Winter blues: How to get your good mood back
23.12.2022
Translation: machine translated
Dark days, gloomy mood? It doesn't have to be. The winter blues are a normal biological reaction. But you can do a lot to combat the seasonal low mood - from exercise to light therapy.
Every year, not only the Christ Child comes, but also the winter blues. And it affects one in two. Among women, as many as 70 percent suffer from a lack of energy. In addition, there is often an increased need for sleep, dejection, melancholy and the need to spend more time at home instead of doing something.
The expert is not surprised that as temperatures drop, so does mood: "Cold, wet, fog, snow and, above all, a lack of light have an effect on the body and the psyche," says Andreas Wahl-Kordon, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy and medical director of the Oberbergklinik Schwarzwald. "The sleep hormone melatonin is released more frequently when there is a constant low light intensity - not only at night, but also during the day. The result: listlessness and a depressed mood."
And there is more going on in the body. Because in order to produce melatonin, we consume more of the amino acid tryptophan. It is then only available to a lesser extent for the formation of the neurotransmitter serotonin. "Serotonin, which ensures mental balance and positive mood, is lacking in the brain, which can additionally lead to despondency and irritability."
Winter blues: all normal?
The fact that not only nature but also we react to the changes that come with the change of seasons is therefore biologically explainable and to a certain extent completely normal. Moreover, our genes still contain the heritage of our ancestors. And they retreated into their caves in winter to conserve their strength until spring. "This even goes so far that many people affected by the winter blues feel a strong appetite for carbohydrates. Like their ancestors, they build up a kind of winter fat to feast on, even if food is of course always available in modern times," says Wahl-Kordon.
In our culture, too, there are still many rituals today that correspond with seasonal withdrawal and collective melancholy - from the reflective Advent season to Christmas and the retrospective at the turn of the year. And in between, we still celebrate the winter solstice, as a sign that the days are getting longer again and there is hope. "Some people don't find the winter time stressful at all, but rather contemplative. They are happy about the time off and appreciate it as a phase of peace and inner reflection. Some even use the days as an opportunity to consciously let go of the old and start something new. Such an attitude naturally helps against a seasonal low in mood."
Strategies against the low mood: Goodbye, winter blues!
Unfortunately, you are not one of those who can find something brightening in the dark days on their own? Then expert Andreas Wahl-Kordon advises you to use the following strategies to combat the winter blues:
Exercise in the fresh air
Retreat to the "living cave", including binge-watching on the couch? Is counterproductive. Exercise - especially outdoors - boosts mood along with fitness, as various studies have proven. "But even just a walk in the fresh air provides us with daylight and helps to limit melatonin production, even on grey days."
Turn on the light
With its intensity and spectral distribution, daylight is in principle the most effective against the winter blues. But if you can't make it out the door regularly, science confirms, you can also rely on a light therapy lamp to brighten your mood, which is significantly brighter than normal indoor lighting.
The expert recommends "sitting in front of a light therapy lamp with an intensity of 10 000 lux for half an hour every day, preferably in the morning, or for two hours at 2500 lux."To suppress melatonin production, it is important not only to illuminate the skin, but also to absorb the light through the eyes - "for example, to look into the lamp from time to time while reading".
Make sure you have a regular daily routine
. A regulated daily routine that, in addition to work, also leaves enough time for relaxation, sufficient sleep and the cultivation of social contacts and hobbies, as well as healthy behaviours such as a balanced diet, is not only effective against the winter blues, but already prophylactic. "In addition, alcohol and nicotine should be avoided as much as possible and negative stress should be avoided," says the expert. .
Have your vitamin D level checked
"The data is inconsistent, but it is advisable to have your vitamin D level checked and to substitute a deficiency if necessary," says Wahl-Kordon. No further medication is necessary for the winter blues. But if you find that certain relaxation teas or St. John's wort preparations help you, there is nothing wrong with that. "Taking time for yourself and experiencing self-efficacy, that is, experiencing: I am doing something that is good for me, is always helpful."
Take a holiday in the sun
If you can afford it in terms of time and money, you can also simply escape the winter blues - with a stay in sunnier climes. Studies show that the risk of the blues decreases the further south you go in winter .
Still blues or already depression?
As a rule, this catalogue of strategies should quickly help you to lift your spirits and have more energy again. Because as annoying and debilitating as the winter blues can be: It is temporary and does not require treatment. "If, however, there is no silver lining on the horizon after two or three weeks, it could be seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or - in a weakened form - subsyndromal SAD. Then a doctor should be consulted," emphasises Dr Wahl-Kordon.
Physicians speak of SAD when the symptoms occur at least twice with a seasonal focus, i.e. they begin in autumn and improve in spring. The clinical picture is relatively rare: Only about two percent of all adults in Central Europe - four times more of them women than men - suffer from seasonal depression, while in Switzerland nine percent of the population suffer from normal depression. S-SAD is about as common.
"Besides the seasonal occurrence, SAD and S-SAD differ from normal depression in that, for example, there is craving instead of loss of appetite, or an excessive need for sleep instead of sleep disturbances. However, only the doctor or psychotherapist can judge what form it is."
Titelbild: Oliver Fischer
Daniela Schuster
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