“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou

With winter and daylight savings gone, seasonal depression is in full swing. I know that my family definitely feels the effects of everything to a pretty high extent here in Kansas.

If you are also starting to feel the weight of seasonal depression approach, here are a few things you can do to help combat it.

Going Outside

This is sometimes also known as eco-therapy, and it is shown that a simple ten-minute walk even in freezing cold temperatures can help boost along with the handful of other body and mind benefits. Setting a simple goal of getting outside every day or whether it be on a balcony or a walk will help.

Plants

When I am starting to get down, something as simple as caring for a plant has a tremendous effect on my life. Studies have shown that gardening can help reduce depression, it is such a simple yet effective way to take back your life and kick seasonal depression to the curb.

Meditation

I think when people think of mediation they think of people chanting, gongs, and fluffy stuff that you have to be crazy to believe. When in reality meditation can be as simple as sitting for ten minutes without distractions and focusing on your breathing. There is nothing fluffy about that, and it is extremely relaxing and can honestly change your life.

Vitamin D

I personally live in a place where it is gloomy for all of winter. The occasional day of sun is cherished. Because of this, I am vitamin D deficient, and I take a supplement. I can genuinely say that this one small pill a day has helped my depression be much less severe and helped my level of energy as well.

Medication

On the topic of small little pills, another way would be taking anti-depressants. There is no shame in this, a quote from a podcast I love is ‘if your brain doesn’t produce enough dopamine on its own it is okay to give it some’. If you have tried everything and seasonal depression is still taking over your life, call up your doctor, do some research, figure out is medication might be the move for you.

Conclusion

Depression is genetic for my family so I am actually on anti-depressant/anxiety medication year-round. But I know that there are so many people out there that suffer from seasonal depression and are too scared to do anything about it because they believe that since it isn’t year-round it shouldn’t warrant the same care.

That could not be further from the truth because if it is affecting you for about half the year then that means you are MIA for about half the year. You want to live for the whole years, and if doing some of the small things mentioned above helps you then do them as much as possible.

There is no need to fear and no need to hide.