Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) this Winter

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) this Winter? 5 Tips from The Thrive Programme

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) affects half a million people in the UK. Months of dark evenings, dank mornings and dreadful colds – perhaps it’s no surprise so many people feel ‘seasonally affected’. But you don’t have to feel dread at the last of the September warmth, or when the nights start to draw in and Autumn leaves start to blow. By changing your thinking, you can change your life –  once you have the self-awareness, skills and resources to know how to do this.

If you believe that your mood is caused by the weather or lack of daylight, you will immediately feel powerless to feel any better.  The Thrive Programme teaches you how to feel more powerful in this regard: we might not be able to change the weather or jet off to a sunny beach on a whim, but we can change our perspective and learn to manage our thinking better, despite the weather. Seasonal Affective Disorder be gone.

There are various treatments available for SAD, including light box treatment, medication and therapeutic interventions such as the life-changing Thrive Programme. Therapy is proven to be a very successful intervention, as explained by this Priory Group piece on Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Emetophobia sufferers can also have Seasonal Affective Disorder,  as bugs and infections are more prevalent in Winter, which emetophobes perceive as a major threat. The Thrive Manuals, including the specialist Cure Your Emetophobia and Thrive Handbook, can help you to overcome your increased anxiety during the Winter and emetophobia.

5 Tips to help you feel less SAD

1.     ‘Eat a rainbow’ – this is not the time to start a diet so much as to focus on ensuring your diet is supporting your body & strengthening your immune system. Eating a colourful selection of fruit and veggies will boost your mental wellbeing and your vitamin intake, especially mood-boosting B vitamins and Vitamin D.
2.     See a sofa-bound evening of mooching and misery coming on?  Why not turn this into a cosy winter’s evening of movies and munching instead. Time to embrace ‘cosy’ rather than lapsing into lethargy.
3.     Endorphins are the enemy of SAD! Get out there and get some exercise – you will thank yourself for it. Whether it’s a gym class, game of football, or a quick walk to the shops, your endorphins will definitely raise your mood. And exercise in daylight is going to supercharge the benefits. The less you want to do it, the more you will benefit.
4.     Challenges can be reframed as ‘opportunities’ to change your thinking. So if you draw the curtains to  another murky day (and that’s likely), realise that this only has as much impact on your thinking as you allow it to.
5.     Hang out with happy people! This can have a huge impact on your own mood.