Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): 9 tips for reclaiming your mood this season!

Have you noticed a shift in your mood with the change in weather? Have darker nights lead to duller moods? Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD is a type of depression that affects individuals during certain seasons and times of the year. SAD starts around Autumn and continues over the winter months. Linked to changes in weather and temperature, it’s less common for people to experience this during the spring and summer months, but still possible.¹

It may feel like a low mood that is hard to shift, irritability, feelings of stress and anxiety, becoming socially withdrawn, feeling tearful, experiencing low self esteem, sleeping for longer periods, and having an increased appetite. It can severely impact a person’s quality of life and it’s estimated that in the UK 3 in every 100 people suffer with it.²

Tips for managing SAD

Common treatments typically include Light therapy, Vitamin D supplementation, and talking therapies such as Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). One study looked at how the combination of Light therapy and CBT could help and showed that the combination of the two treatments did in fact reduce the severity of depressive symptoms.³

1. Create a gentle morning routine that is calming and allows you the time to wake up and get going at a slower pace. Check out 5 Morning Habits For Gut Health And Happiness to get started.

2. Daylight exposure – Catching the morning light can be very beneficial as exposure to natural light can boost serotonin and melatonin levels. Light therapy, if accessible to you, can also work as an alternative.

3. Sleep Hygiene – Maintain a regular sleep schedule with a consistent bedtime and waking hours. Try to limit screen time in the last hours before bed. If screens are unavoidable, consider wearing blue light-blocking glasses to reduce the impact on your sleep.

4. Exercise – Staying physically active, particularly outdoors, can help by producing endorphins and serotonin which can boost your mood.⁴ Check out Winter walks: 5 reasons to embrace the cold!

5. Eat a balanced diet – Eating a gut-healthy diet is vital for your mental health – what happens in your gut affects your brain due to the gut brain connection.

6. Be mindful with alcohol – Alcohol can adversely affect your health. One study has shown that excess alcohol consumption is associated with increased severity of SAD symptoms.⁵ Alcohol slows down your brain’s processing power which can massively affect your mood.

7. Spend time outdoors – Studies show how amazing being in nature is for your mental health! Walking in nature can decrease rumination and anxiety, and improve cognitive function.⁶

8. Vitamin D – The lack of sun means less Vitamin D and low levels are associated with depressive symptoms. It’s a good idea to make sure you’re getting enough!⁷ The best source of Vitamin D is sunlight, but other sources include supplements and foods. Oily fish, red meat, egg yolks, mushrooms, and certain fortified foods all contain Vitamin D. When supplementing with Vitamin D, opt for a Vitamin D3 supplement combined with Vitamin K2.

9. Embrace the concept of Hygge – The Danish and Norwegian’s get through the colder months of the year by embracing the season! Hygge looks like finding the joy in a cosy blanket, candlelight, gatherings with friends and cherishing the small moments.⁸

Did you know Kefir can help your mental health? Read how in Why Kefir Is The Best Mental Health First Aid and Science backs Chuckling Goat’s synbiotic.

Any questions? Contact one of our Nutritional Therapists via live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.