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Safeguarding mental health in winter

The Way We Were

Health Matters

This time of year can be really difficult for most folks. The short days and colder weather can do a number on our mood and feelings of wellbeing. This low mood in winter months can be referred to as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). SAD is seen as a combination of low motivation, fatigue, low/negative feelings of self, brain fog and lack of concentration. Even if you are not experiencing all of these, here are some ways to help rebalance your mental health in the winter.

Morning Light Exposure – This is important to regulate your circadian rhythm and to up-regulate proper hormone production that controls our sleep/ wake center of the brain. Morning light helps balance the rise and fall of our stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol should increase in the morning to energize you for the day and come down in the evening to prepare you for sleep. Screens and artificial light skew this natural rhythm, so light in the morning helps resets these innate bodily rhythms.

Exercise 30 minutes daily – This we all know but often don’t implement in winter months when our emotional wellbeing needs it the most. The Journal of the American Medical Association says, “significant mental health benefits come from being physically active, even at levels below the public health recommendations.” In my opinion the best way to do this is have an exercise buddy, where you can meet for a walk or even a virtual class together to hold each other accountable and be able to celebrate your milestones together.

Vitamin D3 – This super vitamin is linked to feelings of low mood and SAD when levels are low. This vitamin is up-regulated by sun and light exposure, so as Canadians in winter months, we are often low in this vitamin. Your levels can be measured in the blood and should be in order to dose accordingly, but common practice is to use 1000-4000 IU per day to address a deficiency.

5-HTP – This is an amino acid and chemical precursor to serotonin. 5-HTP can be used to increase serotonin, the neurotransmitter that brings feelings of contentment. I frequently use this in practice for patients with low mood and often just prescribe it during the winter months to help the brain stabilize until the warmer, sunnier months come back. Serotonin is the precursor to melatonin, our sleep hormone, so it also has beneficial effects on sleep and regulating our circadian rhythms.

The implementation of all four of these recommendations can really help, but if you are struggling please seek professional help with your nearest mental health professional, MD or Naturopath. Winter can be beautiful in Ontario, so I hope this can help encourage maximum enjoyment this winter!

Kate Hunter is a naturopathic doctor and owner of The Creemore Apothecary.

Snow appears to be a byproduct of this winter season, especially so since the storm of Jan. 26 and a familiar sight to the few doing any travelling is the plows, blowers and snow removal forces. Following the earlier storm that blocked roads and stranded hundreds as well as isolating many communities, this area has had a session of freezing rain and a subsequent snowfall and accompanying blow. Continued cold weather hasn’t alleviated the situation in fact it has resulted in producing some monumental piles of moved snow where such movement was possible at all. A snow removal operation in Creemore was effected to some extent even to the cut-back of snowbanks on most streets so that there would be space to push later arrivals. Even so, some local streets such as Collingwood has a 15-foot bank on the west side and some downtown piles approach that imposing figure. This week’s early blow was followed by another flurry on Wednesday morning and doubtless many dugout lanes would be at least partially filled in again.

The Creemore Star reported that a huge storm on Jan. 26, 1971 forced several motorists to abandon their vehicles and seek shelter in nearby homes. One hundred motorists were stranded at Cashtown Corners and the Stayner Legion hosted 40 travellers. School buses were stranded and 100 students and four teachers at Our Lady of the Assumption School at Brentwood sought shelter at neighbouring homes. Submitted by Colleen Stamp.