In theory, fall as a harvest season is the period of growth and birth. However, it really doesn’t appear so in urban environments, and people seem more likely to fall into seasonal depression.
After all, the weather is colder and wetter, which keeps you indoors for the most time. Sure, there’s Halloween, but is this really enough to compensate for all the activities you can no longer do outdoors? This is also the season of the flu (even before the COVID-19 pandemic), which further complicates things.
Moreover, a dormant lifestyle, junk food, not getting enough vitamin D, not getting enough sleep, and not hydrating properly can already make you feel depleted. Coincidentally, all of this is more likely in the fall.
In other words, while it might be the season of birth in the countryside, the situation is much grimmer in urban environments. Still, not everything is so dark and moody. With the right game plan, you can easily get ahead of this problem and come up with several solutions.
Spend Time Outside
This kind of lifestyle is particularly appealing, seeing as how it’s easy to skip a walk outside when it’s raining already. This could practically force you to skip some of your best cardio-based habits like walking, cycling, running, etc. Keep in mind that while this is more difficult, it is definitely worth keeping up with. After all, physical activity is one of the key components for improving your mood in the long run.
Sun exposure is also a huge issue, which is why you need to find some motivation to spend more time outdoors. One of the ways to do so is to prepare a special area in your own backyard. Installing a fire pit is a great start. Then, you should proceed to make seating around the fire pit in order to make the area even more inviting. Additional decoration efforts will only improve the effect.
Sure, it’s inconvenient, but it’s incredibly important for both your physical health and your vitamin D levels. So, give it your best to spend some time outdoors. If going gets tough, it might also be a good idea to start taking vitamin D supplements.
Improve Your Diet
Previously, we’ve talked about how you are likely to neglect the importance of spending time outdoors in the summer. The same goes for ordering food instead of going to the farmers’ marketto get healthy ingredients. This is a shame, seeing as how there’s always an abundance of incredible crops and fresh veggies to choose from in the fall.
First of all, you need to focus on preparing your meal from whole foods. Fortunately, fall is the season of apples, pomegranates, cranberries, chestnuts, sweet potatoes, and cauliflowers. Blueberries are full of phytochemicals and antioxidants, which are great for your overall health. Pears are great for your heart, while pumpkin is one of the best sources of vitamin A there is.
Overall, the problem with this lies in finding enough motivation to improve your diet. Fortunately, this is not a difficult task.
Find a Therapist
There’s a reason why you’re reading how to get ahead of your seasonal depression – it’s probably because it has happened before, and you expect it to happen again. While mood swings are completely normal, having an active (inevitable) trigger is definitely something you should focus on. The most effective way to do so is to find a therapist you trust.
Remember that there are some people who love fall and all the little joys it brings. In other words, other than just being a matter of personality, it’s also something closely tied to your point of view. This is something that a therapist can help you understand much better. By understanding these triggers, it will be a lot easier to avert them.
Focus on Self-care
The better you take care of yourself, the better you’ll feel. Sure, for some, fall implies that you should carry heavier clothes, but, at the same time, this gives you brand new fashion opportunities to explore. Sweaters, coats, and long sleeves, in general, are not in use during the summer. Now, it’s time to change this for good.
Keep in mind that self-care is not just in the way you dress. Keep in mind that spending more time indoors means sitting more and becoming stiffer. So, go to a massage parlor for a treatment. Furthermore, if you do listen to our advice from the first section and decide to spend more time outdoors, you’ll be exposed to wind, which could cause some damage to your skin. As a solution, you need to moisturize and use better protection.
All in all, the more you tend to your mind and body, the better you’ll feel. Fall can’t do a thing against such extensive preparation efforts.
Regulate Your Sleep Patterns
There are a lot of issues causing problems with your sleep pattern during fall. While some people find that they sleep more during the fall, this is usually not the case with others. On the one hand, longer nights means that our body is more exposed to melatonin. As a result, we get exposed to the so-called winter tiredness. Therefore, it’s essential that you learn how to handle this issue.
First of all, you need to set a strict sleeping schedule and stick to it. Start by figuring out how much sleep time you need. If you’re physically active, you need at least 8-9 hours of sleep every day. If you’re leading a dormant lifestyle, even 7 hours of sleep can be enough. Yes, there is such a thing as too much sleep, and it usually results in getting more tired than if you just cut your rest a couple of hours short.
Other than this, you might also want to try using a humidifier to improve the overall quality of your sleep.
Fill Your Schedule
The busier you are, the more organized you’ll be. As we’ve mentioned, a lot of things that you’ve previously enjoyed may now be much more difficult. This means that you’ll cancel some tasks without replacing them with something new. This is a grievous error that you need to rectify as soon as possible.
Find new hobbies, change your exercise and physical activity routines and, overall, make an effort to fill in your schedule. There are so many things you can do during the fall. Perhaps, you could use these gaps in schedule to pursue opportunities and interests you continually postponed during the summer.
There’s a quote that if you work hard enough, you can replace your depression with exhaustion. This funny quote shouldn’t be taken at its face value, seeing as how depression is a serious illness with dire repercussions. Still, keeping yourself busy can help.
In Conclusion
There’s no magical cure for depression, but it’s important that you set realistic expectations. It’s ok to feel gloomy, sad, or even a bit anxious. These are the moods that will naturally appear and be caused by a variety of factors. Still, if you have the tendency to feel this way more often during the colder part of the year, it might be a good idea to do something about it. The above-listed tips are a great starting point.
About The Author
Stacey is a freelance writer living in Minnesota with her cat, and she’s passionate about yoga, languages, home improvement, and drinking strong coffee. Find her on Twitter @StaceyShann0n