmers (e.g.: http://www.walmart.com/ip/HeatMax-HotHands-Hand-Warmers/10910809 ) as an effective means to keep your temperature up which allows you to focus on the positives in your life and thereby stay happier.
The combination of cold and longer periods of dark causes your body’s internal clock to stress out and you get the winter blues. Most of us are Solar Powered so we suffer in Winter.
Using a light designed for Winter Blues does help. There are many full spectrum lamps available and i use the Litebook every morning for 30 minutes when i have my tea and you can feel your mood lifting.
Your natural clock is usually longer than 24 hours, and you need light in the morning to set it and keep it on track.
It is worth knowing that the agility of the brain cells are directly related to temperature.that is,the higher the temperature,the higher the cells(neurons)agility.and vice versa.these implies,when temperatures are low during the winter,the neurons take more time to transmit impulses due to the low agility of the cells making our mood to be relatively low and weak.
whereas during the warm summers,impulses are transmited very quickly to the brain due to the high agility of the cells making us to take quick decissions and reason faster.hence giving us a lively mood.
I love the cold and the snow….
I hate hot weather, it makes me feel listless.
But then …I always have been “different” from most people. lol.
We have had days of sunshine, its not bitterly cold, I have been outside enough to get my VitaminD and I am up and down stairs all day long for exercise. Socialize on the weekends even checked my bp to make I was okay But all I can say is I have been ‘off’ the last few days.
I used to write poetry in January but I am too busy to even do that I don’t know if its an outside thing or just January jitters like something is going to happen.
This is sooooo the opposite of me! I love snow, spring is always a downer for me. I am 62 years old and it has always been this way for me. If I could hibernate, Iwould go into hiding from March until September!
As you said later in the article, it’s the darkness not the cold that affects mood. Skiing on a cold sunny day can be glorious. And a cold moonlit night is pretty good, too – it’s the grey skies that get you down.
IT is what we associate times of the day with in life, we are mentally programmed to see the winter and darkness with covering up, eating more, colds etc, which are all negative aspects. Sunny weather is the opposite association. This is the reason we put clocks back., to retain more daylight hours, as night time, usually results in a slow down and wind down, particularly when associated with cold weather. However if we reprogramme our thinking to shifting, the associations we make with darkness earlier in the day, I am sure we would see a different approach, For instance, let us look at 6 months of light and 6 months of dark in Alaska. There are still a lot of inhabitants there.
My husband brought me to Wisconsin in 1967 and I had to learn how to handle the winters. Me being a California person it took a time. But I found no matter how cold it is you must at least get out side for at least a half hour of day light. and make it in the after noon when the sun is the highest even if there are clouds the rays from the sun is still there. the sun is your key factor. it is a must or you will end up getting cabin fever and once you start getting that it is really hard to get out side. remember! outside and sun!
Uhhhh, I HATE warm/hot weather, and love cold weather, so this is completely irrelevant.
Then what about those who either choose or get assigned to night shifts? They wouldn’t see much sun at all, but we never hear of the mass suicide of factory workers.
I’m with the others who hate the heat. I get really excited when autumn comes because I know it will get cold soon. I am at my happiest in the winter. I’m a knitter so in the fall I get the needles clicking with sweaters, socks, gloves, etc…in preparation of the cold weather. I am 48 and since I can remember, I have always gotten depressed in the spring and summer.
Germany, Bavaroan Forest, greeting.
Winter and snow makes me dizzy and feeling lazy. They call it seasonal depression, because I can’t find much fun in skiing and perhaps breaking my bones sliding down a slope on two pieces of wood, and feeling cold while waiting for the lift to pull me up. Also, I’m an amateur photographer, and on a white screen, you’ll see nothing but… white.
I agree that winter is a fun season for people gliding down slopes, but to me, it isn’t. I was so happy, happy, happy, that we had a rainstorm here yesterday, with much water and heavy winds, that washes away the white horror outside. Sorry to all those tourists who now pack their skis and go skateboarding again…
I actually get more depressed when its super hot outside. I HATE the heat. I don’t like it when its 20 below with the wind chill (or some other extreme) because it feel lke “it freezes the marrow inside my bones” LOL but I would rather bundle up and layer my clothes than I would try to beat the temperature at 105 degrees. I can’t walk around naked to beat the heat.
I like the winter but I think when its so overcast for so many days people miss the sun. In my house we have what are called SAD boxes (Seasonal affect disorder lights) and we have them on often (we live in Chicago) and they really help. I go sit and study by them once for about 30-60 minutes every day and maybe its all in my head, but I feel better after a while. I have noticed several people in my family do the same thing. I think we just need the sun and so when it does not come out for a long time, we begin to feel sad and depressed. We also make a lot of soup and comfort food during the winter and play more family games like Scattergories or Uno. We take the time to do more family things and I think that helps too
As soon as it feels warm out, I immediately feel happy. During winter time, I can’t help but feel trapped, sad, and irriated. I especially feel aggravated when other people want snow; when I hate snow and do want it at all. I hate shoveling it, driving in it, and even walking in it. I hate getting sick in the winter time, having dry/chapped skin, feeling fatigued due to short, dark days and being bundled up under 10 layers of clothing. Lastly, the holidays are tough enough to deal with. Someday when I graduate college I am considering moving to a warmer climate, I just can’t be content with winter. I hate it.
It’s a long break between Christmas holidays and next Valentines Day boost, or Easter Break, There are several Winterlude Shows after, but not time out day off,
Some one could create a new Holiday, one day off during January, make it official, you give it a name like SAD Seek Aurora Dusk, downer and out day, or night on the town evening , or emo’s anonymous mood shift, with some type of treat and gift promos for the good and bad of seasonal affects, this would give people an initiative to go shopping, connect with others, and improve social spirits from the blues,
The funk (slump) term could be misconstrued with funky (jive) term,
There is Groundhog day soon, You could create a Yamster Groundhogs Dress up and down day spoof, where people decide if Yamster wakes up or goes back to sleep, and do make-over; there was one for Valentines day a few years back, like Halloween day,
… or even create an online game , it’s Yahoo Answers Yamster’s : Sleep ‘r Peep time! , click the button and vote, Spin ….
There are things like Vitamin D and B’s and Cod liver oil or omega oils that can help moods and health,
maybe shops could place discount on such vitamins and oils, and actual foods containing these nutrients, and Winter boost promo, this being part of a holiday promo,
You don’t get enough vitamin D from the sun. the sun has a lot to do with your mood, it makes you feel happier and more energized as the cold takes all of this away. Take some vitamin D and I’m sure you will feel the difference in your mood. Believe me, I take a one a day and fish oil everyday and if I miss one day I can feel the difference.
I can’t possibly disagree with you more. I moved from near the Gulf of Mexico to the mountains of Montana in the hopes of getting away from summer. As soon as the snow melts, I start wishing it would return. I know several people that feel the same.
My hatred of hot weather is indescribable! If anything, I get moody and “into a funk” in the summer and my life gets miserable for our (thankfully short) warmest season.
I have to go now. It’s snowing and I’d hate to miss it!
I like all seasons. In winter, I’m out quite a bit, either snowshoeing or shovelling our driveway. I have to do it every day or we can’t get out. Other than really tying me down, I consider it good exercise, but I’d rather be biking or travelling.
I hate winter! Snow and cold are not so bad… it’s being stuck in with nothing to do. I’m old and can’t do all the neat stuff that you young folks rave about, nd I live in a city anyway. If I was younger, I would move to the country, and buy some skiis or a toboggan and go try to break some bones. As it is I am practically suicidal! I need the warmth and can’t afford to travel to it. All I can do is suck it up, try to get over the depression, and count the weeks till spring training… I mean, spring!
Well, i think snow and winters fun
Our weather in the Netherlands today is hooooorrible, wet snot, wet sleet, hail,cold rain and more of the same day in day out, very gray most of the time.
What do I do. I walk the dog along the beaches, and eat well, take a shower,read books and sleep it off.
I don’t stay inside the house all the time and try to stay active despite all this wet stuff. My mood is not so affected if I stay active and go outdoors and don’t catch a cold.
pathetic fallacy. The humans Mood matches the weather. E.g. it’s sunny, which is enjoyable for most people making them happy
I live in Ireland, the West of Ireland which always gets the worst weather.The weather doesn’t bother me one bit,if its raining you got to get out and walk the dog you walk the dog.If its a hurricane same thing.I hate people talking about the weather all the time, theres more to life!
It is the chemical balences in the brain that react with the mood that you see outside. When a human feel the warmth of the sun on there skin they feel happy and it changed there mood to a smile. It could also mean that the weather triggers a memory that may not be as happy in the winter. I do strongly believe its the chemical balence in the brain that triggers different emotions in the body. Its almost like saying why does some songs make you feel sad, while others make you happy. It is what triggers what.
Winter has never bothered me more than summer. I can tolerate cold better than most of everyone where I live, and I work night shifts. So regardless of what time of year it is, I get to go to work in the dark and go home in the dark. I get slightly more work in the winter due to all the shoveling, but I still don’t let it bother me too much. I’m already looking for a second part-time job and no amount of snow or sun is going to stop me from living my life to where I want to live it
I think this is just one world view and does not include all opinions. I can’t say I’m in a state of “can’t wait for the snow to melt”.
People think the prolonged darkness and cold changes your metabolism slightly. This part is true.
The psychological theory of depression, however, is wrong. I’ve seen people work swing shifts, which technically would imitate and oscillate the so-called “circadian rhythm”.
They operate and live just fine with no “blah” at all. It truly is an urban myth. If it were true, then Inuits — as an example — are depressed all the time.
Where I grew up, people celebrated a dark winter, because it was rare and an event. It actually did the opposite. It brought hope to people, not demise and despair.
Actually, my mood is falling down with rising of temperature. I hate spring, dislike summer, admire autumn and i’m calm about winter.
Notice that i live in Russian Federation.
I think the mood is mostly based on our restrictions when it comes to the weather. To children it’s hooray we get to stay home and play hooky when the school closes or they have salvation if they are late for finishing their homework.
For parents they would prefer getting to work or be able to leave home for what is important to do like buying family groceries. Snow or ice trapping them inside the home develops a sudden mood depression. It becomes so much that the parent panics or they say forget it and just stay home in a depressive state.
There is some truth to an evoluationary perspective. Generally winter was depressing because you got less sun (and vitamin D) but you also spent more time stuck inside with family. So the lack of sunlight and dietary changes with addition of being couped of with family all added stress which result in less serontonin and even noerpnephrine. This causes a mild to moderate seasonal depresssion. Excercise with help with this form of depresssion and keeping a healthy rounded diet; all of which are possible in society today. You always have spring and summer to look forward to where your dopamine will flow and you will be full of happy energy.
Lets be honest we have it alot better than our ancestors and if you continue to exersive even if its in doors as much as you do in the summer and maintain a balanced diet instead of plumping up on holiday pies to replace health juices and smoothies. You will be fine. As with anything in life you must maintian a healhty perspective; when we get to narrow and try to push blame onto specific were just distracting and diservicing our selfs.
If you are not getting enough vitamin D drink milk or supplement. There are many factors to consider but the point is that if you stay balanced with diet and activity it wont matter what season it is. Dont give a season a label like “winter blues” because that gives it power. You should be the only one that has the power to control yourself.
Now in-laws during the holidays that is a whole other issue that can have an even greater psychological impact. Again, its is all about balance and in some cases that means “Were doing a small family thing.” and the in-lwas aren’t invited.
Just remember in the end it always gets better. So if things are not going so great you can take solace in that it is not the end.
If you are feeling blue just eat and exercise like you would any other season. Set up boundaries with family and in-laws (you do this once and never have to be put out again). Most family does love each other and when they are the guest they will adapt but you need to communicate in a nonchalant manner what is important you. Everyone came be happy but it does require communication. If your worried about Vitamin D you can get lab work done or drink some milk or pop a vitamin and see if that fixed your mood 72 hours.
My winter blues is due in-laws but I cherish my time with the other family. I gain a couple pounds but eat like a King and offset the weight gain in the spring. Focus on the majority of your life….that is what you have to be grateful for instead of analyzes everything that is not enjoyable and spending energy on what is negative.. Life is great as soon as you ground and keep perspective. A person whom is depressed or sad always has an imbalance. Keep perspective of the big picture and how finite and mundane the things that get us down are.
I learned at UCB to stay grounded by thinking of 3 times a day about what your grateful for. In my field SAD is considered mild to moderate and I have yet to encounter a case that needed medication. All SAD patients have been treated very successfully by having patients maintain there harmony through excersive, diet and behavior (maintain perspective). Some required more help with behavior modification than others but I have not encountered any seasonal depression that could not be brought to full remission without drugs yet. The Dr’s that give you drugs and 3min of there time are more concerned with how many patients they can see and how much closer they are to paying off student loans or a mortgage then they are in taking the time to give you the knowledge to be free and cured. You should be no longer reliant on a pill or Dr. for Seasonal Depression. There are many who have other issues that must be evaluated by a professional in addition to Seasonal Depression and I cant stress the importance to seek the help as soon as possible.
THe pharmaceuticals rep explained SAD as a new way to get more folks on drugs. A Doctor makes a lot more pushing a fallacy that requires you coming in monthly or every season and I get incentive from the drug company to do so.. ITS WRONG. Humans have lived happy lives for 150,000 years without these chemicals.
You are the only one who knows whats best when it comes to SAD so please keep perspective. If you have more psychiatric abnormalities that just SAD then you might benefit from the buffet of drugs doctors have to offer. Just please do your due diligence and remember you know yourself and your health; especially if a medication is right for you better that anyone else. Doctors can only work with the tools we have and we have to constantly decided whether the benefits outweigh the side effects but at the end of the day we don’t know the answer to a lot of things. No matter how good the Doctor you know your brain and body better that anyone else (even if the persons name has a lot of letters behind their name)
Because sunlight makes our brains produce the brain chemical Dopamine. If we lack brain chemicals that make us happy, it causes an imbalance and therefor we become depressed. A tip would be to rise early with the sun!
Not a problem here in central Texas. There hasn’t been a single snowflake all winter and it only got to right about freezing a few times.
Wish I had some winter blahs. It is 70 degrees in my part of Calif. and too warm. I would love to have some wind and rain, just to clean up the air.
hate hot weather, hate a lot of sun. not everyone’s the same. i like winter because I can actually function and not put up with all the sweaty smelly people.
The colder weather actually makes me happier – it creates a nice nostalgic feeling – but there must be sunlight. Yes, sunlight is essential.
actually, when it’s winter in my country the sun is always there, it barley rains and i don’t think it ever snowed in my country so i wouldn’t know how cold dark winters feel like
It’s 68 and sunny here. We have the best weather in the winter. Some snow but never more than a few days of cold. Summer sucks.
Forget the prehistoric non sence, all of that is just theories like evolution. Our bodies undergo emotional changes from the cold and warm temperature swings plus the fading and increasing of light. I know this so I see it as a challenge to be a happy camper all year long !
lack of light can be a problem, when it’s cold, usually the sun isn’t out as much. it might have to do with the fact that our bodies have to work harder to keep us warm and we are tired, which leads to low moods. maybe when its cold, we are inside and don’t have enough fresh air or we feel trapped.
please stop whining
I hate the hot weather. I rather it be nice and cold. Though it’s better if it’s like 30, not 10.
I actually think that because winter is very cold, it makes us not want to go outside as much (for most people), with how cold it is. This makes us stay inside and do absolutely NOTHING.
I am actually disagree with the statement given.
I developed heat rash easily and I hate both heat and sun. Most of my friends called me weirdos because I live in the night, and sleep during the day, and yes I do work night shift in hospital (I’m a nurse). I think it’s all depends on every individual’s circumstances.
I feel depressed when I see the sun, fearing that my heat rash might suddenly appear, but when the weather is cold and dark, I become more energetic and cheerful
loungewear and camping clothes helped me this winter!!! hot mugs of drink in bone china mug!!! extra throws and blankets!!! duck down bed linen!!! double glazing!!! new carpet throughout the house!!! chinese takeaways at least once a week!!! good selection of hats and gloves!!! walking boots!!! if too cold to wash just the occassional once over instead of full blown catwalk affair!!! and lots of tv and ps3!!! finshed with full roasties more often!!!
I actually love winter. I hate the summer as my hayfever plays up badly.
Roll on the next lot of snow!!
This winter I learned how to make chain mail, tan leather, make a clock out of nothing but plywood, make a crucible from clay and how to smelt metal and pour into a mold, I also learned how to make and bind my own journals and I made a wooden mallet that can crush concrete into dust. Right now I am learnign how to build a sailboat, I got the plans from a company called Glen-L.
During spring and summer I am more energetic but that’s because I prefer being outside when it’s hot out. I do get angry when the cold comes because I don’t like being cold but my mood doesn’t change. I always feel like doing something no matter what season it is, but in autumn and winter, I do my stuff indoors. I’ll only go outside if I have to.
I am not sure that this applies to every one. I love the winter time and it makes me very happy. It’s when summer comes around that my mood drops to an all time low.
I go geocaching.
1.) More or less a free activity.
2.) Gets you outside and exercising and using your brain.
3.) I have been all over the country this year and seen some amazing things, and done some too.
4.) It is multifaceted activity with social aspects too.
More people should try it.
Here in South Africa, we have the best of both. It becomes really cold in winter and then it becomes HOT in summer. Right now, it’s still summer. I personally can’t wait for winter to come… it’s so hot here, I feel like I’m immobilized by the heat. As a student, I find it more difficult to study in summer because I want to be outside and I want to COOL OFF. We have a much longer summer here than winter… so I enjoy winter much more. It’s easier to sleep without mosquitoes feasting on you while you bake in the heat (no matter what you do, it’s too HOT to sleep well). Maybe, as a white person, I’m better adapted for colder climates? That’s something that can be explained by evolution, Black Africans in South Africa don’t complain nearly as much as white South Africans complain about the heat…. because for some reason, they’re more bothered by winter than summer.
it’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)–hahah appropriate acronym
Light therapy will help. Google “light therapy for seasonal affective disorder”; it’s cheap and worth it! ALSO there’s a great herbal supplement called “Sunny Mood”…i take it and have great results.
simple, not enough vitamins from the sun due to both staying inside for a longer amount of time and the length of daylight shortening.
I’m so sick of the random weather pattern we’ve been experiencing this Summer in Australia. I’m actually looking forward to the cold days, bring it on.
No other planet like ours. Or is there?
http://scifi-real.com/another-earth-closer-than-you-think/
wow! this was a really cool, non-boring, interesting article. I really like how the acronym appropriately fits the mood. LOL now that i’ve been informed about this, im gonna start living in the light. ;D
For me, sunshine is important too. Was raised in the tropics. I’ve learned to enjoy the change of seasons.
Although I’d rather be too warm than too cold, I enjoy going outdoors in winter. Walk the dog, cross-country ski, hiking with cleated boots, whatever helps me enjoy the outdoors.
What I’ve found works anytime to banish the blues is activity–getting oxygen in the blood. That works for me anytime of year, anytime of day … or night. Outdoor fresh air.
It is very normal. Human is an animal. When the temperature drops or at high temperatures the organism of an animal tries to adapt by not burning many calories. So they get in a “bad” mood
Because people always want what they dont have. People who have the summer want the winter and people who have the winter want the summer. What you describe is not true for all people. As a child, I grew up and still live in Hawaii, where the seasons dont change and it is always the summer. My dream has always been to have a snowy Christmas, and to have winter. In colder places where people get a lot of winter, they want the summer. Human beings are just twisted that way. We cant help it.
The contributing factors are simple, Winter blues are caused by lack of light, light is absobed by the pineal body that secretes the happy hormone called Serotonin. Also known as the 3rd eye, the size of a grain of rice in your head Other glands all play a part in controlling our functions ie body clock, sex drive etc, but we also absorb light through our eyes and our skin. Depending on temperature we eat what we need to assist our over heating or our chilled bodies. Therefore vitamins and minerals etc vary from season to season, these foods can contain serotonin, melotonin all that you produce naturally, just like creatine or nicotine. Bad diets are contributing to a miserable life style. It is also the very drug thats pescribed to you by a GP or health shop
We cant cheerfully comment too much on SAD-pronedness ‘less we rubbed it in the hair of it. Yet a little summer highlight rubbed in by the self may just be what isn’t so SAD, so to show a bit of an early riser of the summer. Someone once suggested carrying a bucket of water up from Yosemite Valley to pour into the feed at top of Yosemite Falls, all just to appreciate the work of nature during those bleak months to renew springs and distribute ppt. What’s even greater to appreciate is letting someone else , or none,do the nonsense that is so intelligently imagined. Peace.
I really dislike the way this is mentioned as if everybody is of this opinion. I personally adore the cold winters, just the thought of the snow falling down and swirling around in the wind makes me extremely happy, I actually do find January really depressing (probably cos of the Christmas hangover feeling in the air), but when the snow falls it just makes everything happy and beautiful again. I hate the summer with a passion, apart from feeling all sweaty and sticky… which then makes me moody, can’t stand feeling like that…. I have a phobia of thunderstorms, and in June/July thats when they’re obviously on the go. So not all of us share your opinion.
Did you know that sun delivers vitamin D to the body and that helps create happiness and wellness in our minds. During the winter there is less sun and so forth our bodies soak up less D.