Autumn Is This Year’s Sunday: How To Deal With Autumn Depression?

Most of the time we forget that a change in the seasons means that our bodies have to make some important adjustments. Less sunlight in the autumn and winter seasons, for example, has a direct effect on your mood and can lead to autumn depression. Do you feel that you have more or less energy after a week with gray skies and rain? How to deal with autumn depression?

In addition , autumn has some other properties that bring the state of mind down. The most important of them is definitely your attitude when it comes to dealing with the transition to winter. So how can you cope with the coldest part of the year at your 100% best?

The impact of autumn on well-being

When autumn begins, either in the northern hemisphere (October) or the southern (March), we go through many changes in our mood. We can also experience them differently and at different levels. But at the beginning of autumn it usually means apathy, anhedonia and / or fatigue.

In the summer, the days are longer, and it seems easier to take advantage of your time. In addition, since you usually have a few weeks of vacation to rest and spend time with family, you are more calm and relaxed. You remember that you have less responsibility than the rest of the year, do not have to hurry, and do not have to go through the constant monotony and stress of the work week.

But all this changes completely when autumn comes. The days get shorter and shorter, the nights get longer, there are fewer hours of light, and rain and cold replace the nice summer weather and you have to deal with autumn depression.

September either makes you tired or builds you up

The lower temperatures are like an invitation to stay indoors and spend less time outdoors. You can even isolate yourself socially. And this change in the weather can make you feel cold and weaker and more vulnerable. Seeing the leaves fall from your toes and gather on the ground will also make you feel nostalgic and sad.

Many people make their wardrobe a personification of their difficulties. So you stop wearing lively, bright clothes and switch to a much darker, gloomier color spectrum.

The hormonal change

These external factors, especially the changing weather and less sunlight, will lead to a number of hormonal changes. These hormonal changes will make your energy considerably less stable throughout the day. Let’s take a look at them:

• Increased melatonin production : as there is more melatonin in the blood, you will always feel a little tired and want to sleep or just lie down.
• Decreased serotonin production : this happens with the increase of melatonin, because it causes you to lack balance in sleep, mood and state of mind.
• Reduced dopamine production : this leads to lack of attention and general lack of interest.

“Autumn Depression”

If the reduction in mood is intense and long-lasting, you may experience something called “autumn depression” or “winter depression”. But stay calm! It is only a temporary situation that you can avoid if you follow the right steps to deal with autumn depression.

The symptoms of depression are a great lack of energy and interest in everything, apathy, irritability and bad mood, difficulty sleeping, and difficulty concentrating. In some cases, people may even experience strong feelings of loneliness, even if they are not real.

How to cope with autumn depression

You should see a specialist about these types of mood disorders, but there are some ways you can deal with the symptoms. If you make some small changes in your diet and do some daily activities, it can be a great help in dealing with autumn depression.

At the diet level, it is a good idea to make sure you get plenty of vitamins B and C, along with minerals such as calcium and magnesium (they are necessary for neurotransmitter production). You can also use horseradish root and purple passion flower to relax and improve the quality of your sleep.

Sometimes you get stuck and think that when the holiday is over, then it is also the end of the time you can spend for yourself. But that’s not really true. You should continue to find those moments of leisure and entertainment and fill your life with fun activities. For example, playing sports. And if you do not have time to do it outdoors, indoor exercise is still a great way to get a positive attitude and stick to it.

Besides your body, you can also help your mind by reading, going to the theater, cinema or museums. You can listen to music, have a nice conversation with friends, or spend special quality time with your partner or children.

When you suddenly stop doing all the little activities that make you happy, it means that you lose energy and start to feel more apathetic. Eventually it will bring your mood down and also give you higher level of stress.

Autumn depression is not always post-holiday syndrome

Post-holiday depression is the condition a working person is in when he or she does not adapt properly to working life when the holiday ends.

The symptoms are very similar to autumn depression. But there are also some other important physical problems such as muscle pain, which will lead to reduced job performance.

This syndrome can also appear at any time of the year, when you return from vacation. So if for some reason you postpone the holiday until November, post-holiday syndrome will appear afterwards.

Autumn depression always accompanies a specific part of the year: the end of summer and the beginning of the season after. Post-holiday syndrome also affects most young people, especially people under 45 years of age. At the same time, adults over this age are most prone to autumnal depression.

As you have seen, there are many factors during the fall that can put your physical and mental well-being at risk. But this does not stop it from being the best season of the year. You just have to learn to make the most of it!