DepressionThe changing of the seasons can be a hard time for some people to manage their mental health.

The changing of the season is an exciting time full of new possibilities, but for many people, it’s also a difficult time for their mental and emotional health. If you find yourself feeling as the weather heats up for spring and summer or cools down for fall and winter, you’re not alone. It’s actually quite common for these shifts in the seasons to impact your mental health! This can happen for a few different reasons. Let’s take a look at why, and explore some ways for you to feel better!

Winter Seasonal Depression

Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is also occasionally known as seasonal depression, and it’s very common for people to experience during the colder months of the year. While scientists aren’t entirely sure what causes SAD, strong correlations have been found between this type of seasonal depression and sun exposure. In the winter, when there’s fewer opportunities in the short, cold days for you to soak up the sun, you can feel the effects in the form of low energy and mood.

Isolation

Isolation is considered to be a major contributing factor to winter seasonal depression, making people feel lonely and hopeless. The cold temperatures and difficult weather make people less likely to get out and spend time with each other, contributing to this. Additionally, many religions and cultures have holidays in the winter, and gathering with family (or not being able to gather with one’s family) can often be stressful and upsetting, making people feel cut off and misunderstood. 

Summer Seasonal Depression

While it’s more common for people to experience seasonal depression in the winter than in the summer, it’s not unheard of for the warmer weather to make people feel down. The heat of summer is a potential factor in why some people suffer from depression at this time of year. If you’re the kind of person who just can’t tolerate high temperatures well, going outside is sure to fill you with dread, leading to dissatisfaction and a sour taste in your mouth for the whole season.

Unhealthy Comparison

Another big contributor to summer depression is the way the season forces you to compare yourself to others in many ways. This can be as simple as seeing friends going on a fun trip and wishing you had the time or money to go on one yourself, or wearing more revealing clothes and swimsuits and feeling self-conscious about your body. Summer is a time of fun and sun, but that can leave a lot of people feeling like they’re just not enough in many ways, even if that feeling is not objectively true.

Feeling Better

Struggling with your mental health at different times of the year is not only very common, it’s also very treatable! Talk to your doctor or a mental health professional about what you’re feeling, and they can help you to come up with a treatment plan. For winter depression, adding a lightbox and some vitamin D supplements to your routine might be helpful. Summer depression might be eased by taking a short social media break for the season. In all cases of depression, therapy and antidepressant medications can also make a huge difference in how you feel. If you have seasonal depression year after year, you can build a plan of medication, therapy, and coping mechanisms into your routine several weeks in advance so that once your difficult time hits, you’re fully prepared.

 

There are endless treatment options out there for people who struggle with their mental health, so if you haven’t seen the results you want from the treatments you’ve tried, don’t give up! Transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS therapy, might be helpful for you or someone you love. You can learn more about it here!