Happy Holidays with SAD

The holidays are a tough time a year for everyone! Whether it’s the overwhelming amount of socializing, expensive gift giving, or lack of pleasant memories. So with a cherry on top, some people also deal with SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects many people day to day during daylight savings or the winter season. It doesn’t make you weird or abnormal, if anything SAD is actually a very normal experience that most Americans will experience in their lifetime. The disorder can occur when someone doesn’t get enough sunlight or vitamin D after having months of sun and outdoor memories it can be bitter to get stuck inside with cloudy days for what feels endless. Luckily I’ve put together some factual and cheap ways to help yourself this season! Please remember I only have a bachelors degree in English so I’m not a doctor, this is not a way to cure your disorder, if you or anyone you know finds themselves in dark places it’s always important to reach out for help! It’s all easier said then done, but you are loved and I’m so happy that you’re alive and reading this post.

Light Therapy

Light therapy is a way to get sunlight but artificially. Light therapy uses 10,000 lux which is equivalent to the amount of light you get on a cloudy day. While sunny days are 50,000 lux (Corliss). With shorter days, going to work when it’s dark and leaving work when it’s dark can take quite a toll on someone. Lack of sunlight can lead to more depressive moods and habits. I was always gifted a light box by my mother since they are easy to get and easier to use. Whether I’m sitting on the couch, eating food, having therapy, or doing work, I simply just turn on my light box and keep it on for an hour or so. I have personally seen improvements merely just on my overall attitude. I can tell when I’m shutting myself out, sleepier, and unproductive. But days where I use the light box I’m more focused, eager for the day, and have better eating habits.

Luckily I did some research to provide results of some of these conducted studies. The first study was conducted to find evidence of remission in seasonal affective disorder. The results of the study found this, “Despite the fact that the two treatments led to similar remission rates and improvements at treatment endpoint, for early insomnia, psychic anxiety, hypersomnia, and social withdrawal, LT (light therapy) led to symptom remission faster than CBT-SAD. ” (Meyerhoff, et al. 2018)

Another study which had a similar objective of finding remission in different therapeutic interventions on seasonal depression also found similar results in light therapy. “Light therapy can be a very effective treatment for SAD, with most seeing an improvement of symptoms within the first week. A powerful lamp that replicates natural light, high-quality light boxes are recommended.” (Jupe, T., et al. 2023)

You can check out these studies further at the provided links! All from the last ten years. These studies were created to show what types of therapies and other habits such as lifestyle changes including consistent exercise, managing stress levels, exposure to sunlight, and therapy are all other ways you can help yourself this dark season! (Jupe, T., et al. 2023)

Community Involvement

Depending on what you have an your area, this can vary. Philly has endless options of how to get involved, animal shelters, food distributions, and plenty of local events to support you community. The holidays are a rough time of year especially with the colder weather so it’s important to help those struggling in your community any way you can! Make sure to review the volunteer page on your decided community work to make sure that the boarding process doesn’t take months to complete. If it does, get it taken care of before the cold weather! But this can be a really effective way to get you out of the house more, be around neighbors and other community members, while also feeling like you’re giving back to the community that you take space in.

Be in your Feels…in Moderation

I actually had a discussion about this the other day with my therapist. While it is important to accept and have a moment with your feelings, you have to understand when it has gone too far. Maybe it starts to get harder to get out of bed, your diet completely changes, or you don’t step outside at all for the day. So, the hardest thing a human can do, is do it in moderation! Allow yourself the choice on whether you want to dedicate a whole day or just a few hours throughout the week to prioritize self-care. A face mask is always a go to but some other things I do is a shower steamer, comfort food, or a nap. You can pick up shower steamers at your closest drugstore or if you have local candle makers, they might have some wellness area with them! They are super easy to you and if you’re already heading into the shower, just throw one in. You can also make yourself a cup of relaxing tea and take some time to write whatever you want to write about. Give yourself the day or a couple hours to rot and marinate in your feelings, but remember to get back up on your feet and romanticize your feelings. You’re a human on a rock experiencing life for the first time!

Explore a New Hobby

So this day in age with the economy being a complete mess and prices being unlivable, it is still important to find time for yourself and stimulate your brain while in hibernation. So to give an example I love to crochet, I’m doing a ton of crochet projects for gifts this year and I love to throw on a youtube documentary about deep sea creatures or general ocean facts. It’s just an easy way to have sound in your house but also you can tune in and out without being super confused. All the while you learn some pretty cool facts about your current hyper fixation! Maybe you have some polaroid pictures laying around from your adventurous summer and they need a new home. Scrapbooking is also a super fun activity to keep your pictures in one place but also add a creative flare. Don’t fall for the capitalist scheme of “but I need a photo album for them!!” You have free will! Use a book you hate, a notebook your not using or create your own album with paper! And don’t lie I know you have one of these lying around your house.

Hibernate with friends!

While I spoke earlier about being in your feels in moderation, you can also do it with friends! There is probably some deep rooted feelings of wanting to hibernate in the cold considering humans are still a type of animal and whatever the connection is. But do it with friends! After a summer of spending money, traveling, and trying new restaurants it makes sense that we kind of get this need to hideaway in our homes from the cold. But we’re still human and social interaction is a must! This would be a fun time to go onto pintrest and look up some inspiration for fun themed nights such as powerpoint night, charcuterie night, or craft night. This should also be a time you share your emotions with other people. While we may be aware that other people experience all sorts of different disorders, sometimes our own personal experiences of panic and sadness can feel very isolating and we don’t share them as often as we should. By sharing with one another you can build a stronger support system, validation, and get the chance to learn more about the beautiful people in your life!

Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful day!

Sources: Jupe, T., et al. “Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder. the Efficacy of Light Therapy: European Psychiatry.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 19 July 2023, http://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-psychiatry/article/treatment-of-seasonal-affective-disorder-the-efficacy-of-light-therapy/CB4F132B01AA73DCDEE086F8B005D90A?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark.

Meyerhoff, Jonah, et al. “Patterns of Depressive Symptom Remission during the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or Light Therapy.” Wiley Online Library, 16 Apr. 2018, doi.org/10.1002/da.22739.