Seasonal Affective Disorder: Tips to Break Out of Your Winter Rut

I'm not kidding when I tell people that I moved out of NY State because I couldn't take the winters up there anymore. Besides the heavy snow (upwards of 150 inches most winters), the sun would disappear for a week at a time, and by the end of January my depression (this was before I got my hormones balanced) was even worse than usual.

I'm much better now that I am in NC because 1) my hormones are balanced, 2) I take 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D each day (talk to your doctor about this) 3) most winter days in NC have at least some sun (today is not one of them) and 4) because the winters are milder, I am able to get out pretty much every day (being housebound two days last week because of snow and ice was very unusual).

I saw this article today on the HuffingtonPost.com by Oz Garcia, and it has some great tips to help you cope with the winter blues/blahs. I used to use a BriteLight box when I was in NY, and actually found that it did help a little. I sat with it 30 minutes each morning. I think one of the most important tips in the article is to get some exercise----that way, when spring rolls around you will be in better shape, and will feel like getting out to enjoy the fresh season!