How to prevent the winter slump?

As the leaves fall from trees so does many people’s energy. We are starting to feel more tired, less enthusiastic and generally less excited about life. The low moods might happen more often and it’s hard to know exactly why or what to do about it.
Why are we sluggish in the fall?
- The brain chemistry, sun, sleep and mood
Shorter days mean we get less exposure to sunlight and humans need sun to thrive. And it’s not just a poetic turn of phrase. When natural light hits your eyes a neural signal is being sent to your pineal gland (a part of your brain) telling it to stop producing melatonin. You probably heard of melatonin as something that helps you sleep and that’s correct. The thing about melatonin is that it is always being produced (making you sleepy or sluggish) unless you are exposed to sunlight. What does it mean? If you’re exposed to natural light in the morning your melatonin production shuts down for awhile allowing your body to feel more awake and energetic. The problem is, if you’re never outside, exposed to the sun the melatonin floods your body all the time so you stay somewhat sleepy and tired all the time. Additional problem is that if you’re used to constant production of melatonin (i.e., if you don’t get enough sun) it’s harder for your brain to know when it’s time to sleep, which is why a lot of people experience difficulties sleeping during the fall and winter. If that wasn’t enough there is another piece to this puzzle: in order for your body to produce melatonin it needs to use up some of your feel-good neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin is a building block of melatonin, therefore, if your body receives signals that it’s time to produce more melatonin (i.e., less natural light) your supply of serotonin – a chemical regulated by antidepressants – will dwindle. Having less of a “feel good” stuff circulating through your brain could impact your mood, resulting in more sadness, melancholy, irritability and anxiety as well as feeling frustrated “for no reason”. Last but definitely not least, great majority of Canadians become deficient in vit. D in winter months. Your skin can produce its own vitamin D when exposed to the sun but when it’s colder, even if we do go out, we wear clothes so that the skin is not exposed to the sun and therefore can’t make this “sunshine vitamin”. Why is that important? Because vitamin D deficiency is related to depression and even suicidal thoughts (as well as other adverse health effects including various health conditions and premature deaths). Despite it being a common culprit in feeling low it is rarely checked by the physicians and most people still do not supplement it properly.
- Less time spent in activities
During summer months we spend more time outside not just absorbing the sun but also being physically active. Exercise is a wonderous thing: as you expand energy you are telling your body you need more and through repeated exercise your body learns you need the energy. The flipside is that if you stop moving your body won’t produce all the “unnecessary” energy and you will feel more and more sluggish over time. Exercise is also an excellent mood-booster. Besides the immediate “fix” of getting an endorphin rush after a jog, regular exercise can also contribute to better mood overall. Well-designed clinical studies (1, 2, 3) show that regular exercise is very beneficial to mental health and may be equally effective in treating depression as antidepressant medication! You know what that means: lace up those sneakers and go for a vigorous walk on your lunch break today (and for the rest of the week) to experience the benefits yourself.
- Comfort foods
With the colder weather the cravings for “comfort food” emerge. Traditional fall dinner (think Thanksgiving, for example) often includes meat, potatoes, seeds, wheat products (stuffing anyone?) Sounds delicious? There is a reason why we are more likely to desire and enjoy these types of foods in colder months. The comfort comes not only from having a heavy meal on a cold day (which will take longer to digest and will keep you warm) but potentially also from the tryptophan within. Tryptophan (5-HTP) is a precursor to serotonin (yes! The same one!). Craving those comfort foods can be related to your body needing extra tryptophan to compensate for all the serotonin that was used up to make melatonin! There are advantages to having tryptophan-rich comfort foods! At the same time, heavy meals can also mean digesting for hours and feeling a little sluggish so it’s a bit of a trade-off.
What to do about it?
- Go outside during the day as often as possible. Seeing that natural sunlight, especially in the morning can make the biggest difference (and sitting by the window doesn’t count unless it’s open).
- Regulate your sleep patterns. Create a dependable sleep time routine and try to stick to it at least 19 out of 20 nights in the beginning. There are apps to help you with that (e.g., CBTi Coach) or you can see a psychologist specialized in CBTi, i.e., Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia.
- Exercise – there is no downside to it so just do it 😊
- Take vitamin D supplement. Speak to you doctor and/or pharmacist about your diet, weight, lifestyle and any conditions you may have before choosing the appropriate dose for you.
- Make conscious efforts to engage in activities that make you feel good on regular basis. Anything from relaxing through socializing to being creative will work as long as it happens regularly. Create opportunities for fun, playfulness and joy in your life. Schedule social events and stimulating activities so that you always have something to look forward to (from a weekend away to playing pool with your friends all ideas are good ideas as long as they bring you a sense of positive anticipation before and joy or sense of connection to others during the activity itself).
Troubleshooting
What to do if you cannot go outside often enough or manage your diet carefully to include tryptophan-rich food or can’t get motivated to exercise? Here are some additional ideas to consider.
- Buy a SAD lamp to imitate the sun exposure. It’s a catchy name, isn’t it? It’s the kind of a lamp that is used in the treatment of SAD or Seasonal Affective Depression (aka winter depression). It emits light strong enough to shut down your melatonin production and therefore give you a bit of a boost during the day and prevent melatonin from using up too much of your serotonin. The lamp should provide 10 000 LUX and as little UV light as possible. You should sit about 16 to 24 inches (40 to 60 centimeters) in front of it in the morning for about 20-30 minutes with your eyes open but not staring directly at it. You can have it on as you brush your teeth, eat your breakfast and scroll through your phone as long as it is close enough to your face. Warning: it is counter-indicated for people with a history of mania or a diagnosis of a Bipolar Disorder (mix of depressive and manic episodes) because it is powerful enough to trigger a manic episode.
- Get moving in whatever way you can. It doesn’t have to be structured gym time. Running, swimming, dancing, whiffle ball, even bowling and laser tag are active forms of spending time and will likely bring some benefit. If you do want to maximize it, though, aim for higher intensity workout. Don’t have time for it? Try High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It’s intense, it’s quick and packs a load of benefits for your physical and mental health in a fraction of a time.
- You may want to ask your doctor about tryptophan (5-HTP) supplementation. Although there aren’t many very well-designed studies proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that supplementation can make a difference there is definitely a trend showing that supplementing tryptophan may have a positive impact on mood and sleep. There are even some small studies showing that tryptophan-rich diet (rather than supplementation) might be related to lower depressive and anxiety symptoms among healthy participants (=without any psychiatric diagnosis). Having said that, it’s not as simple as that: there are multiple factors influencing how well your body can metabolize tryptophan into serotonin (e.g., gut lining, different enzymes, bacteria in your gut (1) are just a few among many) so supplementing may not work for everyone (especially if they are lacking certain probiotics to go with it). As with any dietary supplementation you should talk to your doctor and/or a pharmacist if you’re more curious about it. Lastly, do not forget: popular articles, blogs (including this one) and videos are not reliable sources of medical, science-based information most of the time. Don’t call it “research” if you haven’t read any actual research studies. Google alone doesn’t count.
What’s the difference between fall “sluggishness” and SAD?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a psychiatric diagnosis, which is essentially depression that tends to show up in the fall/winter and goes away on its own in the spring. Sometimes it presents with some symptoms that are less common in a “regular” depression. For instance, most people going through a depressive episode might experience insomnia and decreased appetite, but those with seasonal type are more likely to present with desire to sleep more than usual and having increased appetite, especially for carbohydrates. If you think you might be going through depression (having 5 out of 9 of the symptoms on more days than not for at least two weeks), seek help. There are plenty of options to help you feel better and the sooner you get curious about them and try, the sooner you’ll be back to your old self (or better). Here is a quick test to help you figure out whether you might be experiencing a full-blown episode of depression. Either way, if you’re feeling low, you should talk to someone. You don’t need to be officially depressed to get help.