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Strong Women
How to manage SAD: here's how exercise can help improve Seasonal Affective Disorder symptoms
Updated 3 years ago
1 min read
Researchers have found that you only need to workout for a short amount of time to make SAD symptoms much more manageable.
The days are starting to get shorter again, with those dreary early mornings accompanying colder weather and far less hours of daylight.
While that can be a depressing thought, this drop in the levels of light we’re exposed to sadly means, for so many women, seeing the return of debilitating seasonal affective disorder symptoms. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a form of depression which goes hand in hand with fatigue, and it’s typically seen during those dark winter months. Symptoms include a sudden drop in mood, which makes people living with the condition feel increasingly tired and lethargic. That in turn causes a lack of interest in life, depleted energy and increased amounts of time spent sleeping. Causing sufferers to dread the chillier seasons, SAD starts to take hold in autumn before symptoms often ease as spring arrives.
According to research explaining how common it is, a third of Brits will experience SAD. The good news, though, is that there are a few ways to help ease those light-sensitive symptoms which can cause such an energy-sapping impact. One of them is regular exercise, whether that’s going running, taking a walk with a pal or seeking out endorphins from swimming a few laps.
In fact, a 2019 study conducted by Harvard University has highlighted exercising for a set amount of time each week can help reduce SAD symptoms including depression and exhaustion.
The research focused on the experiences of 8,000 participants across two years, and pinpointed that taking part in four hours of exercise throughout the week and in turn maintaining a healthy lifestyle, could improve SAD.
How much exercise do you need to do to reduce symptoms?
Furthermore, the study found that those participants who exercised regularly were likely to experience fewer bouts of depression in the future. Plus, those who exercised for four hours per week saw a 17% reduction in future depressive episodes.
“On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes,” Karmel Choi, the study’s lead author, said.
“We provide promising evidence that primary care and mental health providers can use to counsel and make recommendations to patients that here is something meaningful they can do to lower their risk even if they have a family history of depression,” added Choi.
It’s important to note that exercise isn’t a cure for depression, and nor should it be your only coping mechanism if you suffer from SAD. But motivating yourself to work out could yield beneficial results, particularly if you can exercise outside.
Credit: Getty
A study by Bated College Health Center found that an hour of serotonin-raising aerobic exercise outside, even with cloudy skies overhead, led to the equivalent benefit of 2.5 hours of light treatment inside. Every little bit of natural light exposure helps, so why not try walking to work, going for a run in the early morning or having a snowball fight (if it gets that cold) to beat the blues.
Outside of exercise, though, there are other techniques that you can try. SAD lamps and other forms of light treatment have been proven effective, as has wearing bright colours. (You can read some other tips for offsetting your SAD here.)
Most importantly, though, it’s important to talk about how you feel. Whether to a therapist or to your friends, research has found that simply by working through your SAD using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), may SAD sufferers saw an improvement in their mood.
Why not invite a friend to go on a mood-boosting walk outside? The exercise, plus the converation, could be the SAD offset that you need.
If you are dealing with anxiety and depression related to SAD, please visit Mind for more information or contact The Seasonal Affective Disorder Association via contact@sad.org.uk.
Images: Getty/Unsplash
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