Do you feel a change in your emotions and how you are feeling but unsure why this may be? Watch the above video of Olivia explaining why you may be feeling this way.
Ways to help reduce the effects of seasonal depression include:
- Light Therapy – get yourself out and about when there are light periods of the day. Turning on lights at home and creating a warming, comforting area can also help.
- Vitamin D – during the colder months it can be hard to get enough vitamin D from the sun so make sure you get outside as much as you can and keep your body moving.
- Exercise – the more you move, the more energy you'll have for the day and want to accomplish more. We know it can be difficult but keeping yourself in a daily routine will help you keep your mind and body focused.
- Screen time – it can be easy, especially in the colder months, to want to stay indoors alone and curl up watching a film but make sure you also make time to see friends and family. This is good for your mental and social wellbeing.
- Psychotherapy – is often known as talking therapy. You may think you are the only person going through this, but you will probably surprise yourself and find out others are feeling a similar way to yourself but don't realise it until it is spoken about. Seasonal depression is still a very unknown topic and until we start communicating more with others we won't understand the full ins and outs. More and more research is being done daily surrounding this topic.
Don't worry if you find yourself going through this, seasonal depression affects 0.5 to 3 percent of the general population.