Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is diagnosed in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by symptoms of depression that begin in the winter and remit in the spring.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is diagnosed in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by symptoms of depression that begin in the winter and remit in the spring, requiring at least 2 seasonal depressive episodes over the last 2 years. SAD can cause significant distress that impairs your ability to perform normal daily activities such as engaging in school, work, or hobbies. One in twenty people in the US experience SAD, and it is more common among women.
Many of us feel the winter blues without meeting the full diagnostic criteria for SAD. The short days and cold weather can make us feel fatigued, unmotivated, and gloomy. Even if it isn’t as severe as SAD, the winter blues can dampen our disposition and prevent us from feeling like our best selves.
If this sounds like you, you’re not alone! Here are some tips to combat SAD and the “winter blues”:
1. Maintain a consistent sleep cycle that aligns with daylight hours. Wake up when the sun comes up. Experience as much of the daylight hours as you can. And try to get to bed early to ensure you get sufficient sleep.
2. A better diet means more energy and a better mood to accomplish daily tasks. Adjust your diet to include less junk food and more whole foods. You are what you eat, so prioritize fresh produce and well-balanced meals. You’ll feel proud for prioritizing self-care in a necessary part of your day.
3. Incorporate regular exercise into your week. Humans were not designed to sit all day long. Exercise can help regulate mood, facilitate digestion, and promote more restful sleep. To keep yourself accountable, schedule your workouts at specific times of the week with a particular workout in mind. You can also work out with a friend virtually, or in person outdoors with masks. Some great options include weightlifting, bodyweight exercises, Pilates, yoga, running, or a brisk walk.
4. Schedule a hobby into your daily life, even if just for 15 minutes. This forces you to focus on yourself and feed your soul with activities that make you feel like your best self. That natural dopamine hit is good for you!
5. Create a sunny indoor environment. If you work from home, move your desk to the window, preferably south-facing if you’re in the northern hemisphere.
6. Take Vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D has been shown to help regulate mood. Vitamin D is made by our skin, but short days and limited time outside prevents us from getting our usual solar dose. You cannot make Vitamin D from sunlight shining through glass windows, unfortunately, so direct sunlight is important.
7. Spend time outside. This expands on the prior point. Breathe the crisp fresh air and feel the sun’s direct rays. An outdoor walk or even coffee on the porch should help. It’s also good to break the cycle of staring at walls, especially if you work from home. Staying in the house for days on end can mess with your perception of time and make you feel like you’re unproductive, in a rut, or boring.
8. Create additional light sources after sunset. Get a light therapy box to reactivate those light-seeking areas of the brain. At minimum, candles can help create a warm and cozy living space.
9. Take time out of your day to call or video chat with a friend, loved one, or therapist. We are social animals, even those of us who are introverts. Human connection can relieve anxiety, remind us that we’re not alone in our winter blues, and allow us to talk and think about other things. This helps us get out of a repetitive negative headspace.
10. Write down positive experiences and things you’re grateful for. This will encourage you to practice healthy levels of optimism, which can influence your mood for the rest of the day.
11. Buy a plant and thrive together. Organisms need sunlight. If your photosynthesizer can get through the winter, so can you. This also gives you someone to take care of other than yourself.
12. Look on the bright side of winter. Get excited for the post-snow glow, when the sun finally comes out and reflects off every snow-covered surface. The light will fill your house!
13. Create a ritual to look forward to at sunset. Maybe make tea, or light incense, or stretch on the floor. This creates a positive association with nightfall, and can make it feel like less of an “end” and more like a transition.
14. Leave the house, even if it’s already dark. Seeing other people at the store will remind you that it’s still daytime. It will help normalize doing daytime/evening activities despite the early sunset.
Make a conscious effort to try some of these tips as a self-care pursuit. Your health comes first, and everything else is influenced by your mood, perspective, energy, and wellness.
If you’re concerned you may have SAD, share your concerns with a therapist, psychologist/psychiatrist, or family doctor. You may benefit from antidepressants or other treatments in combination with the above lifestyle changes. Click here to find out more about how the therapists at Inner Clarity can help.
June is PTSD awareness month, and I believe it is crucial to not only understand the clinical presentation of PTSD, but also understand the treatment options. There are many trauma-informed treatments out there. To be “trauma-informed”, simply stated, is to be aware of how trauma impacts a person’s physical and psychological health.
June is PTSD awareness month, and I believe it is crucial to not only understand the clinical presentation of PTSD, but also understand the treatment options. There are many trauma-informed treatments out there. To be “trauma-informed”, simply stated, is to be aware of how trauma impacts a person’s physical and psychological health and to use therapeutic interventions that address the whole person, rather than a sole-focus on the problem behavior.
However, it is important to note that research has shown that the modality of treatment is less of a predictor of effectiveness than the quality of the relationship between therapist and client, otherwise known as “dual attunement” in a model of trauma-informed treatment called, Brainspotting (BSP). In BSP, the ultimate resource is the relationship between therapist and client within the Dual Attunement Frame. It is within this frame that clients are guided through a transformative healing process.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a model of therapy developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003 that has shown ground breaking and research supported results in helping people process and resolve the traumatic events that have previously left them feeling “stuck”, emotionally and physically depleted, and/or ashamed. Brainspotting locates points in the client’s visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the deeper, older parts of the brain. It is believed that (BSP) taps into and harnesses the body’s natural self-scanning, self-healing ability.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is loosely defined as an emotional response to a terrible event, like an accident, rape, or a natural disaster. An emotional response to a terrible event is natural, of course! However, emotional responses are supposed to “complete their cycles”, so to speak. When an emotional response to a triggering event becomes frozen and unresolved in the person, a traumatic response then takes its place. The category of “trauma” encapsulates such a broad spectrum of experiences, and these experiences can overwhelm the person’s capacity to effectively cope. In addition, some people have no language or memory of the traumatic event(s). Yet, they report a longstanding feeling of restlessness, irritation, boredom, and/or lethargy that they just can’t explain or “shake.” Further, some people have memory of the trauma event(s), yet, avoid discussing the details surrounding the event(s). Clients use avoidance strategies for all different reasons, but commonly they fear the emotional overwhelm that comes with the memory of the traumatic event.
How Can Brainspotting Help with Trauma?
In (BSP), the client explains the concern, worry, or simply states a feeling of agitation that he/she/they cannot explain. Then, a body-resource is located (positive felt-sense in the body) and then paired with a Brainspot, a spot in the person’s visual field that indicates some reactivity, this could look like a blink, a yawn, a twitch, feelings of nausea, etc. The therapist then guides the client through a mindfulness process within the dual attunement frame: the empathic, witnessing presence of the therapist as the client focuses on the Brainspot. Clients may even stay silent if they wish! The therapist purely works with the sensations in the body as it relates to the triggering event, thought, or story. It is within this body-based, deeply attuned process I have witnessed the body unearth and release various forms of trauma. This release opens up a space for clarity, calm, and a newfound sense of compassion for self and others in many clients. As Bessel VanderKolk says, “the body keeps the score”, and just as the body keeps the score, the body also intrinsically knows how to heal. The trained therapist guides and holds the space for this process with curiosity and compassion.(BSP) provides the container for trauma to find its way through and out the body, just as nature intended.
If you or someone you know is seeking a gentle way to approach working through a traumatic event or an event they don’t fully remember or understand, then Brainspotting may be the appropriate treatment. Stephanie Carpizo, LPC is a certified Brainspotting therapist who works remotely so clients can engage in therapeutic work in the safety and comfort of their own homes. Brainspotting can be done with children as young as six. Read more about Stephanie and schedule an appointment with her HERE.
