Whenever the fall season sweeps through, a lot of people start to complain about the winter blues, which is understandable as the season changes bring a lot of things with it, for example, during the holiday season, days get shorter, and you need something to keep you warm and Christmas just tends to be just around the corner. All of this can conjure up winter depression in a blink of an eye. We’re here to tell you all about the winter depression symptoms and how to deal with the winter blues these symptoms often lead to. Let’s start:
What is Known as the Winter Depression?
Winter Depression could just be a major depressive disorder that just happened to be taking place in the winter season or could be something called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). What is SAD, you might ask? Well, SAD is a depressive disorder akin to MDD but there is one significant difference that differentiates it: SAD usually arises due to the change in the day-night cycle, which in turn affects the circadian rhythm (which is the internal clock that keeps us balanced to function properly, including proper alignment of our sleep patterns).
Appearing during late fall or the earliest days of winter but rarely it can also arise in the summer season. The winter depression symptoms aka SAD symptoms (Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) – Symptoms & Causes – Mayo Clinic, 2021) may look like this:
- Feeling the extremes of sadness all day long
- Disinterest in everything, even the things you previously enjoyed
- Feeling extremely lethargic
- Sleep patterns are disrupted: insomnia or hypersomnia become norms
- Cravings for bad carbs that lead to overeating and weight fluctuations
- Disgruntled cognitive processes
- Feelings of worthlessness and guilt and loss of all hope
- Suicidal ideation and behavior
Read More: Symptoms and Causes of Depression – How to Treat Them?
In winter-onset SAD, also called winter depression, it is more common to have:
- Oversleeping (hypersomnia) – you essentially don’t want to get out of bed
- Hyperactive changes in eating patterns and appetites that lead to craving for food high in carbohydrates, which isn’t healthy and also leads to excessive weight gain
- Lethargic existence – you feel fatigued all the time
In the rare summer-onset SAD, also called summer depression, it is more common to have:
- Bad sleep patterns but this time it is inverse as this it is insomnia (undersleeping)
- You are always irritable and extremely impulsive
- Exacerbating stress and anxiety
- Poor appetite is always in motion, which often leads to extreme weight loss
Is It Normal to Get Depressed in Winter? What Causes It?
Let’s face it, you should not be asking a question like, “Is it normal to get depressed in winter?”. Obviously, it is not normal to get depressed in winter and a better question would be what essentially causes it, well, beyond it affecting the circadian rhythm. Like any mental condition, such as psychosis or an eating disorder, SAD, or winter depression as it is called does not have one underlying cause because there can be many or a combination of the ones mentioned below. Let’s see what these causes are (Seasonal Depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder – Cleveland Clinic), 2024) while we also would be elaborating on the effects of biological clock change:
Changes in circadian rhythm (our biological clock): Whenever the winter season comes, it brings us shorter days, which means less sunlight. Sunlight is important for your sleep and also helps regulate your mood by inducing the production of the neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is responsible for a lot of things in your body including sleep and mood. Less sunlight means lowered production of this neurotransmitter. Therefore, your sleep will be affected radically. A bad sleep pattern is not just a symptom of winter depression but essentially also one of its causes.
Read More: Understanding How Depression Can Cause ADHD-like Symptoms- An Informative Guide
Chemical imbalance: Serotonin is not the only neurotransmitter that causes winter depression to come into existence. Neurotransmitters are essentially brain chemicals that allow communication between the different nerves of our body. One of these is, as mentioned before, serotonin and you know what happens when its production is decreased. The other chemical that affects whether you are going to get winter depression or not, is melatonin. Also called the “sleep” hormone, melatonin is responsible for making you go to sleep. Lack of sunlight may induce overproduction of melatonin (Hardeland, 2012). Naturally, you are bound to feel lethargic and defeated and therefore, depressed as a result.
Vitamin D deficiency: Less sunlight due to shorter days of the winter season also has a tendency to lead to winter depression by inducing vitamin D deficiency, which is also capable of affecting your serotonin level and your mood. And you know what happens when that happens.
Negative Thought Processes: Although studies have not been linked with this hypothesis, many experts do believe a negative mind will lead to depression, regardless of what season it is.
Risk Factors Associated With Winter Depression
Believe it or not, it can always get worse due to these reasons:
- You are suffering from a co-occurring mood disorder such as major depressive disorder (clinical depression) or bipolar disorder.
- You have a family history or genetic disposition of SAD or other similar disorders such as major depression or schizophrenia.
- You live in the regions where there is decreased or no sunlight such as Alaska, the USA, or some parts of Norway.
How to Beat the Winter Depression?
If you have been asking how to deal with winter blues, then we are here to help you. Let’s start with the lifestyle changes.
Go out more: Even if you live in an area that is low on light, always try to get out, be it alone, for a picnic, or with friends. You have to get that sunlight somehow.
Exercise often: Regular exercising improves better induction and regulation of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and melatonin.
Take vitamin-D supplements: If you have a vitamin-D deficiency, you can take supplements to try out for treating it, so a better sleep schedule and mood regulation can be induced.
Treating Winter Depression
You can use these separately and in combination and continue, whichever works fine:
- Light Therapy: It is perhaps the most suitable kind of therapy, where a special kind of lamp is used to simulate the positive effects of sunlight. However, ensure you don’t have a problem with seizures, already have medication prescribed, or have pre-existing conditions in the eye.
- CBT: Unabbreviated as cognitive behavioral therapy, it is a form of psychotherapy (talk therapy). It is a short-term and goal-based therapy that focuses on helping a patient look inward introspectively, so they can realize how their negative thought processes can essentially contribute to their problematic behavior and find resolutions for them.
- Medication: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a type of antidepressant that is predominantly prescribed for treating any type of depression, so winter depression shouldn’t be an exception. These are used to improve biological processes to increase the production of serotonin. Examples include but are not limited to Fluoxetine (Prozac®), Escitalopram (Lexapro®), or Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva®). You can use these as part of a psychiatric medication management program.
Read More: Season’s Greetings or Season’s Grievings? Everything About Christmas Depression
Conclusion
Let’s hope we have decreased some fuss about winter depression and you also have answers for questions like “Is it normal to get depressed in winter?” or “What is known as winter depression?”. We can help you treat SAD, which is essentially winter depression, or other conditions such as OCD via the treatment methods mentioned above or with the help of an alternative treatment like telehealth psychiatry.
