We are currently in the middle of one of my least-favorite times of the year – winter. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of aspects of the wintertime that I love. But very small amount of those things tend to happen in January/February. Whether it’s seasonal affective disorder or a natural reaction to the lack of sunlight and generally cold weather, the wintertime can be difficult and lead us to being more prone to mental health challenges. At times like this, I often feel like I want to take my foot off the gas when it comes to my mental health. But in fact, this is actually the time of year when our mental health toolkits can do a huge amount of good. While I always recommend to try new techniques and strategies to improve your mental health, it changes a bit during this time of year. This time of year, I try to stick with what works.
Now what does it mean for something to “work” for us? Maybe it’s that something is easy for us to handle, or that it comes naturally to us, but I have a slightly different perspective. When it comes to my mental health, knowing what works for me depends on one thing above all else: what symptoms, if any, are being triggered in that moment.
When I say that my symptoms are being triggered, I don’t just mean how I feel in that moment. I actually take a step back and try to think about how my mental health is impacting me. This could mean running through the long list of symptoms of anxiety or depression. It could also mean thinking about if these symptoms feel new or are happening more than they used to. It’s a self-assessment of sorts, to try and understand the problem at hand. If you don’t understand the problem, how can you find the solution?
If I can figure out my symptoms, than it’s time to take the next step and attack them. Over the years, I’ve collected several mental health tips and techniques, all of which are solutions to specific symptoms or problems. With time, I’ve been able to identify the right technique for the situation, and am able to figure what’s needed in that moment. Am I always successful in doing this? Absolutely not. But I am doing better than I used to, and that’s a big win.
Whether it’s building mental wellness or combatting mental health challenges, this is a time of year where people are particularly prone to feeling worse than usual (and that’s not even factoring in *everything* that’s going on in the world today). While we should be paying special attention to our wellness, we should also remember what works for us, what heals us, and what helps us. The spring or summer might be the time to try something new or off-the-wall for our mental health. But if you know that reading a book brings you peace, or building a to-do list of little items to knock off will help you feel accomplished, please go for it. Little wins add up and this time of year, I know I could use all the little wins I can get.
Are there any special ways you take care of your mental health during the winter time? Do you think this time of year is harder on your mental health than others? Let me know in the comments!