As winter creeps in, it is normal to feel ourselves heading to hibernation mode and possibly forgetting some of those key mood boosters on the way. We know that in Winter there are shorter daylight hours, colder and often wet weather (like we have had lately!), and fewer social engagements. This tends to lead to moving our body less, comfort eating, spending less time outdoors and more time at home. This is not necessarily all bad though. We can build rituals around cold weather that allow us to even enjoy this semi hibernation – bringing out Grandmas hearty soup recipe for a cold winter night, turning on the cosy heater, enjoying a hot cup of chocolate, having a movie marathon with the family (if you can all agree on what to watch! A tough ask in my house!) The list is as long as everybody’s good ideas – in fact collecting ideas gathered from talking to friends or others like this can be a great way to kickstart your own rituals.
Whilst having enjoyable activities that you associate with this time of year can certainly be a way of carving out moments of joy, it is good to bear in mind that if we do remove key points in our routine which are the crucial ‘well being creators’, then we may find ourselves sliding into a low mood. This theory is not just for the grown ups either – this is definitely a problem that affects young people too. Whilst it may be enough for some to get a walk in outside between rain showers (or even in the rain) or scheduling in a play date or catch up with friends to lift our spirits, this may not feel realistic or be enough for others. Sometimes there may already be underlying difficulties with mood that get exacerbated by certain factors such as has been described above or other psychosocial variables and professional help is required.
Psychologists often focus on a process of behavioural activation (a sub treatment of cognitive behavioural therapy) to provide immediate impact on someone’s mood, whilst they work to understand the complexity of factors that underlie such difficulties. We often find that some of these factors can contribute to the long term maintenance of low mood. Though this really is an area of psychological treatment where we can say it is easier to say but much harder to do. Part of the art of therapy is to identify the point at which an individual is sufficiently challenged to make a difference, but not overwhelmed by the enormity of the next step in front of them. This can be hard to do because the low mood is trying to keep the person stuck, even though in their heart they may really want to move forward.