Winter Depression
Winter Depression
by Marion D. Aldridge
Thirty years ago, I began to notice the predictable pattern of my own depression each Winter. I’ve kept a journal periodically over the years. So, all I needed to do was look back at previous Winters to see, sure enough, the same behavioral blueprint. It wasn’t hard to figure out.
The excitement of Christmas was over.
The days were shorter.
There was illness in the air.
We stayed indoors more.
The obituary list in the newspaper was longer.
Winter depression is no secret.
While situational sadness is not the same as clinical despondency or hopelessness, still, I learned to take the symptoms seriously. My first clue was the television series Northern Exposure, which aired an episode on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).[1]
While it’s not the same as cabin fever, limited access to the outdoors still plays a part in the problem. While spending the last two winters in New England, I was surprised at how much more of the winter season these hardy souls spend outdoors than we Southerners do: ice skating, snow skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing. I was amazed.
For me, a big chunk of the Winter blues was good old-fashioned post-Christmas melancholy—rather like post-partum depression. All the excitement—the church in overdrive, holiday parties, gift giving and receiving, travel, Christmas tree-decorating and dismantling—came to a screeching halt.
Winter is also a time of reality checking. Why else do we make resolutions? We’ve eaten too much, spent too much and formed bad habits that need to be broken. Yuk! The fantasy of living as if there are no consequences comes to a demoralizing end. We’re going to have to make some changes. No wonder we are dispirited.
No magic list here of “Ten Ways to Get Out of Your Winter Funk.” There are probably a thousand websites to tell you that. The great insight for me was simply to name the demon. I wasn’t just randomly depressed for no good reason. There were a dozen causes for the Winter doldrums, and I needed to pay attention.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
