Avoid the 'Winter Blues' With My Three Tips
It all started with the "dear diary" of a 63-year-old man...
Herb Kern had been journaling for more than a decade. Specifically, he had been logging his mood swings.
Then Kern started noticing a pattern...
His bouts of depression tended to happen more often during the winter. And he started wondering if his down days were caused by shorter daylight hours.
Turns out, his suspicions were right...
In 1979, Kern got in touch with researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health. He ended up participating in an experiment the following winter when his mood was at a low.
The experiment consisted of him being bathed in bright, white light from a light therapy box from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and at 4 p.m. for several days. Four days in, he noticed his mood improving. And six days later, he had fully emerged from his mire of misery.
Thanks to Herb's diary (and willingness to be a guinea pig), we now have a name for this syndrome, one that looms ahead as daylight saving time comes to an end this weekend...
Seasonal affective disorder ("SAD") is a type of depression that occurs due to the change in season, mostly in the fall and winter. Two common and well-studied treatments for SAD are light therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy ("CBT").
Light therapy is often the first line of defense against SAD. It involves sitting about two feet away from a special therapy lamp – set to 10,000 lux (a measure of illuminance) – for 20 to 30 minutes each morning, right after you wake up, during the fall and winter.
Therapy lamps mimic sunlight. So using one first thing in the morning helps your body regulate melatonin production and boost serotonin levels, similar to how enjoying morning sunshine would. You can even use a therapy lamp in the middle of the day to get through a slump, instead of reaching for yet another cup of coffee. One of our researchers uses a lamp for about 10 minutes in the afternoon to give her a boost that's as effective as caffeine.
Studies show that light therapy can start to improve mood and increase energy levels in just a few days. However, the benefits of light therapy don't last once you stop using the therapy lamp.
CBT is a form of therapy that involves identifying negative thought patterns that arise in our internal monologues, challenging those thought distortions, and then replacing them with more positive thoughts and behaviors.
It's an effective form of treatment for a range of problems, like depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. With SAD, CBT can be adapted to improve someone's engagement, pleasure, and coping strategies during winter.
CBT can be done with a therapist, but you can also try it on your own with the help of a workbook.
A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry compared the effects of light therapy and CBT in 177 participants with SAD. The researchers found that six weeks of light therapy and six weeks of CBT showed similar improvements for participants in the two winters following treatment. However, during the second follow-up year, the CBT participants had fewer depressive symptoms, less severe symptoms, and more instances of recovery.
So, reframing your negative thought patterns around the change of seasons can have a lasting impact on how severely the winter affects you. And if you're already using a light therapy lamp, add some CBT exercises into the mix. It can make a huge difference.
Finally, I recommend trying another treatment, one that involves food as medicine...
When I think of winter comfort foods, one of the first images my brain produces is a tray of holiday cookies in various shapes and colors. I also think of russet potatoes in many forms – mashed with gravy, fried as latkes (potato pancakes) with sour cream or apple sauce, and scalloped with cheese...
But sugary and starchy treats such as these can be the opposite of comforting. That's because these "white killers" – as I like to call them – produce an inflammatory effect in the body and trigger chronic disease. Other white killers include white rice and white flour.
Turns out, a 2018 study in Molecular Psychology also established a link between pro-inflammatory foods and depression. The researchers found that participants who ate the least-inflammatory foods were 24% less likely to experience depression than those who ate the most-inflammatory foods. And those following the Mediterranean diet were the least at risk for depression.
That means it's important to find new comfort in eating healthy fats, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds. These foods will nourish and protect our bodies and minds well beyond the winter season.
Take care of yourself this winter. Move a little slower when you need to. Reach out to others. Recognize the joys you already have in place. Choose comfort foods that will nourish you.
This time of year piles on the stress, and it can feel overwhelming. Try applying our tips to your everyday life to help limit your stress and have a happier holiday.
P.S. You might be surprised to learn that depression has a strong link to a condition that affects 30% of Americans...
That's liver disease... specifically, the kind that doesn't even have drinking too much alcohol as the cause: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In fact, a study from May found that folks with this condition have a 28% higher risk of developing depression. And that link is bidirectional, meaning one contributes to the other and vice versa. I busted some of the biggest myths surrounding this liver disease earlier this month. (Not a subscriber? Give my flagship newsletter a try for a month, risk-free.)
What We're Reading (and Watching)...
- Did you miss it? SAD can strike during the warmer months, too.
- Something different: The "hero rats" sniffing out land mines and tuberculosis.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 30, 2025