Beat the Winter Blues with Healthy Habits in Stuart, FL
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You can beat the winter blues by prioritizing light exposure, movement, and eating a healthy diet. Applying these senior emotional balance tips can help you enjoy the winter season.
According to UC Davis Health, about 5% of Americans have seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The winter blues are a milder version of SAD. Without treatment, however, symptoms may become debilitating.
This winter, learn how to ease your symptoms. Learning how to beat the winter blues can help improve your health and quality of life in Stuart, FL. Read on to improve your winter mental health!
What Are the Winter Blues?
The winter blues are a mild version of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). You may first start experiencing symptoms in autumn. Symptoms can worsen in the winter when there are fewer hours of sunlight.
You may not experience the winter blues every fall and winter. You may feel sad or want to avoid social interactions. However, you can still function if you have the winter blues.
If you have SAD, your winter mental health may decline to the point that it affects your ability to function. Seek professional treatment before your symptoms worsen.
What Are the Symptoms of the Winter Blues?
Symptoms of seasonal affective disorder include:
- Sadness most of the day, nearly every day
- Carbohydrate cravings
- Extreme fatigue
- Weight gain
- Anxiety
- Feeling worthless or hopeless
- Trouble concentrating or making decisions
- Limbs that feel heavy
- Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
- Social withdrawal
- Overleeping
- Feeling agitated or irritated
Consult a doctor or mental health professional if you experience these symptoms. Delaying treatment may lead to complications.
How to Beat the Winter Blues
Don't let the winter weather and lack of sunlight bring you down. Instead, use these tips to beat the winter blues.
Brighten Your Morning
Try to get sunlight exposure immediately after waking up. Light exposure may help ease your symptoms. Sunlight triggers the release of neurotransmitters associated with mood.
Embrace the Norwegian concept of having a positive mindset during the colder winter months. Try embracing winter by engaging in outdoor activities like:
- Drinking hot beverages
- Iceskating
- Sitting by a fire with friends
Otherwise, go for a walk outside. Embracing nature with a lunchtime walk may boost your mood, alertness, and enthusiasm.
Exercise
Exercise can boost the natural production of dopamine and serotonin, which may improve your mood. Your senior living community may offer exercise classes, including:
- Walking and hiking groups
- Indoor swimming and water aerobics
- Yoga
- Pilates
- Tai chi
- Weight lifting
- Resistance training
Don't forget to stay hydrated. Water helps support skin health. It also washes toxins and waste from the body.
Adjust Your Diet
The MIND diet may slow a decline in cognitive function as you age. It's recommended to counteract neurodegenerative brain changes and improve nervous system function. The MIND diet is a combination of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, prioritizing foods like:
- Green leafy vegetables
- Non-starchy vegetables
- Berries
- Nuts and seeds
- Olive oil
- Whole grains
- Fatty fish
- Beans, lentils, and soybeans
- Poultry
These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, which support serotonin and dopamine function. They may improve your mood while reducing SAD symptoms.
Try limiting your alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a depressant; it may worsen your symptoms.
Assisted Living Engagement
Social isolation and loneliness may increase your risk of mental and physical conditions, including:
- Alzheimer's disease
- Cognitive decline
- Heart disease
- A weakened immune system
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Anxiety
- Depression
As your winter mental health declines, you may isolate yourself. Instead, explore your senior living community's events and activities calendar. Try spending more time with other seniors in Stuart.
Their presence may uplift your mood. Enjoy movie nights, trivia, or arts and crafts together.
For additional help, consider prioritizing your cognitive health. You can find a memory care wellness program through your senior living community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Is At Risk of the Winter Blues?
People who have a higher risk of seasonal affective disorder include:
- People between the ages of 18 and 30
- Women
- People with another mood disorder (such as bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder)
- Having relatives with SAD
- Having relatives with other mental health conditions or depression
- People who live far north or south of the equator
- People who live in cloudy regions
The lack of sunlight exposure during the cold winter months may trigger SAD. This theory suggests people with SAD experience:
- A brain chemical imbalance
- Biological clock changes
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Increased melatonin production
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (brain chemical) that triggers feelings of happiness. Sunlight exposure helps the body regulate serotonin levels. Getting fewer hours of sunlight during the winter may contribute to SAD symptoms.
Our biological clock (circadian rhythm) helps regulate hormones, sleep, and mood. Getting fewer hours of sunlight may cause a shift, leading to mood changes.
Vitamin D can help boost serotonin levels. Sun exposure helps the body produce vitamin D. Getting less sunlight exposure can cause vitamin D, and therefore serotonin levels, to drop.
Melatonin is a chemical that influences mood and sleep patterns. A lack of sunlight can cause an increase in melatonin production. This may cause you to feel fatigued during the winter.
What Are Treatments for the Winter Blues?
If your symptoms persist, seek professional seasonal affective disorder support. A mental health professional may recommend:
- Light therapy
- Antidepressant medication
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
Bright light therapy is a primary intervention for SAD. It involves treatment at an intensity of 10,000 lux for 30 minutes a day, usually during early morning hours.
Bright light therapy mimics natural outdoor light settings. Getting light exposure first thing in the morning may stimulate serotonin and vitamin D production. Both are associated with mood.
Find Your Senior Emotional Balance
Don't neglect your mental health this year. Instead, find senior emotional balance by learning how to beat the winter blues. With these tips, you can enjoy the cool weather.
You can discover more resources through your senior living community. Discovery Village Stuart blends an amenity-rich environment with elegant apartment homes and deeply personalized care.
Enjoy our exclusive senior lifestyle programs, including Sensations Dining led by Chef Sue and Celebrations Activities & Events like moving marathons and Trivia Tuesdays. Contact us now to schedule your tour.