While some are hyped with the holiday spirit, others may be feeling particularly down this time of year.<\/p>\n
The winter blues or its more serious counterpart, seasonal affective disorder,<\/a> can be experienced any time in the winter.<\/p>\n Symptoms may last as long as winter weather conditions, depending on the individual.<\/p>\n \u201cLess sunlight changes your sleep cycle, energy, appetite and mood<\/a>,\u201d Tacoma Wellness Collective said in a Nov. 18 blog post. \u201cThis is why so many people in our area feel heavier, slower or more overwhelmed as winter settles in.<\/p>\n The Tacoma mental health clinic described seasonal depression as \u201ca natural response to the environment you live in.\u201d<\/p>\n During these shorter days, it\u2019s important to check for signs of SAD in yourself and others, and take steps to counteract it.<\/p>\n What causes seasonal depression?<\/p>\n Seasonal depression can be caused by a myriad of winter conditions<\/a>, including shorter days, less sunlight causing decreased amounts of vitamin D and the stress of holidays followed by limited socialization afterward, Yazmin Alvarez, a clinical therapist with Richland\u2019s Anchor Point Counseling<\/a>, previously told the Tri-City Herald.<\/p>\n According to Tacoma Wellness Collective, \u201ccommon signs\u201d of seasonal depression include:<\/p>\n Wanting to sleep more, but not feeling rested<\/p>\n Low motivation or a hard time starting simple tasks<\/p>\n Feeling sad, disconnected or flat<\/p>\n Pulling away from friends, family or activities you normally enjoy<\/p>\n Feeling more anxious or easily overwhelmed<\/p>\n Is seasonal affective disorder the same as winter blues?<\/p>\n While sometimes used interchangeably, the winter blues are different from seasonal affective disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s natural to feel a change in energy and mood with the changing of the season, symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, depression and lack of energy persisting for more than two weeks are indicative of SAD.<\/p>\n Alvarez told the Herald that the primary difference between the winter blues and SAD is the impact on daily function.<\/p>\n The winter blues are more mild, Alvarez explained, and don\u2019t disrupt your ability to care for yourself, work, go to school or recreate.<\/p>\n SAD occurs when wintertime depression starts to impair your day life.<\/p>\n If you find yourself missing work, canceling plans and noticing changes to your appetite and sleep routines every winter, consider reaching out for professional help.<\/p>\n Can SAD symptoms last past winter?<\/p>\n SAD can bring about anticipatory anxiety in the fall, and it can linger past the winter months.<\/p>\n If symptoms last longer than six months, SAD can turn into prolonged depression, according to Alvarez.<\/p>\n Got the winter blues? Try these tips to feel better<\/p>\n You can combat SAD, and the more temporary winter blues with a handful of lifestyle changes according to experts.<\/p>\n Here are tips to combat seasonal depression from sources including Alvarez, the National Institute of Mental Health, UC Davis Health<\/a> and Johns Hopkins Medicine<\/a>:<\/p>\n Participate in physical activity<\/p>\n Increase vitamin D intake<\/p>\n Get out with friends and family for stimulating activities<\/p>\n Additionally, Alvarez recommends finding a winter routine or activity to look forward to.<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not a fan of short days and cold weather, finding something to enjoy over the winter season can make all the difference.<\/p>\n \u201cEstablish a winter routine, finding activities and hobbies that you can do even though it\u2019s cold,\u201d Alvarez said. \u201cIf you can accept that something\u2019s happening, then you can plan for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing that I think a lot of people do struggle with going into the winter months is the dread, or not wanting to accept that it\u2019s winter,\u201d Alvarez added. \u201cLearn that it\u2019s okay to accept things, even if you don\u2019t like them. Not wanting to accept that it\u2019s cold and dreading it can sometimes actually make things worse for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While some are hyped with the holiday spirit, others may be feeling particularly down this time of year.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,6319,84,150445,150444,150442,101462,150443],"class_list":["post-344762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-depression","tag-health","tag-national-institute-of-mental-health","tag-shorter-days","tag-tacoma-wellness-collective","tag-winter-blues","tag-yazmin-alvarez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}