Winter Blues? No Problem.

TacklingOurDebt.com
Jan 16, 2018
2 min read

Editor's note: This post first appeared on TacklingOurDebt.com.

I’ve got the winter blues. Do you?

From an emotional perspective I find the months of January, February and March are the worst months of the year for me.

I definitely suffer from SAD – seasonal affective disorder, also well known as the winter blues. What I have learned is that SAD is diagnosed more often in women than it is in men.

In this part of Canada winter typically begins with a cold blast sometime in October and the last bits of snow and ice usually do not melt until sometime in May.

While we do experience many sunny days during that time, the sun is too far away to make a difference.

“Living far from the equator: Seasonal affective disorder appears to be more common among people who live far north or south of the equator.” Cities in the far north actually have a high suicide rate.

Plus, for the sun to really help you, you need to expose bare skin to sunlight (without sunscreen) for at least 20 minutes a day. When temperatures average somewhere between 5 degrees Celsius (on a good day) and minus 20 degrees Celsius, for 8 months straight, you do not really want to expose your arms or legs to the sun for very long.

The months between October and December really do not bother me.

But I always notice that come January I start to experience the following symptoms in varying degrees:

Depression Hopelessness Anxiety Loss of energy Heavy, “leaden” feeling in the arms or legs Social withdrawal Oversleeping Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates Weight gain Difficulty concentrating

Are you currently experiencing any of those symptoms?

What I’ve discovered through research is that there are ways to cope with the winter blues and deal with the symptoms brought on by seasonal affective disorder or SAD.

If you also find that you suffer from the winter blues here are some different things that I have tried over the past 12 years to help myself get through these winter months without ruining my life completely. 🙂

Click here to for 10 Great Ways To Increase Your Energy And Beat The Winter Blues via tacklingourdebt.com.