But even if that\u2019s not the case, you could just not be feeling your best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There are people who have milder symptoms \u2014 not to the point where they have interference in their functioning \u2014 but which, you know, are troublesome for them,” said Dr. Raymond Lam, a professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia who has been researching seasonal depression for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the dark, cold days of Canadian winter are getting you down, here are some methods that could help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Light therapy\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the most commonly recommended remedies for seasonal depression is light therapy, something researchers have been studying for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If done correctly, it can provide substantial relief for most people, says Lam.<\/p>\n
Researchers believe it helps regulate people\u2019s circadian rhythms as the days get shorter during the winter months, Lam said.<\/p>\n
“The effect is pretty quick. So usually when people are using light therapy, they notice a benefit within, you know, a week or two,” Lam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766312289_679_default.jpg\")
Light therapy lamps help some people deal with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). (London Public Library)<\/p>\n
But the key is using a light box that is bright enough \u2014 with light that is at least 10,000-lux intensity \u2014 for at least 30 minutes a day, and being consistent, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If they stop using the lights, unfortunately, the effect wears off about the same way.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t have access to a light box, going outside during a sunny day could do you just as much good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lam said direct sunlight can emit between 50,000 to 100,000 lux, while going outside during a cloudy day would be about 3,000 to 5,000 lux. By contrast, typical indoor lighting is usually under 100 lux levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“So a noon walk is a very good idea in the winter time because you’re getting some exercise as well as your outdoor light exposure,” Lam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Connecting with nature\u00a0<\/p>\n
While out on that walk, paying close attention to the nature around you could have additional mood-boosting effects, according to one Edmonton-based researcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Holli-Anne Passmore, an associate professor of psychology at the Concordia University of Edmonton, has conducted several studies on the correlation between nature and people’s well-being, asking participants to pay attention to what nature they see during the day while going about their usual routines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019s conducted these studies during warmer months and during the dead of winter, and says the results have been the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Really, I’m getting the exact same results. I’m getting higher levels of positive emotions, definitely higher levels of \u2026 feeling grateful, feeling touched, feeling spiritually moved, feeling morally elevated,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WATCH | How observing nature could improve your mental health:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766312289_674_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The simple thing you can do that might help beat the winter blues<\/p>\n
Researchers from Concordia University of Edmonton are looking at how observing nature could impact your mental health. Holli-Anne Passmore is the lead researcher on a project called Noticing Nature Intervention. She shared her work with the CBC’s Nancy Carlson.<\/p>\n
Passmore said you also don\u2019t have to spend a long time outdoors, or even go outside, to get these benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when I did this in the winter, like \u201335 C in Edmonton for a week, some of the stuff was the cactus in my house, the sky outside, I saw a bird, because that’s nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lessons from the north\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another way to beat the winter blues? Embrace it fully and find ways to make the coldest months of the year something special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what psychologist Kari Leibowitz recommends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2014, she spent a year in northern Norway to find out why people there experienced lower rates of seasonal depression, despite living through the polar night where the sun doesn\u2019t rise for weeks during the winter months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What she found was that people\u2019s mindset made all the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I think people really looked forward to the things that they did that were special in the winter,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They talked a lot about skiing, but they also talked about city festivals. They talked about how beautiful the light was at that time of year. They talked a lot about opportunities for being cozy.”<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766312289_633_default.jpg\")
Kari Leibowitz is a health psyhchologist and graduate fellow at Stanford University. She’s also spent extensive time researching Norwegian culture. (Submitted by Kari Leibowitz)<\/p>\n
Leibowitz says it\u2019s important to appreciate and accept winter for what it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s not summer. It’s not your time that you’re going to the beach and hiking all day,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t different pleasures that you can’t sort of really focus on.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Connecting with others can also help, says Sheila Levy, the executive director of Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line, who spent close to 40 years living in Canada\u2019s North.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During her time in Nunavut, Levy said the weeks of polar night were also a time spent with others playing games and socializing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Every night we were in the school gym, playing different Inuit games and just talking and being with the community \u2026 the sense of joy and community really, really was amazing,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“And I could really see how people could get through a lot by feeling close to each other and feeling that there was purpose in their life and there were things to do and that people cared.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"December is often a time of celebration and holidays, but for some, it\u2019s also when the cold winter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-361660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}