The ‘winter blues’ – what are they and how can we deal with them?
Authors
I worked with Bang & Olufsen in northern Denmark for my university placement year. At the time, they were re-writing their mental health policies after an entire department had been signed off work for six months, due primarily to depression and seasonal affective disorder. This had happened during the winter, and they were definitely not the only people who were away from work during that time. Let’s look at how and why this can happen.
Most people will have heard of “Blue Monday” – supposedly the most depressing day of the year. Falling on the third Monday of January, it is only applicable to the northern hemisphere – the third Monday in January in Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, or Adelaide for example will be in the middle of summer.
You may also have heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. This is a pattern of depression which is seasonally influenced, typically being worse in the darker winter months. SAD is not fully understood, but is thought to be linked to reduced exposure to sunlight in winter leading to:
- Increased melatonin production, which leads to increased sleepiness
- Reduced serotonin production, which affects mood, appetite, sleep and depression
- Altered circadian rhythm, your body recognises daylight for controlling your ‘body clock’
“You may not be personally affected by Blue Monday or SAD, you may have never experienced depression. Even if you are in perfect health, your body will still be affected by the seasons and the advice presented below can help everyone look after themselves a bit better.”
The main advice for treating seasonal affective disorder is, unsurprisingly, to live a healthier lifestyle. So as always, a healthy diet, regular exercise and managing your stress levels will all help. For SAD specifically, it is important to get as much natural sunlight as possible. The first three points are good advice for your general health, but sunlight in particular will help your body maintain a natural circadian rhythm allowing you to sleep better at night and feel more awake in the day.
Furthermore, getting sunlight on your skin will increase serotonin production in your body to support nerve cell and brain function. While the travel companies definitely want your money for a winter break, it turns out that a bit of sunbathing in winter actually really is good for your health! Even if you like the cold weather (like me), having to cover up with big coats, hats, boots and gloves means that winter sunlight will have negligible impact on your serotonin levels – you need to have the sun directly on your skin. However, you may not be able to afford a trip to the tropics in winter, either financially or time away from family. Maybe you like to have Christmas at home. Maybe you’re always cold and really love being wrapped up. You’re going to struggle to get sunlight in the UK in winter, and in these modern times we’re unlikely to even get a nice white winter, we’ll just get the ‘grey and miserable’.
However, all is not lost! There is now a wide variety of SAD lights available on the market, designed to mimic sunlight and which can be used indoors to support your body’s natural circadian rhythm. Depending on the model, these can be used as standalone lamps to simulate bright sunlight during the day, or can be set up to work as an alarm. SAD light alarms will mimic a sunrise at the time you’re wanting to wake up – you really can make the sun stand still and rise when YOU want it to!
Say you always wanted to be a Greek god, so you decide that sunrise will be at 7am (your alarm is set for 7am). In winter in the UK, it is going to be dark for at least another hour so you won’t get a “natural” sunlight wake up, so your SAD light will do it for you. At 6:30, it will begin to light up and will get brighter until 7am, to mimic the sunrise before you wake up. So while you’re asleep, your body is already preparing to wake up and if you have an audible alarm at 7am, your natural sleep pattern will have adjusted towards wakefulness and you will have a “sunlight” wakeup.
Even if you can’t practically use your light alarm clock for whatever reason, you can use your light as just that – a light. As I write this, I have my light on my desk shining into my face. I’m just at my desk working as normal, but my window faces north, and its winter. My natural light is very limited, so this SAD light is simulating the sunlight and my brain is beginning to believe that I’m experiencing nature. While a light is no substitute for truly being in nature, it’s a fantastic way to enhance your environment and your mood – particularly if you’re working in a home office.
I’m resolutely not advocating for daylight lights in all office spaces, because the reality is that it does not work in large spaces to mimic a meadow, for example. Individually though, we can all have our own little suns with us to make our own worlds better.
So if we all make our own worlds a tiny bit better, our interactions with each other will be improved, our productivity will increase, we’ll have more energy, feel more positive… Sounds like a miracle cure but based on my experience of it, it really is a noticeable difference and I think it might be worth trying out.
Some useful resources for doing your own research:
SAD Lamps: Features, How to Use, Recommended Products (healthline.com)
