Winter can be a really dismal time of year, especially for those who suffer from seasonal depression, also known as SAD. The short days, lack of decently warm outdoor activities, and financial stress from the upcoming holidays are all parts of winter that I dread every year.
Every fall my mind is taken over by thoughts of how much fun summer is and how sad I am that it’s gone, along with anxiety stemming from the shorter daytime hours and feeling like I’m less productive.
SAD can be a really difficult thing to cope with, and it took me a long time to even recognize that my depression was seasonal. Now that I know, I can spend my time finding ways to cope with my feelings rather than let them overtake me and ruin the holidays like they used to.
As much as I dislike winter and the yucky white precipitation it brings with it, I really enjoy all of the comforting food associated with the season, coffee beverages in particular. Going to my favorite coffee shops to try the various brews they have come up with is one of my favorite hobbies, and it makes me feel good supporting local businesses.
As a coffee connoisseur, I consider winter to be the prime time for hot beverages considered quite disgusting during other times of the year. I mean, who really likes peppermint in their coffee when Christmas isn’t looming in the background? Not me.
However, something about grasping a hot peppermint mocha while I justify my trip out of the house with some sort of crummy excuse is a feeling that really gets me through winter without being too gloomy.
When I can’t come up with any sort of rationalization for taking a break from my tiny apartment or wearing something other than sweatpants, I always put a splash of eggnog in my morning cup of joe to give it a little more pizazz compared to what I normally drink.
Later on in the day, after I’ve finished off nearly a whole pot of coffee, I can switch to cinnamon tea or apple cider. Both of these are delicious when hot, and they are caffeine free, which means I can sleep at a decent time. With darkness setting in so early during the winter, it’s all too easy for me to give in to random urges telling me to go to bed much too early or incredibly late.
Keeping a regular schedule, similar to the one I have during the summer months, is important for me when I am coping with SAD. Coffee, sometimes in copious amounts, in the morning and a different type of warming drink in the evening is a large part of how I keep my schedule consistent no matter what is happening during the day.
The joy these seasonal beverages bring into my life while the snow piles up outside is much more than a simple moment of “Oh, that’s good!” These drinks provide a sense of motivation for me each day to keep myself busy and productive when the sun isn’t in the sky as long as I want it to be.
There are many other ways people cope with their SAD, including doing yoga, meditation, light therapy, medication and psychotherapy, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Keeping a consistent schedule may not be among the treatments listed there but, in my experience, it helps with keeping me motivated and limiting my anxiety levels.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5.