Winter depression: Tips for combating the winter blues
As the days get shorter, we become more prone to winter depression. We feel sad, tired, exhausted, and listless. Here you can find out what you can do to combat the winter blues. Our special tip for you is to do the football live betting to fight winter loneliness.
What can lead to winter depression?
Seasonal depression is triggered by the fact that we are exposed to less daylight in winter. Daylight is an important pacemaker for us and our sleep-wake cycle: sunlight in the morning wakes us up and makes us fit for the day. It stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, also known as the happiness hormone. So it’s no wonder that the absence of daylight can throw us off balance.
But what can you do to counteract mild winter depression? Anyone who feels severely restricted in their everyday life should seek professional help, for example, from Deutsche Depressionshilfe (see below). If you just feel a little depressed, you can try the following tips. They address the cause, which is a lack of light.
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1. Make use of daylight
The best remedy for winter depression is plenty of daylight. The perfect light therapy is to go outside and soak up the light.
Since our professional commitments usually mean that we work when it is light outside, it is not always easy to get enough light. However, there are a few things we can do to combat winter depression. For example, make use of your lunch break. Even if the sky is cloudy, going for a short walk will help to boost your serotonin levels.
If you can, try to cycle to work – preferably when it’s already light outside. If you take the train, bus, or car, get off one stop earlier or park your car a little further away from your workplace and walk the last few meters.
Half an hour of daylight in the morning or at lunchtime can already help combat the winter blues.
2. Exercise against the winter blues – preferably outdoors
Being outdoors is an important remedy for the winter blues. Exercise is also important for lifting our mood – preferably in the fresh air. This is because it also ensures that we release more of the feel-good hormone serotonin. Exercise also stimulates the circulation and strengthens the immune system.
Just half an hour of jogging or at least walking a few times a week can help combat winter depression. Use the weekends for long autumn walks, snow hikes, or cross-country skiing.
3. Light therapy with a daylight lamp
To combat the winter blues, you should incorporate sufficient daylight into your daily routine. A light therapy lamp can help with this. In Scandinavia, these lamps have long been established in schools and offices, but Germany is unfortunately not quite there yet.
The artificial light from these lamps is similar to the spectrum of sunlight, but the UV component is filtered out. This stimulates many of the processes in the body that are sensitive to daylight.
At home, you should place the daylight lamp no more than 80 centimeters away from you. A powerful lamp can achieve an illuminance of 10,000 lux – equivalent to daylight on a clear winter’s day.
To combat winter depression, it is best to use the daylight lamp in the morning for at least 30 to 120 minutes. During light therapy, you can of course do other things such as read the newspaper or eat a healthy breakfast. After about a week, you should already feel an improvement in your mood.
It is not advisable to use the daylight lamp in the evening: it disrupts our sleep-wake cycle and thus tends to promote winter depression.
