Beating the winter blues: A guide to wellbeing in the darker months and starting the New Year on the right foot
As we enter 2025, and the UK experiences a prolonged winter with frigid temperatures from December to February and snowy conditions frequently in early March, we need to think about the effects of the "Winter Blues." This is a term coined to describe the feelings of low mood, lethargy and sluggishness often felt by people due to the colder climate, shorter daylight hours and longer nights. This experience is shared by many people around the world. However, for those with more severe symptoms, it may be indicative of a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Regardless of the severity of symptoms experienced, there are evidence-based strategies that can be implemented to help navigate the winter season with greater ease and resilience.
During a seasonal period where we see animals hibernate and tree branches bare, it is important to recognise that we are biologically encouraged by nature to slow down, rest, and reflect. January is often culturally framed as a time for new beginnings, fresh starts, and ambitious resolutions.
However, from a seasonal and psychological perspective, January is perhaps the least ideal time to embark on significant life changes. Therefore, within the Northern Hemisphere, it makes sense that the pressures and expectations often associated with the incoming of a New Year in winter usually feel overwhelming as they are incompatible with our nervous systems. Combine this with the post-festive holiday slump, and you have a recipe for disappointment, low mood and exhaustion. Perhaps we need to take a leaf out of nature’s book and listen to our bodies.
This blog post aims to explore the psychological underpinnings of the winter blues and provide practical techniques to boost mood, maintain mental well-being, and make the most of the colder months.
Before we outline strategies for tackling the winter blues, we need to underpin the biological reasons this experience occurs. Reduced exposure to light has been indicated as negatively impacting our natural sleep cycle. Lower levels of serotonin production can also be a result of decreased exposure to sunlight, causing symptoms of low mood and irritability. Additionally, in response to darker conditions, the body produces greater melatonin, thus resulting in symptoms of tiredness and lethargy. Since we now know the causes of the winter blues, let's look at ways to mitigate their impact.
Get SMART with your goals
The beginning of a New Year can often be a time of renewal, fresh perspective and motivation for change. Setting New Year’s resolutions can be a way for many people to feel a sense of motivation and focus for the year ahead. However, resolutions can often tend to be too broad, and the pressure to maintain them throughout the year can often leave feelings of overwhelm and disappointment when it comes to February, resulting in giving them up altogether.
Additionally, social media has created a vacuum of health trends with unrealistic standards around body image and well-being that have made it difficult to avoid comparing oneself to others. This all-or-nothing style of thinking that has been generated as a result has meant that we often avoid focusing on our strengths and reflecting on ways that we have grown in the past year.
It is important to note firstly that when it comes to creating resolutions, there is often a sense of needing to reinvent oneself. However, it is equally as important to recognise the aspects of oneself that we admire, and that can be maintained from the previous years. Before creating goals for the year ahead, I would urge first acknowledging and reflecting on these aspects of growth.
Secondly, to create clarity, structure and direction in setting your goals for the year ahead, the SMART acronym can be followed.
This stands for:
Specific - making the goal clear and precise for example instead of saying, “I want to be more active”, you can be more specific by saying, “I will go for a 30-minute walk in the evening”.
Measurable - Including a way that progress can be tracked, for example instead of saying, “I want to read more”, you can track this by saying “I will read one book per month”.
Achievable – It is important that goals are set that you know are in your control. For example, if you are currently not engaging in any physical activity, it would be unrealistic to set a goal of doing an hour-long walk. It is more achievable to start with smaller steps.
Relevant – Question why this goal is important to you. Goal setting should reflect your circumstances and values.
Time-bound - Setting a time frame for goals to be achieved and implementing a deadline is important in being able to hold oneself accountable.
Following this guide to goal setting can help ensure that you can stick to maintaining your goals throughout the year and diminish any sense of overwhelm and disappointment that tends to come with setting New Year's resolutions.
Natural light
Seeking out natural light whenever possible is one of the best strategies to fight the winter blues. Here are a few useful methods for doing this:
Regular exposure to the outdoors - Natural light, even in overcast conditions can aid the regulation of the circadian rhythm and increase the production of serotonin to boost overall mood. A minimum of 30 minutes of outdoor exposure is recommended during daylight hours.
Light therapy lamps - In conditions where natural sunlight is limited, a light therapy lamp can achieve the same benefits. Exposure to a 10,000-lux light box has been documented within research as having significant effects on mood and energy.
Sitting near windows - If working indoors, sitting near a window can help you benefit from natural light exposure during the day improving circadian rhythm mood.
Physical activity
During the winter months when there is a tendency to slow down and rest, maintaining physical activity can be essential for boosting mood and improving mental wellbeing. Examples include:
Aerobic exercises such as jogging, cycling and walking can help to increase blood flow to the heart and produce endorphins to combat feelings of low mood. Indoor workouts can help maintain movement when it is too cold outside.
Mindfulness – Activities such as yoga and tai chi can create mental clarity along with achieving the benefits of physical activity.
Sleep
Whilst there is a natural disruption to the sleep cycle because of limited daylight, it is important to learn how to manage this to alleviate any of the resulting symptoms and manage the winter blues. This includes:
Maintaining a regular bedtime and waking up at the same time to aid the regulation of the circadian rhythm.
Limiting the use of screens before bedtime as blue light exposure has been linked to the reduction of melatonin production, thereby increasing difficulty with falling asleep.
Creating a calming environment – by keeping the bedroom dark, cool and quiet, and avoiding doing work etc on the bed can increase the body’s association and readiness to rest when it comes to getting ready to sleep.
Social connection
Human beings are social by nature; therefore, we must maintain social connections, as isolation can exacerbate any feeling of “winter blues”. Examples of how this can be achieved are by prioritising regular social meetups with friends and family, joining groups and engaging in group activities, whether virtual or in person, which can help maintain connection, and volunteering can help create a sense of purpose and fulfillment by helping others is linked to boost in mood.
In conclusion, the winter blues does not need to negatively impact your experience throughout the winter season. By recognising the natural desire to slow down and introspect, we can embrace a more compassionate and gentler stance at this time of year to help cope with the seasonal-related dips in mood. Utilising the SMART goals acronym, prioritising exposure to light, maintaining physical activity, a regular sleep routine, and creating social connections can help create a sense of resiliency during the season.
If out with these suggestions, you find yourself struggling throughout the season, it is important to remember that you don’t need to struggle alone, and professional psychological help is always available to help you manage your difficulties going forward. Get in touch to book in for a free 15 minute consultations below.