BEAT THE WINTER BLUES WITH A HEALTHY DOSE OF FRESH AIR
PRESCRIPTION
iSTOCK/YURII KARVATSKYI
OUTDOORS
The change of seasons from fall to winter can also bring a change in mood. Winter in Wisconsin can create the perfect recipe for melancholy: a sprinkle of bitter cold that limits outdoor activity, a dash of overcast days affecting your vitamin D and a pinch of prolonged darkness impacting one’s circadian rhythm. As the temperature drops and the days get darker and shorter, so too comes the battle with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, a type of depression that generally arrives in fall or winter, then departs in spring. “Historically, 4% to 6% of people experience seasonal affective disorder, while 10% to 20% have a milder form, those winter blues,” said Shilagh Mirgain, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. Unlike the winter blues, a non-medically diagnosed, sporadic and shorter-lived feeling associated with winter, SAD is clinically diagnosed, lasts for at least two weeks and is a milder version of more severe depression.
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wnrmag.com
According to Mirgain, if the seasons start to change and you begin to feel down or disinterested in activities, have problems sleeping, experience fluctuating weight and appetite or have difficulties concentrating, you may be experiencing SAD. “These are all symptoms of seasonal affective disorder,” Mirgain explained. “People might have some of those symptoms if they have winter blues but not as persistent. They may have a few days where they feel these symptoms, or they may pop up here or there during the winter.” BENEFITS OF THE OUTDOORS While the elements are something beyond control, your environment or activities can change, significantly improving your mental health. Over the past 16 years, Mirgain has dedicated her clinical practice to treating patients who experience myriad mental health setbacks, and SAD is no exception. She and other psychologists have studied nature's effects on mental health and improving one’s mood.
iSTOCK/NADIA_BORMOTOVA
JOSHUA MORRIS
