Mental health is a vital part of daily life, yet it isn’t prioritized or maintained effectively most of the time, which can negatively affect a lot of people’s lives. This is the case with seasonal depression, too, since many people feel depressed at certain times of the year, but it’s important to realize that you don’t have to accept that a chunk out of every year is one you’ll spend in misery, so keep reading to find out what you can do about it.
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Light Therapy
The sun is the primary source of energy for the Earth and the only reason it can sustain life since every food chain and method of living starts with the energy of the sun being harnessed by plants. It has a major impact on humans, too, as receptors in the eyes sense blue light being transmitted by rays of sunlight, and these receptors go on to signal the brain, telling you when to get sleep and when to stay up. This means that, without enough sunlight, your brain could get more and more sluggish on its own, and to counteract this, you may be interested in trying light therapy. The light you’re missing during winter can be artificially replicated using something like a sun lamp that copies a normal day cycle, stimulating those same receptors in your eyes and brain and making your brain function close to normal, just like it does during the summer.
Hotlines for Mental Health
In the battle against depression, vital resources like the National Depression Hotline play a crucial role in ensuring individuals receive the necessary support, leading to a continual decline in suicide rates. Trained professionals on the other end of the line provide assistance in managing emotions and finding calmness, particularly during the most challenging periods. This supportive presence can be instrumental in navigating through tough times and emerging on the other side, reclaiming a sense of normalcy. Given the significance of these hotlines, especially for those grappling with mental health issues, it’s essential to remember their availability for any circumstance.
Regular Exercise
Mental health is, of course, tied very closely to how your brain is functioning, and that function is tied to your body’s overall health, too. That’s why, if you want to truly cover all of your bases, you should make sure you’re getting regular exercise because exerting yourself and sweating out your problems works really well. Exercise causes your brain to release endorphins like dopamine, which are essentially hormones that manage the acute feeling of happiness and the regular flow of endorphins will make you feel happier immediately after working out more often, and it’ll leave you better able to manage all of your emotions at base level, too, which is why, even if it doesn’t fix all of your problems, exercise will help in some way.
Improve Your Lifestyle
As previously mentioned, you need to take care of your health if you want to stay mentally fresh, and the main way of doing so is by improving your lifestyle, particularly your diet. Having less access to the sun means your body will synthesize less vitamin D which could be adding to your issues. Focus on getting a healthy, balanced diet full of nutrients, electrolytes, and vitamins, especially vitamin D, and you’ll slowly start to feel more focused and fresher, which can translate to the lower points of the season feeling better than they used to before.
Conclusion
The brain is a complicated organ, with scientists still barely able to understand the different processes that occur in it, specifically the ones that lead to things like seasonal depression. Luckily, there are a lot of strategies you can use to prioritize your mental health and feel better than ever, but you’ll have to make the effort to change your lifestyle first. Using the information in this article, next time that dreaded season arrives, you’ll still feel like yourself and better than ever.
