Dark day blues: How to get past seasonal affective disorder

Light box therapy for seasonal affective disorder

Winter often ushers in days when the weather is dark and gloomy, triggering for some people seasonal depression.  Add to this the issues that come with the holidays, bad memories or change that has brought about disconnections; and the problems created by dark days increase.  So here are some ways to keep that sunny mood that can be applied simply and make a difference.


 If you're someone who has dark day blues, you may be suffering from what doctors call seasonal affective disorder. This term is used to categorize the mood that comes when the season changes from light and sunny to cold, dark and gloomy. Most people might feel a little down during those times, but people with this disorder are more than a little glum. They are affected sometimes to the point of inertia. It is indeed a type of depression that can be hurtful, even as depression is described as a primary mental health problem.. So it can be debilitating to have a condition that can affect an individual several months of the year. Besides even people without the clinical disorder can benefit from tips on staying sunny when the days are not.

Light begets light.

Attracting light can be an important way of fighting darkness. Choose light colored drapes, furniture and accessories. They brighten up an environment during the whole year round and are especially helpful for those who have problems dealing with dark days. Soft, neutral colors on walls, warm sunny accents, plants, light colored sheers that are layered at the windows in back of venetian blinds as opposed to heavy drapes will allow light to pass through in streams.

Live near windows.

Maintain most activity near areas of the environment where there is light. Don't block windows with furniture. Maintain open spaces so that the light can fill space as opposed to large pieces of furniture that can make an area look crowded and dark.

Be active.

Get outside, even when it rains a little. Physical exercise helps elevate mood. Sunlight, even occasionally hidden by clouds, peeks out some parts of gloomy days and elevates the mood when it does.

Artificial light works.

 Special bright lights that bathe an area in bright light can help mood change from glum to cheery.

Wear color,

Dull colors can influence mood negatively.  Wear color, not browns and grays and blacks, unless they're splashed with color accessories that brighten up the person. What we wear has been shown to help lift mood.

Along with light, bright clothes, a little color on the face serves to help lift the spirit a little. The person with a tendency to depression on dark days can't afford to hang out with bare face and pajamas until noon. Sometimes the down-in-the-dumps mood is perpetuated and reinforced by what is worn, and people get caught in a vicious cycle. The person with seasonal affective disorder, or the dark mood on dark days, can't afford not to get up and get on with it because of the tendency of the body and the mind to reinforce each other because of that connection we often talk about.

Add Melatonin

Melatonin is an over-the-counter remedy to regulate sleep.  Another alternative to elevate mood is lavender scents at night and fruity smells in the daytime.

All of these special strategies translate into a total regimen for taking care of one's mental state and preparing to stay sunny in spite of the weather.

Now get up and get going just like Longfellow suggested in that poem long ago, "with a heart for any fate. And ascending and securing, learn to labor and to wait." Or something else in hope of the sunny times, as Scarlett said when she felt a little down in Gone with the Wind, "Tomorrow is another day."