Winter blues vs. winter depression
Dayenne Sanders | februari 14, 2023
Introduction
Lack of sunlight, lots of rain and low temperatures. The winter blues are luring once again. Perhaps you’ve noticed that it’s becoming more difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Lower energy levels, negative thinking and decreased motivation are all possible signs of the winter blues. But what if it’s more than that? What’s the difference between the winter blues and a depression? And what can you do to support yourself? Our Student Coach Dayenne will answer these questions in this blog. Spoiler: it’s not all black and white.
Winter depression
A winter depression is nothing more than a depression that occurs during the late fall and early winter. Having the winter blues is not an official diagnosis, meaning that there are no standardized internationally recognized criteria. A winter depression, however, does.
A person is classified as having a depression when five or more depressive symptoms are present for at least a 2-week period, and one of the symptoms is “depressed mood” or “loss of interest” (American Psychological Association):
- Depressed mood (sad, empty or hopeless feeling) during most of the day, nearly every day
- Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in most or all activities, nearly every day
- Significant unintentional weight loss or gain or a decrease or increase in appetite
- Sleep disturbance (insomnia or hypersomnia), nearly every day
- Doing or talking very quickly (agitated) or very slowly
- Tiredness, fatigue, or lower energy levels, nearly every day
- Feelings of worthlessness or delusional guilt, nearly every day
- Impaired ability to think, concentrate or make decisions, nearly every day
- Recurrent thoughts of death
Student Coach Dayenne: “Whenever I see students with depressive symptoms, there’s typical behavioral signs as well. Often people tend to spend a great deal of time in bed, cancelling social activities, and isolating themselves. Eventually, they will feel worse about themselves because they are not showing up or performing well enough (socially or academically) and are unable to meet their own expectations or those of people around them. In turn, this leads to more feelings of sadness, which is how you end up in a vicious cycle”.
Winter blues
The winter blues are similar to a depression, but less severe. This could mean that you only suffer from a couple of depressive symptoms, or that they do not last as long. For example: you feel depressed once a week, but not more than that. Or: you do not sleep as well as you used to and you don’t enjoy activities as much, but your appetite is still the same and you still have enough energy to last you through the day.
Covering the basics
To combat these darker feelings, we’ll share a couple of easy and accessible options for you to try. First of all: go outside daily, even if the sun doesn’t shine. Sure, it feels better when the sun is beaming down on your face, but even on the most dreary days you’ll get some natural light which is important for your sleep/wake cycle.
Secondly: if you recognize the above symptoms in yourself, talk about it. Choose at least one person that you feel comfortable with sharing how you are really doing. Pick someone you trust and that won’t judge you, this could be a family member, study friend, or someone you’ve known since childhood. It can feel vulnerable to open up, something we often find uncomfortable. It’s understandable that you feel unsure about how the other person might react. Still, it’s important to look for that connection and to receive support when you’re going through a difficult time. This can be a huge relief!
Negative outlook
It’s typical for people with depressive symptoms to have a negative outlook on the future, as if you’re looking through a pair of sad, gray glasses. This is called the negativity bias; negative thoughts and predictions influence your state of being and your behavior, usually in such a way that people become less active and ruminate more.
To combat this, write for 5-10 minutes at the end of your day about what you did that day, how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking about. Afterwards, look back to what you wrote. Is there a negative expectation in there? Underline it. Assess whether this prediction is useful. Does this thought help you to achieve your goals? Or be the person you want to be? If so, you can leave it where it is. If not, you might try to formulate a new and less negative expectation. It doesn’t have to be extremely positive, this exercise only works if you believe what you write down. Even a new, slightly more neutral expectation will do. By practicing this regularly, you’re teaching your brain to move away from black-and-white thinking and opening up to other possibilities.
Have to have fun
Many students put a lot of pressure on themselves. You “have to” go to class, make assignments, attend social activities, exercise, eat healthy, be fun, relaxed, sleep well, have enough free time, see your family, walk your dog, get good grades, do an internship, and so on. The list continues.
If you have to do all these things, having actual fun will move to the background. Think about the things that bring you joy: what charges your batteries? Who is with you, or are you alone? What are you doing? And what are you not doing? Use these questions to make a list of pleasurable activities. The longer the better. If you’re not feeling so well at the moment it could be that you’re not experiencing as much fun as you maybe did a while back, and it can help to see what used to make you happy when you were doing better. Make sure to choose something from your list regularly. You could add smaller things to your daily routine (having coffee with a friend, exercising) and make space for larger things at the end of the week (going to the movies or visiting friends or family that live further away). If your mind is telling you “I don’t feel like it”or “this will never work”, see if you can recognize that thought for what it is: a thought. It’s your winter depression trying to keep you inside. Try to push that thought aside, do it anyway, and only afterwards assess how you feel.
Get in touch
If you recognize some of the symptoms in this blog, you might be dealing with the winter blues. This does not necessarily mean that you have a winter depression! Depressive symptoms also overlap with anxiety and burn-out symptoms. In the end, what’s most important is how you experience these symptoms and to what degree they are impairing your normal functioning. If you’re suffering from negative thinking, lack of motivation or overall fatigue, know that you can always see a healthcare professional about this. This could be your GP, a student psychologist, and of course our student coaches at Wake Up Student are there to help you. If you’d like to come for an intake with one of our coaches, send an email to info@wakeupstudent.nl and the student coach near you will contact you shortly.
