Cures for Seasonal Affective Disorder, from the Good, to the Bad, to the Eye-Searing

Seasonal Affective Disorder. The winter ‘blahs’. An unfittingly underwhelming name for such an aggressive and stubborn illness, right down to the irritatingly cute acronym, S.A.D. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of depression that occurs during the winter months due to reduced sunlight exposure, leading to symptoms like low mood, fatigue, and social withdrawal. It comes on slow, like the apologue of the frog in the boiling pot of water, so slow it becomes most recognizable in its absence, and when spring comes in on angel’s wings, you realize you haven’t changed your clothes in eight days and the big pimple on your back you’ve been ignoring turns out to be an early-stage bedsore. 

photo by freepik.com

It becomes even harder to recognize when you’ve already been diagnosed with regular, boring old year-round depression, hiding amidst your usual symptoms, feeding on your poor habits until it becomes an immovably fat beast that sits on your back like a hibernating brown bear, gorged on your misery, waiting until the sun returns to get up and stop chewing on your face whenever it gets bored. 

If there were ever to be a truly universal experience, S.A.D. seems the most logical candidate. It’s sixth-grade science; the brain thrives off of the vitamin D and serotonin that sunlight provides, and when the planet rotates, the sun becomes more distant, and these resources become scarce. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I wish depression on anyone in particular. I think everyone should get it. Just imagine, the entire world, or at least one whole hemisphere, united in misery. No more annoying, healthy friends trying to heal your chemical imbalance with a 6am jog. There’d be no wars or crime with no motivation to follow through, just one race united in lying in bed, ignoring calls from the concerned other hemisphere wondering why they haven’t gotten a Christmas card from you this year. 

Jokes aside, seasonal affective disorder is a serious, paralyzing kind of depression that’s woefully underreported medically, likely due to the widely-held expectation that everything slows down and gets harder around winter. Everyone feels a drop in mood with the temperature, and everyone gets a bit sad sometimes; you can’t let it consume your entire life, at least tell Grandma you’re sorry for locking yourself in the guest room for the entirety of Christmas dinner after Auntie Kay pinched your arm fat and asked you when you’re ‘gonna do something about that winter weight’. 

As someone who knows the struggle of ‘December depression,’ 'joyless-January,’ or 'f***-it-February,’ I’ve run the gamut of almost every imaginable treatment, from scientifically proven to ‘I guess this won’t make things worse.’ To help those in the same boat, I’ve decided to review some of the methods I’ve tried at beating back the sads and tell you what I personally recommend this winter. Please be aware that everyone is different, and what’s never worked for me may be the only thing that works for you, and vice versa, so take what I say with a grain of salt. 

1. Light Therapy

 A simple premise: if there’s no sun in the sky, set one up in your own living room! Light therapy boxes are devices claiming to trick the brain into thinking it’s receiving sunlight, using a bulb significantly brighter than any lamp or ceiling light. Just sit in front of it for 20/30 minutes a day, and watch your mood improve! 

Call me a pessimist, but this is one of the few treatments I’ve tried that’s succeeded at actually making me feel worse. What’s the best part of a bright sunny day? Is it standing outside, feeling the sun warm your skin? Laying on the beach, listening to the gentle lap of the waves and playful laughter of vacationing kids? Is it the freedom of riding your bike down the street without having to worry about bundling up or avoiding patches of ice? Or, is it staring directly into the sun? While it’s true that the sky going dark earlier can contribute to the low mood many experience with S.A.D., there’s a difference between the light provided by the sun and that which you get from a lightbulb, and there’s nothing that makes you realize this than the fire in your retinas after 30 minutes staring despondent into a lamp you paid extra to not have a shade. 

2. Taking Vitamin D

Studies show that those who like oranges report significantly more satisfaction and happiness in life when they eat oranges than people who like oranges but haven’t eaten any recently. While sticking to a good diet can help improve your mood in general and low levels of vitamin D are sometimes found in patients with S.A.D., experts don’t actually know whether taking supplements or eating foods rich in the vitamin can help prevent symptoms. I’ve tried this method, but forming healthy habits like taking vitamins in between eating mac and cheese out of the pot in my unlit kitchen and sleeping 14 hours a day can feel slightly fruitless. Even when taking them on a schedule, I never noticed any major mood changes besides the pride in taking care of my health by taking a vitamin. 

3. Eating a Healthy Diet

Again, this is something that works for improving your mood in general, not just around wintertime. It always feels easy at first, a simple lifestyle change to alleviate your symptoms and comes with the added bonus of the feeling of self-superiority you feel eating a plate of chickpeas and tilapia while everyone else gobbles down Thanksgiving leftovers, until you’re at an office party staring down a plate of Christmas cookies like a starving dog, only to wake up 18 hours later with a mouth tasting of glazed ham and butter. Let’s face it. There’s a reason holiday dinners consist of mashed potatoes, gingerbread, and pie, and it’s the same reason we sit in dim rooms in our pajamas, sipping warm apple cider and listening to Nat King Cole; winter is a season all about comfort, and sometimes, it’s best to follow natural instincts and eat with comfort being the goal. It’s especially justified if circumstances such as work or travel require you to be outside in the cold, in which you actually burn more calories than being out when it’s warm. 

4. Going on a Walk

Soaking up the sun never felt so harrowing! Between racing to get out and spend what little free time you have during the day trying to get what little sun the day provides, layering until you’re miraculously half-sweaty and half-going-numb, fighting to stay upright on icy pathways and getting slapped in the face by frigid wind, trying to take a walk in the Chicago winter feels like battling nature itself for your own mental well-being. While I can’t say it’s the best mood-booster, nothing wakes you up out of December’s sleepy, central heating-induced daze than fighting for your life in the weather every other mammal but us is smart enough to sleep through. I only recommend this method for the same kinds of masochists that eat raw eggs for protein or actually wake up early to watch the sunrise.

5. Aromatherapy

Not to be too subtle, but I don’t believe in aromatherapy’s ability to do anything but freshen up a room when cracking a window isn’t a viable option. However, I feel the need to reiterate that this article covers methods that haven’t personally helped me, so before you feel the need to track me down and let me know just how much huffing lavender oil has done for you, keep in mind that while you sip kombucha at yoga every morning, I’m still struggling to get out of bed. Sometimes I do like to stand in the aisle at Target and sniff all the candles, pondering how Yankee can capture the scent of a Midsummer’s Night in a 12oz glass jar, right up until close. 

Going back and forth between this treatment and that, each more fruitless than the last, has a funny way of making you feel helpless. Like there’s nothing to be done about your S.A.D., and you’re doomed to feel this way until the seasons change. However, I did promise to share something that’s worked for me, but like most problems that seem hopeless, the solution is disappointingly simple. There’s no medicine for a low mood you can take in a capsule, eat in a salad or beam directly into your eyes that compares to human connection. Our ancestors made this season about getting together and spending time with those you love most because they know how much it sucks otherwise. Something as simple as a chat with family or dinner with friends makes all the difference when the alternative is so bleak. Something they also believed in was the healing power of food rich in sentimentality and comfort, especially when shared with loved ones, which is what makes holiday meals so commonplace.

Now that I’ve ruined my satirical article and let you down with cloying platitudes, go and enjoy your winter break, sleep in, spend time with someone you love, drive around and enjoy the lights, and take advantage of your God-given right to eat as much as you please this season without anyone making you feel guilty.   

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and never be afraid to reach out and talk to someone, because there’ll always be someone who wants to listen. 

National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988 

Mental Health Hotline: 866-903-3787