Searches for the winter weather forecast climbed into the top trends this week, which happens every August and is mostly people wondering whether to book a holiday. It is also, for a smaller group, the first quiet signal of something else: if you reliably struggle from November onward, the useful time to act is now, while nothing is wrong. Seasonal low mood is one of very few mental health problems that tells you in advance when it is coming.
Why August is the right time to think about this
Because preparation is only possible before the thing arrives, and seasonal depression is unusual in giving you that window. Most mental health problems begin without notice, so advice about prevention is largely theoretical; this one runs to a rough schedule, which converts prevention from an idea into a plan.
The reason timing matters so much is that the symptoms themselves remove the capacity to act on them. Low energy, withdrawal and difficulty starting things are core features, so anything you have not set up by the time it arrives is being started with exactly the resources it has taken away. Everything below is easier to do in August than in November, and none of it is easier in November.
What seasonal depression actually is
It is a depressive episode that follows a seasonal pattern, rather than a separate illness. That classification matters practically: the episodes are depressive episodes, so the whole range of depression treatment applies rather than only the seasonal-specific things. [nimh-sad]
The winter presentation often looks different from other depression, which is why people miss it in themselves. Rather than losing appetite and sleeping badly, the pattern typically runs the other way: sleeping more and still feeling unrested, appetite increasing with a pull towards carbohydrate, weight gain, heaviness in the limbs, and withdrawal from people. If you have been telling yourself you simply hate winter, that list is worth reading twice.
There is also a milder version that does not meet the threshold for a depressive episode and still reliably takes something out of four months of your year. It is worth preparing for on the same schedule.
A schematic of the timing argument in this article, not measured data.
The two lines cross around the point the clocks change, and that crossing is the whole problem. The moment you feel motivated to fix it is roughly the moment you are least able to.
What to put in place now
Four things, in descending order of how much work they do relative to their cost.
- Protect the social contact you will cancel first. Withdrawal is usually the earliest change and the most consequential, and it happens quietly because cancelling in winter is socially acceptable in a way cancelling in June is not. Make it a standing arrangement now, so it takes a decision to stop rather than a decision to start.
- Get the light box before you need it, and use it in the morning. The usual protocol is 10,000 lux for around 20 to 30 minutes shortly after waking, positioned so light reaches your eyes indirectly while you do something else. Morning timing appears to matter more than duration, and evening use can push your sleep later.
- Anchor your wake time. Sleeping longer is a symptom rather than a remedy, and a drifting wake time makes everything else harder. A fixed alarm through the winter, including at weekends, does more than an extra hour ever returns.
- Book the appointment you will need before you need it. If you have had a bad winter before and expect another, the wait for treatment is long enough that starting the process in autumn is the difference between help arriving in January and help arriving in March.
Two things worth being honest about. Vitamin D has weak and inconsistent evidence as a treatment here, despite the obvious plausibility, so it is worth checking your level if there is reason to think it is low but it is not a substitute for the rest. [nimh-sad] And a holiday in the sun is a genuine pleasure that does not do much for the underlying pattern once you return.
The treatment that also prevents next winter
Cognitive behavioural therapy adapted for seasonal depression has something light therapy does not: evidence of a carry-over effect into subsequent winters. A trial following people over two winters after treatment found the CBT group had fewer recurrences the following year than the light therapy group, which makes sense given one teaches you something and the other is a device you have to keep using. [rohan-cbt]
That does not make light therapy the wrong choice, and the two are often used together. It does mean that if you are facing your third or fourth bad winter, asking specifically about CBT adapted for seasonal patterns is a better question than asking whether to buy a brighter lamp. Antidepressants are also effective, and for some people are started in autumn and stopped in spring, which is a conversation to have with a doctor rather than a decision to make alone. [apa-depression]
Do you get this, or do you just dislike winter?
Tick anything true of most recent winters but not of your summers. This is a reflection prompt rather than a test, and it produces no diagnosis.
0 of 6 ticked
Four or more of these, present in winter and absent in summer, is the recognised shape of seasonal depression rather than a preference about weather. It responds to treatment, and the useful move is to start now rather than when you feel it. Speak to a doctor about light therapy, CBT adapted for seasonal patterns, and whether medication makes sense for you.
This looks like the milder pattern that does not meet the threshold for a depressive episode and still takes something out of four months of your year. The two cheapest interventions are the ones to set up now: a fixed wake time, and one standing social arrangement you do not have to rearrange each week.
Nothing here matched the seasonal pattern, which suggests disliking the dark rather than a depressive episode. A fixed wake time is still the single most useful winter habit.
What the forecast has to do with it
Very little, and that is worth saying because the connection people make is usually the wrong one. Seasonal depression tracks daylight rather than temperature or snowfall, so a mild winter is not a reprieve and a harsh one is not the cause. The dates that matter are the ones around the clocks changing and the shortest day, and those are fixed regardless of what any forecast says.
The practical version: do not wait to see what kind of winter it will be. The variable that drives this is already known.
Our fuller guide to seasonal affective disorder covers the evidence for each treatment in more detail, and the depression guide covers the wider picture.
When to seek help
Speak to a doctor if the same pattern has happened in two or more winters, or if it is affecting your work, your sleep or your relationships. Ask specifically about light therapy, about cognitive behavioural therapy adapted for seasonal patterns, and about whether starting medication in autumn is appropriate for you, because those are different conversations and asking generally tends to get you general advice.
Go sooner if this winter already feels worse than previous ones, if you are drinking more, or if the low mood is not lifting on brighter days at all. A seasonal pattern that stops being seasonal is worth a proper assessment.
Contact your local emergency services or a crisis helpline if you feel unsafe or have thoughts of harming yourself.
How MyFreud can help
MyFreud is a mobile app that helps you find solutions to problems that have affected your mind and productivity. Preparing in August only works if the plan survives to November: live coaching sessions help you set it up while it is still easy, each one ends with an actionable plan, daily tracking shows the slide starting weeks before you would notice it yourself, and the notepad holds the standing arrangements you agreed with yourself in summer.
Download MyFreud and start today: App Store or Google Play.