Until moving to Nashville three years ago, nearly all my life had been spent in the Midwest, where “four seasons” isn’t just a climate pattern but a personality test. Chicago, where I lived for most of my early adult life, was many things, but “sunshine city” was not one of them. Summers were a special kind of humid fever dream. I’d walk along Lakeshore Drive with sweat dripping down my back like I’d just run a marathon (I hadn’t), until I was brave enough to cannonball into Lake Michigan off the concrete beaches. I swear that first plunge each year felt like baptism by city water.
Winters, though, were their own sitcom. Picture me in a 400-square-foot apartment layered in three sweaters, radiator blaring, and every faux sun lamp I could find, trying to beat the seasonal depression I knew would come a few weeks before the first snow fell.
As the seasons changed, so did my mind. I used to joke that I was like a sunflower, only coming alive when the sun was shining. I never truly hated the cold (despite dramatically complaining about my parka, which belonged on a Mount Everest documentary, not on someone whose biggest winter adventure was walking to Trader Joe’s). What drained me was the grayness—the relentless cloud cover that felt like someone dimmed the world to 20 percent brightness and hid the remote. That predictable slump, paired with my complete lack of motivation, was a clear sign I had Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that follows a seasonal pattern and most commonly hits during fall and winter. According to Boston University, roughly 10 million Americans experience SAD, and women are four times more likely to be diagnosed than men.
Nashville winters are gentler, a little lighter, brighter, a touch less brooding than my years spent in the Windy City. But even here, I can feel my mood shift after one too many dark days in a row. Over time, I’ve built what I call my “winter checklist,” comprised of tricks, habits, and little pleas for sunlight that help keep winter blues from taking the wheel. It’s mostly things I do year-round, but in winter each one requires a bit more intentionality. Winter doesn’t have to steamroll you. Even in the months when everything feels muted and light is brief, there are gentle things that help the season feel less heavy. These are the practices that keep me steady when winter tries to pull me under.
“Even when everything feels muted and light is brief, there are gentle things that help the season feel less heavy.”
Let a little extra light in
When I first heard about light therapy, I’ll be honest, I definitely rolled my eyes. It sounded a little too wellness-y to be real. But they do work. “For both seasonal and nonseasonal depression, the effectiveness of light therapy is approximately the same as antidepressant medications, or popular forms of psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy,” Dr. Richard S. Schwartz, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, told Harvard Health.
For light therapy to be most effective, Mayo Clinic suggests choosing an option that provides 10,000 lux of light while producing as little UV light as possible, and using it for about 20 to 30 minutes within the first hour after you wake up. In the winter, I try to avoid scrolling first thing in the morning and instead sit at my desk with a warm cup of tea and a book or my laptop. It’s become a tiny ritual that helps me soak up whatever brightness I can get before the day really begins.
Take the walk
Trust me when I say I know the idea of getting your 10,000 steps in when the windchill feels personally offensive is the last thing any of us wants to do. The wind coming off Lake Michigan in a Chicago winter could make even the most dedicated walker rethink their entire life plan. But more than anything, getting outside helps my seasonal depression more than almost anything else I do.
It might not be as heavily researched as light therapy or specific supplements, but a change of environment, some fresh air (even if it’s freezing), and moving my body always shifts something in my mind. And the science is still on our side. Daily movement, even something as simple as walking, has been shown to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines that can contribute to depressive symptoms, help regulate circadian rhythms that tend to get thrown off in the winter, and improve sleep patterns, which directly affects mood and energy. Even a short walk counts. Even a walk you complain through counts. Just being out in the world for a bit helps break up the heaviness that winter likes to bring.
Stay social
In my early 20s, when winter hit, I was the queen of cancelling. The darkness dragged me down, and I stayed there (in my pajamas, ordering takeout, and watching Sex and the City until the morning sun finally peeked through my window). Now that I’m older and, let’s say, a tiny bit wiser, I actually keep myself busier in the winter than I do in the summer. I plan more dinners out, tap into my creative side to come up with craft night ideas that keep us warm and connected, and literally force myself to do things that don’t involve pajamas and Netflix. Social interaction is one of the best ways to counteract the isolation that can make winter depression worse; even when it feels hard, showing up for friends and community always helps more than staying under the covers.
Don’t let winter win
If you take anything from this, let it be not to sink into the dark with the weather. Don’t cancel plans just because it’s cold and cozy inside. Go for the morning walk, even if you shuffle through half of it. Try to catch whatever sunlight shows up that day. And try not to spend every non-working hour binging shows and scrolling TikTok until your contacts feel like they’ve fused to your eyes. I promise the temptation is strong, but so is the payoff of getting out and moving.
Madison Freeman, Contributing Wellness Writer
Madison is a lifestyle writer with a love for all things health and wellness. Her work can be seen in Prevention Magazine, Clean Plates, Byrdie, and more!
The post I’m Prone to Seasonal Depression—This is The Routine That Helps Me Every Winter appeared first on The Everygirl.
