Winter Depression: 4 Ways You Can Cope This Year

Winter depression is not a myth. Right around mid Winter is when I start to experience some symptoms of Winter depression. Our Winters in the Northeast are long, freezing, and dark. This makes it incredibly difficult to do anything. I have every intention to want to get some activity in, but then it’s too cold, too dark, or I can’t will myself out of the blanket and off the couch. Luckily for us, there was ways we can cope and relieve some of our Winter depression just in time for Spring!

1. Vitamin D

I had no idea how important Vitamin D was until I moved up here. Being originally from South Florida, there was never an issue on whether or not you had sufficient Vitamin D (unless you literally lived under a rock). Once I moved up here, it really started to become an issue in the Winter. I had no idea until my doctor did some tests and saw my levels (like everyone else’s up here) were dangerously low. Before you need to get prescribed a high dosage, I highly recommend you immediately start taking your Vitamin D supplements by the end of Summer.

Vitamin D can boost your mood, energy, and strengthen your immune system. This will help ward off those pesky Winter bugs everyone gets.

2. Nutrition

I know more than anyone how tempting it is to eat warm comfort foods in the Winter time, and that’s fine.. in moderation. This season is the most important in getting lots of vitamins and minerals into your body from the foods you eat. This will help with your mental health, as well as physical. We all just want to eat and hibernate for the Winter, but it can end up being pretty detrimental.

Focus on eating more vegetables and grains this season. Quinoa, kale and spinach are very prominent in my diet around this time. Buy Winter squash like spaghetti and butternut squash. Here’s a super yummy Butternut Squash soup recipe!

Want to eat warm foods without getting out of the blanket? Try these Slowcooker Recipes!

3. Exercise

Obviously this is the HARDEST one for people, but it’s the most crucial. Keeping yourself moving in the colder months will ward off a lot of symptoms of depression, boost your mood, and keep you fit while you wait for the warm weather to return! The hardest part is obviously…doing it. Joining a class or group  is a great way to motivate yourself to show up. It also helps if it was a class you had to pay for. Nothing makes people do stuff like thinking they’d waste money if they didn’t!

Having a buddy or significant other to push you to workout by going with you is another way to help yourself get off the very very warm couch. I know it’s tough, but it’s a necessary evil. You don’t have to go all out, a simple 30 minutes a day of some type of exercise will be so beneficial. You can do some Pilates at home with Cassey Ho from Blogilates. A simple yoga flow at home would also be a great choice if you’re just starting out. Don’t go crazy; ease yourself into it! Do something that brings you joy! Like a Zumba class!

4. Light Therapy

Obviously in Winter, like I mentioned, it’s dark most of the entire day. For most people, the daylight we do get is spent indoors at an office. We lack the necessary light we need as humans to live a better life. This is where light therapy comes in. Light therapy, also known as phototherapy, involves exposure to specific levels of light in a controlled condition. It’s actually pretty common treatment for seasonal depression, like the Winter doldrums.

There is tons of research suggesting that light therapy can help treat ADD, insomnia, and dementia. Light therapy can help alter your serotonin and melatonin levels, which help regulate mood and sleep.

Light therapy works best in the morning, and sessions can be from 15 minutes to up to 2 hours. I would probably recommend starting small and working your way up in duration.

You can get yourself a light therapy device here!

What are some ways you cope with the long, cold Winters? Let me know in the comments! *This post may contain affiliate links. This means I get a very small commission with every purchase at no additional cost to you! It’s just a great way to support my blog! Thank you!