Winter Depression: 8 Tips to Improve your Mood

 It often happens that during a particularly dark and cold winter you can feel drained and invaded by sadness, or what we call winter depression. For some more sensitive people, this winter depression can be capable of worsening the emotional state, increasing the sense of tension and nervousness. Taking care of ourselves and the space we live in does good for the body and spirit! Many of you will have gone from the magical and festive climate of Christmas to the gray winter and full of rainy days and all but a little stimulating. Every year during the month of January there is always an increase in winter depression, also called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Depression for all intents and purposes arising from the arrival of the winter season, but much less severe and decidedly more manageable because it has a beginning and an end that corresponds to the arrival of spring.

We would like to point out that winter depression is a simpler type of depression. Here you have a list of tips to combat SAD. Of course, it depends on the cases, each subject is different, so the winter depression will suffer differently. In some cases it can be difficult to manage on your own and expert psychotherapists should be consulted. As for the other cases, just follow these rules and you’ll see the sun even before spring!

Get rid of the superfluous

We take advantage of the new year that just started in order to get rid of everything that is not needed, which takes up space and only creates disorder like winter depression. An orderly environment will help you feel better and really live a good daily life even if you feel too tired and listless to start the day with a smile. A little shopping will make you happy. Even the change of season invites us to go out to buy something new for us or for the home. And then in winter the sales begin, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it, don’t you think?

Make the house cozy

Winter forces us to live the house more than necessary and this is how comes sometimes that winter depression is present. Let’s make our home better and more welcoming than it already is! Let’s buy candles, new cushions and synthetic fur that decorate so much and give the rooms that Nordic touch that never hurts. During the sales period it is possible to do great deals and buy design elements at a good price! Why don’t you try taking a look at the rugs? They furnish and heat the rooms, they are real must-haves also for this year!

Act and free yourself from routine

Unfortunately, winter stimulates routine rather than imagination, which could be the sister of winter depression! With the winter days when all seems to be the same, it is really difficult to find the right motivation to act and change! Think about something you’ve always wanted to do and do it right now! You could draw ideas from the list of good intentions we do every year! And if by chance it is still empty, take paper and pens and write one with everything you would like to do, it will immediately put you in a good mood. Start with what inspires you most. Start with simple things like a change of look, a new hairstyle for example.

Exercise

Nothing more obvious and really useful in winter depression! And if the problem is to go out in the cold and the rain, don’t be sad. It also takes 15 minutes a day of physical activity to change the mood. Choose a comfortable position in the living room and do some yoga, serial exercises for the buttocks, or the plank and you will immediately feel much better.

Find a new hobby

No great things are needed in order to combat winter depression. Even simple activities such as reading a new book, painting, printing the most beautiful photos and creating souvenir paintings to decorate your home will help you keep your mind busy and away from winter depression. DIY, for instance, has always helped people a lot in particular moments of life, it is one of the strategies to continue to follow. It makes people happy and they really enjoy creating something new, trying new techniques and trying out still unknown activities. You should try it too! They are all simple but effective ideas that will help you fight the bad mood that winter gives us!

Sun, source of life/ Light therapy

As deepened by several scientific studies, the role of sunlight can be valuable for the treatment of winter depression as well as for all the cases of depression, since it stimulates the synthesis of endorphins, fundamental for mood. Variations in light can alter mood and sleep-wake cycles, which is why it is important to spend time outdoors in every season and make exposure to the sun a real therapy. Known already in ancient times, the light baths are particularly valuable if carried out during the morning: according to some experts, the best time for a walk is between 10 and 12. If there is a beautiful day, open the curtains and let the natural light in. When you are at home, don’t stay alone with the light of your smartphone, TV, or PC monitor for a long time. In the evening, however, light candles, decorate the most lived rooms of the house with lanterns and a string of lights, they are perfect for creating a warm and relaxing atmosphere even in winter.

Organize events at home

And by events, we also mean simple coffees to have with friends, nothing so demanding. If during the winter evenings it always drops below 0 °, you might as well stay at home and organize special dinners with friends and relatives, do you agree? Think of something nice to make everything more fun, tea parties, vegetarian dinners, or evening snacks to prepare together!

In some individuals, winter depression is always lurking, but now you also know how to manage it. And please, be less strict with yourself! Learn to love yourself and be less pretentious, if something goes wrong it should, forgive yourself and try again. Good winter, my dear friend!

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