It is that time of year again where many people will begin to feel the “winter blues” and in more extreme cases, some will experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). As the days get shorter and we shift our clocks back many people will experience sleeping too much, low energy, feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, overeating/weight gain and feelings of irritability to name a few.

There is no clear understanding of why this phenomenon occurs but a few factors that are believed to contribute are

• Disruptions to your circadian rhythm which is caused by the lack of sunlight and disrupts your internal clock
• Decreased Serotonin levels due to a lack of sunlight
• Disruption of Melatonin levels that can increase irritability and impact sleep patterns.

Unfortunately, we can not change the fact that we will experience seasonal shifts and shorter days. This is a time where we encourage our clients experiencing “winter blues” to reframe some of our thought patterns and think about what we can look forward to like holiday fun, cozy fires and movie nights, warm drinks, fuzzy blankets on the couch and making plans with family and friends. For all of us, it is so important to have things to look forward to. Make plans!

For those of you who feel that you may be falling under the SAD category there are more treatment options including light therapy (these can be found on amazon but read the reviews, not all lights are created equal), psychotherapy, consideration of antidepressants and vitamin D supplements (talk to your doctor about how much and which one they would recommend).  So if this blog speaks to you, start to prepare and have a plan about how to soften the impact of the seasonal change and do the mental work to set yourself up for success.