Seasonal Depression Is Nothing To Sneeze At, Bring On The Spring Allergies: Personal Experiences

Apr 13, 20226 min read

Updated: May 3, 2022

Screw December, SPRING is really the most wonderful time of the year! Every gardener would agree, especially when you walk into a greenhouse filled with flats of daffodils, tulips, pansies, violas, ranunculus, snap dragons, hyacinths, primrose, anemone, hellebores, fuschia, nemasia, and……well, you get the point. The colors are so vibrant and enchanting, you’re likely to walk out with at least one of these in hand.

Spring is full of pigmented flowers starting to emerge from the harsh cold of winter. Behold, eye candy galore! The fields turn brighter green as you drive by each day, and the buds on the trees are getting ready to explode with new growth. The cherry trees are bubblegum pink and they are ready to take the stage in Washington, DC’s cherry blossom festival. Everything is perfect in springtime, the sky even looks more blue. The only downside is the allergies that come with the changing of seasons, but it almost doesn't matter because of the excitement of new growth happening all around us!

I think we all feel the emotional changes of spring as well as the physical ones, because many of us are coming out of a foggy and groggy time. Seasonal Depression is nothing to sneeze at when 10 million Americans suffer from this illness, especially women. The beginning of winter can be an exciting time for people. However, winter can be a time of struggling for many. The days are shorter meaning people get less sunlight. Everything is dead, brown, dark, and you can start to feel stuck or hopeless. Common symptoms include feeling slow/fatigued, having mood changes, and experiencing an overall decrease in energy. You may even feel physically ill from lack of Vitamin D and sunshine. If you suffer from these symptoms, you're not alone! Read people's personal experiences below.

*Trigger Waring: Mention of Depression*

“With my own experience with seasonal depression, the shorter days and less exposure to sunlight really takes a toll on me. I get stuck in a depressive episode, feeling hopeless, generally sad, and I sleep way more than usual. For others who suffer from the same illness, you know how the seasons affect you. When spring comes around and the plants start to grow again, I start to feel lighter, a little bit happier, and all around I just have more energy. My psychiatrist even recommended I buy a full spectrum UV-freel lamp that imitates sunlight waves during the colder months when my depression is at its worst. Sunlight is important to your body, not just for vitamin D which most Americans are deficient in, but for your mental health as well. This spring I urge you to get outside in nature, soak up some sunlight (with sunscreen of course!) and appreciate your surroundings. Deepening your connection with nature is a great way to try and fight your depression. Take a walk outside (exercise also releases dopamine in the brain!!) and enjoy the beauty around you. If you want, you can even buy yourself a plant to bring indoors. Bringing nature indoors can make your home feel less dreary and more alive! In addition, now you have something to take care of. Taking care of something else such as a plant or animal can be the reason you get up in the morning. It may seem silly, but for people who don’t feel they have a reason to live, this can be incredibly beneficial. By taking care of something else, no matter how small, you can start to learn to take care of yourself. But don’t get discouraged if your plant dies, it doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough or that you can’t take care of anything. It happens and so all you can do is try again. So this spring, get outside and take care of yourself!”

-Anonymous Person 1

“As soon as Fall hits I can feel my anxiety kicking in. I know that it's about to get cold and my plants will go into dormancy and lose a lot of leaves. Winter care is really stressful for me because I have so many plants to attend to, and I can barely tend to myself during that time. I have less energy and feel really sad when the sun sets at 5pm instead of 9pm. I feel like there is much less time in a day to get things done. I am not diagnosed with SAD but I definitely notice a negative change in myself during the cold months. I struggle with anxiety, which can manifest itself into mild symptoms of depression when untreated.“

-Carsen D.

“My experience dealing with seasonal depression and as you know regular depression is dealing with one is bad enough but dealing with both at the same time is a miserable feeling where it makes you feel like you're out of place and not worthy on a day to day basis”

-Chris S.

“All I can say is Wellbutrin is a life saver”

-Anonymous Person 2

“It hits me HARD. Especially after breaks when I’m in a sunny warm place and then I have to come back to the cold. Hence Costa Rica it was 95° all week and then it was 22° here yesterday”

-Anonymous Person 3

“Coming out of seasonal depression feels like doing some sort of drug. The first day of sun feels like crack. It's insane. My seasonal depression gets so bad which is strange because winter has all the things that "should" make me happy. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, seeing my family always makes me feel safe, I love the snow but still, it's like a blanket made of magnets is laying on me at all times. I sometimes tell myself that it's not that bad but compared to when it's sunny and warm, I'm a different person. I have a variety of mental health issues and I always downplayed my SD as just an extension of previous issues but I never realized it was something that was treatable and deserved attention. Even now, as we've had a couple of cold days, I feel myself slipping back into my old winter self. I'm more tired, I'm irritable, and I'm just not the version of myself that I love. In the spring I feel like I am 100% who I am meant to be and it's frustrating feeling like that's dampened in the winter. The biggest breath of air was realizing that so many people experience SD and it's such a real and valid thing. It deserves just as much attention as other mental illnesses and there are treatments that are accessible and available. Over the counter vitamin D supplements have saved me and understanding that I'll always come out of it has been a huge comfort”

-Anonymous Person 4

“I always tell people the best way I can explain season depression is waking up in forkes Alaska lol I’m the twilight movie. With the cold dreary, cloudy , icy weather is just such ugly nasty weather that I literally absorb the energy it gives. When it gets dark at 5pm it just feels like we are living in a movie, waking up cold and nasty out go to work, getting dark at 5pm, going to bed and repeating. It’s such a cycle and I struggle with it every season so badly bc like I said my environment feeds my energy, my mood so when it is nasty and cold and icy outside I feel that way as well like a big cloud… but when it is warm and stays lighter outside I’m more high vibrational, lighter and happier where in the winter I can literally feel the weather weighing on me. It’s crazy the effect the weather can have on your mood”

-Anonymous Person 5

At the end of the day, winter is slowly fading away. Don't be too hard on yourself as you come out of this foggy transition. Everything in life fluctuates, and you can't have the good without the bad. Leave behind the death and decay of winter and embrace this new growth about to come your way! Stay resilient my little flower friends, I am sending you much love and light always. Say your goodbyes to seasonal depression, and say hello spring fever! Gardeners, get your gloves out of the drawers and put on a light cardigan because Spring is finally here!

Early Spring Flowers