5 Important Tips to help manage the seasonal blues?

We are all noticing it—the weather is changing. The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, the air has a cool crisp feeling. Its coming….yup winter is coming. The school year has started, its going to start snowing, the holidays are around the corner. Most of us struggle with the changing of the seasons. Some of us struggle with lack of motivation, difficulty getting out of our warm beds, fatigue and depressed mood. While most of these symptoms will be short lived, I have noticed some people struggle and could get stuck in these depressive symptoms. Don’t feel alone in this. We are here to support you! Here are 5 easy tips to help manage these seasonal blues.

1) Normalize these feelings. Experiencing some mood changes is fairly common. Lets all just admit when we are feeling sad or unmotivated or “blah.” No one is perfect so lets not pretend our moods are. If you are having a bad day and someone asks you how you are…its ok to say , “I am having a bad day.” Often times when we acknowledge our feelings, the intensity of the feelings start to diminish

2) Make yourself a priority. This is a hard one. We are all so busy. Work, family and friends. Such busy schedules full of many obligations. Its easy to loose yourself in the day to day packed schedule. So a packed busy schedule where you are taking care of every but yourself equals stress. Then you add on the changing of the seasons and cold weather??? Of course you would start feeling crappy. How about scheduling in some me time? Go wndow shopping at Target maybe? Watch a Netflix show? Whatever you do, beating the blues involves some scheduled me time.

3) Have you had an appointment with your medical doctor? Have you had any recent lab work? This is an important factor to consider. Depression and anxiety can be a signal that some of your labs could be abnormal. Hormone imbalance or thyroid dysfunction are possibilities. When you are struggling with depressed mood that lasts for more than a few days, it’s a good idea to rule out medical issues first.

4) It is important to think about your basis needs. Are you eating enough? Are you getting enough rest? Stop and think about this. It is easy to forget why these things are important. It is easy to get distracted with daily life stressors and forget to eat breakfast or lunch. It is easy to stay up late when you are stressed out and then have too much coffee during the day. Are you drinking enough water? Lets get back to the basics---take a look at your food, water and sleep.

5) Don’t manage your feelings alone. You deserve to have support and a listening ear. Do you have a family member or friend that you are close to? Who is your support system? It is important to try and talk about these mood changes. By opening up and talking with someone, sometimes the depression becomes less powerful. It also helps you from feeling alone with this emotional burden.

I know that sometimes talking to a friend or family is not an option.Talking to a therapist may be helpful.Having a non biased person to vent to and to get feedback from is important to manage your symptoms.We are here to help you.We have many skilled clinicians who can help you.Please reach out!We can help get you past this tough stop!!!