Tag: anxiety

Winter Blues

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Winter can be a tough time for many people. Shorter days, colder weather, and social isolation can contribute to feelings of sadness, anxiety, and fatigue, and for those of us who have struggled with our mental health in the past this can often feel like a risky time for relapse. But don’t worry – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be a powerful tool to help you navigate the winter blues and make sure that the only slippery slopes you slide down are the ones you choose to go sledging on!

Understanding the Winter Blues

The winter blues, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is a type of depression that typically occurs during the winter months. It can manifest in various ways, including:

  • Low mood
  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Changes in appetite
  • Social withdrawal

How CBT Can Help

CBT is a practical approach that focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours.

Here are some specific CBT strategies to help you combat the winter blues:

  1. Identify Negative Thoughts:
    • Mindful observation: Pay attention to your thoughts without judgment. Are they realistic or exaggerated? How are they making you feel? How helpful are they?
    • Question negative thoughts: Rather than treating your thoughts as facts, try to look at them with more of a critical eye. Are there any other ways of looking at the situation? What would a friend say if you told them you were thinking this way?
    • Challenge yourself to think more flexibly: Ask yourself what a more balanced and helpful thought might look like. If you could think this way, how would you be feeling?
    • Put this into practice: the next time this negative thought comes up, remind yourself of your more balanced alternative.
  2. Look after your Physical Wellbeing:
    • Healthy eating: Fuel your body with nutritious foods to boost your mood.
    • Regular exercise: Engage in physical activity to release endorphins and reduce stress.
    • Adequate sleep: Aim for a regular sleep routine to ensure your body and mind are well-rested. Spend some time thinking about how to make your sleeping space as calm and restful as possible.
    • Increase exposure to light: Spend time outdoors during daylight hours every day, even if it’s just for a short walk.
  3. Prioritize Self-Care:
    • Identify the barriers to self-care: what gets in the way of looking after yourself? Are these practical barriers, like time, money, or social isolation? Or emotional ones such as not feeling like you deserve to look after yourself?
    • Problem solve practical issues: break practical problems down into small chunks and tackle them one at a time. Don’t automatically discount any potential solutions, the most helpful idea might be one that you haven’t taken the time to consider properly before!
    • Practice self-compassion: Try treating yourself like you would treat a good friend. When it feels difficult to prioritise self-care, identify one small thing you can do to look after yourself, and give yourself lots of praise every time you manage to do this.
  4. Ask for Support:
    • Remind yourself: It’s always okay to ask for help.
    • Make use of existing networks: Reach out to family and friends, talk about how you are feeling, and ask others to help you to put the above strategies into action.
    • Professional support: If you’re struggling with your symptoms, please get in touch, we’d love to help.

Uncertain Times

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For many of us, these feel like uncertain times. Between the big things in the news (the climate crisis, elections, conflicts in countries around the world) and the everyday things (cost of living, decisions about jobs, health concerns), it can be hard not to feel like we’re facing a future where we can’t be sure of anything.

Unsurprisingly, this kind of uncertainty can feel very difficult for many of us, and we might find ourselves reacting in ways which have a significant negative impact on our lives.

Perhaps you have noticed your worries spiralling, taking up much of your time and energy? Or you might find uncertainty throws you into fight or flight mode, frantically trying to make things as certain as possible. You may try to control little things in your life in order to avoid thinking about the big things. You may feel very anxious a lot of the time.

Unfortunately, we know that while uncertainty is unavoidable, the way we feel about uncertainty often plays a big role in anxiety problems like Generalised Anxiety Disorder, OCD and Health Anxiety – and the more we see uncertainty as a threat, the more likely it is that we will struggle with these kinds of difficulties.

So how can we cope more effectively with uncertainty?

  1. Focus on things that are in your control (rather than hypothetical worries).
  2. Take advantage of opportunities to change your attitude to uncertainty – perhaps you know someone who quite enjoys being spontaneous, or not knowing what’s going to happen next? Ask yourself, how might they approach this situation?
  3. Make a deliberate effort to notice when uncertain situations don’t turn out as badly as you expected – or perhaps even when the result is a good one!
  4. Aim to slowly build up your tolerance of uncertainty – you don’t have to jump in at the deep end, instead ask yourself what is one small step you can take to dip your toe in the water. This might be as simple as trying a new food, or taking a new route home from work.
  5. Try not to criticise yourself if you find this difficult – our attitudes towards uncertainty are often learned from our childhood experiences, and take time to change. If you’re struggling, we’d love to support you – please get in touch.