Occupational Therapy aims to improve mental well-being through promotion of meaningful activities. This approach can be successfully applied to addressing seasonal mood changes (also known as the winter blues!)
Dark nights, continuous rain and cold weather have most definitely arrived! For many people, the winter months can bring a loss of interest in normal everyday activities, make us feel tired, irritable and unable to concentrate. Being proactive and adopting a preventative approach helps to maintain mental well-being.
Here are my 5 top (tried and tested) tips for preventing those winter blues!
1. Prioritise a daily walk.
Even with limited daylight, a brisk lunchtime walk can do wonders for the release of endorphins which act as a natural mood enhancer. In addition, ensuring that you spend time in green space, even in the winter, is a huge mood booster. Walking will help the body to circulate blood to the brain and help you feel energised. It’ll also help you sleep better at night!
If you’re driving to work or the supermarket for example, you could try parking further away and increasing your walking pace to brisk. Ensure you are getting those steps in and raising the heart rate whenever the opportunity arises. By incorporating these simple strategies into your daily routine, you can increase your physical activity and improve your overall health and well-being. You could even introduce take the opportunity to listen to some uplifting music or an audio book in headphones. Alternatively, pay close attention to natures sights and sounds as you walk which will help bring you into a mindful state.
2. Start a new hobby.
Participating in meaningful activities, or occupations, has proven positive effects on mental health, particularly if the hobby brings you together with a community. Hobbies such as reading, arts and crafts, baking, singing or exercise.
In particular, creative activities are brilliant for brain health. Studies have shown that craft projects can super-charge cognitive function as it requires the left and rights sides of the brain to collaborate. Not to mention the dopamine boost from feeling a sense of achievement with your finished product, or how focussing on your creation brings you into a mindful state and therefore settling the nervous system.
In occupational therapy, the science behind meaningful occupations, particularly of a creative nature, underpins our practice. I found this monthly craft box subscription online and have just signed up – and looks easy to follow and I can’t wait to learn some new skills – check out the Craftiosity website: https://tidd.ly/3ZsqnDW
3. Connect with friends.
When it comes to mental well-being, there are multiple occupational therapy models of practice that emphasise the health benefits of connecting with others. It’s easy to hibernate over Winter and lose contact with friends and family as the lack of sunlight brings a sense of sadness, fatigue and all-round loss of motivation. However, you can stay connected from the comfort of your own home with regular phone calls, video chats, emails or messaging apps. If you can – arrange things throughout the season that give you something to look forward to such as a weekly coffee or walk with a friend.
4. Invest in a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) Lamp
SAD lamps work by simulating natural sunlight in your home which in turn, helps release the brains happy hormone – serotonin (the same effect also achieved by eating chocolate. Just saying).
If you work from home, in a small office, these lamps can be great during the light limited months, and generally for mood boosting whilst you are busy at the desk. Lamps such as the Hiloshine SAD Lamp are stylish and would look generally inconspicuous in an office, or even a living room or kitchen. It certainly would make a practical and thoughtful Christmas present.
5. Set a goal
Setting yourself a realistic, achievable and time specific goal can be another great way of beating of the winter blues. You could set an exercise goals such as entering a running event in the Spring which will require some focussed training during the winter months, or a project such as upcycling a piece of furniture or decorating a room of your house. It could be a target to watch every season of Greys Anatomy before the clocks go forward again or finishing a book series.
So – get connecting, crafting, exercising, setting goals and making small changes to the darker months to keep your mind in a positive frame. If you are struggling with engaging in any of the above interventions due to mood or motivation, please seek support from your GP.
For safety, Borders Occupational Therapy will only ever recommend small aids or devices without a face to face assessment first. Any larger items of equipment for daily activities such as bathing, showering, mobilising, or managing stairs can only be recommended following careful assessment of an individual in their own environment. You are able to self-refer in most local authorities across the UK for an occupational therapy assessment or alternatively using Find an occupational therapist --
RCOT to find an independent Occupational therapist near you.
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