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55<br />
<strong>January</strong><br />
Blues<br />
The Great Outdoors<br />
The ongoing pandemic is challenging<br />
the best of us when it comes to keeping<br />
our spirits up, but even without this the<br />
shorter daylight hours of winter can<br />
have a huge effect on how we feel. It’s<br />
not good for us or for those around us<br />
to feel perpetually negative, so it’s<br />
time to take action.<br />
Spending time outdoors each day is crucial to tackling<br />
winter blues. Exercise and laughter both stimulate and<br />
boost endorphins, those wonderful feel-good chemicals<br />
in our bodies that help to lift our mood. Furthermore,<br />
spending an hour or two away from the news will distract<br />
you from negative feelings through the rest of the day.<br />
It’s Not All About You<br />
Our social lives have been considerably curtailed since<br />
March 2020 but contact with other people is so important.<br />
When you are feeling down, you might feel you don’t<br />
want to bother your friends and family. But imagine if<br />
they asked to speak to you? You’d be unlikely to say no,<br />
so flip that on its head and remember that they are likely<br />
to be glad to hear from you too! Video calls are a real<br />
blessing for distanced interactions, but even just a phone<br />
call will cheer you.<br />
Even better, instead of a phone call, a short walk around<br />
the block for an in-person catch-up is likely to find<br />
conversation flowing more easily. If you are on your own,<br />
go somewhere that other people are – a park, the seaside<br />
or one of the National Trust gardens.<br />
Maybe It’s Really SAD<br />
Over two million people in the UK are affected by Seasonal<br />
Affective Disorder (SAD). The low levels of light during<br />
the winter months can cause a range of symptoms, from<br />
slowing down and lacking energy right through to severe<br />
depression. Other symptoms include feeling gloomy,<br />
lethargic and experiencing feelings of being unable to<br />
carry out our normal routine.<br />
Light therapy in the form of a lightbox has been shown<br />
to be helpful for many sufferers, but any exposure to light<br />
will help: a lunchtime walk or sitting near a window when<br />
indoors.<br />
Read All About It…Or Not<br />
Reading about ‘the blues’ can help as it’ll reassure you that<br />
you aren’t on your own. Seeing a post on a user forum<br />
from someone with a similar problem and reading the<br />
encouraging and sympathetic replies will be a comfort to<br />
you. “A problem shared is a problem halved” as the saying<br />
goes.<br />
On the other hand, if the news depresses you and social<br />
media makes you feel like everyone else is living their<br />
best life, switch it off. When someone boasts about how<br />
amazing their life is right now, it’s really not going to<br />
cheer you up.<br />
Summer’s Coming<br />
OK, admittedly that’s stretching it a bit in <strong>January</strong>. But<br />
each day has been getting a few minutes longer since the<br />
21st December so there is – literally – light at the end of<br />
the tunnel.
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