Seasonal depression is a real thing. Another term for it is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Seasonal Depression is when your mood is affected by the changes of the seasons, the most common trigger being winter time. There isn't even really a known cause of this. Sure there are some factors such as a change in your serotonin and melatonin levels. Serotonin is the brain chemical that affects your mood and melatonin is what controls your sleep patterns and some of your mood.
Winter time is the most common season that people experience seasonal depression. There's not as much sunlight and if you aren't someone who does a lot of things in the winter your stuck indoors a lot. People tend to oversleep, gain weight, lose a lot of their energy and overall just feel really down.
I know that at least for me, I'm not exactly a delight to be around during the winter. I'm a much happier and lively person comes spring and summer time. The sun is back out, the days are longer and the fresh air just makes you feel so good. As we begin to enter spring now, I can feel my mood shift. I can feel this weight slowly lifting from my shoulders. I'm ready to spring clean, ready to see friends and ready for adventure again.
I'm ready to be happy again.
As someone who also struggles with bipolar disorder, I get a bit more of the intense sides of the seasonal mood changes. My depression is stronger in the winter. I start to feel hopeless on some days, I'm tired all the time and I feel low. It's not your normal depression that comes with the season for some people, it's stronger. Then spring and summer come and my manic side peaks. I'm happy, but quite intense as my mania phase also means I'm a bit more sensitive and aggressive. Bipolar is a disorder you deal with all the time, the seasons just can amplify some of the symptoms.
WIth seasonal depression, it's predictable. You know it's coming, you know when it happens and you're able to try and take preventive measures. You can look for activities to keep yourself busy, you can try to plan a vacation to someplace sunny, you have options. You can fight the mood change.
I'm just thankful that the time has come to shed the seasonal depression and start living a bit better. My mood is rising and I'm feeling really good. There is so much to look forward to and so much that I'm ready to do.
I'm ready for the sun, I'm ready for the joy and I'm ready to breathe again.
