Have you ever noticed changes in your mood in the late fall and winter? Feelings of sadness, low energy, and just… blah-ness? It doesn’t quite feel severe enough to affect your day to day function, but it’s definitely noticeable and the days just seem… meh. You might be experiencing the winter blues.
Working moms commonly experience increased emotional stress and fatigue, which can be exacerbated during the winter months when there’s less sunlight and less opportunity for outdoor time. Negative mood changes during the winter can lead to feelings of tiredness, sadness, exhaustion, and difficulty concentrating. These changes make it all the more difficult to manage the demands of work and motherhood, which is why it’s extra important to take care of our emotional health during the winter months.
What are winter blues?
The winter blues are feelings of sadness or depression during the late fall and early winter months brought on by the cold and reduced sunlight. It’s different from seasonal affective disorder, which is a severe form of seasonal depression that can be debilitating to those who suffer from it. It’s also a little different from the holiday blues, which are caused by the stress of the holidays during the winter months.
Winter blues and seasonal mood changes are fairly common. A poll from the American Psychiatric Association showed that Americans are more likely to experience negative mood changes in the winter, with women being more likely to report a decline in their mood than men. Feeling down can increase stress, interrupt our sleep, affect our social interactions, and make even basic tasks seem more difficult than they should be.
Although these feelings are temporary and generally improve once the season is over, what can you do in those 4-5 months when you’re just not feeling like yourself? Bright light therapy may be an option.
How bright light therapy works
You know how taking a walk out in the sun seems to lift your spirits? It’s not just anecdotal – sunlight helps to enhance our mood and mental health by altering the chemicals in our bodies. That’s what bright light therapy aims to do through exposure to an artificial light source called a ‘light box.’
Most light boxes emit about 10,000 lux of light, which is the same as the amount of sunlight you’d get on a cloudy day. There are very few side effects in most people, the most common ones being eye strain, nausea, or headaches.
It’s thought to work by either increasing the available serotonin (otherwise known as “the feel good chemical”) in the brain, or by regulating our circadian rhythms so they sync up with the actual time of day – or through a combination of both mechanisms.
Benefits of using a light box
You might be wondering… wouldn’t it be just be better to take a walk outside in the actual sunlight? Probably, but if you’re a working mom with young kids, going outside for a walk in the morning might not be practical. Here are some of the benefits of having a light box:
It’s portable
Bright light boxes are generally quite portable and can be easily carried to different rooms in your house or even to your office. They don’t take up too much space on your countertop or desk either.
The weather isn’t a factor
Even if you could go outside and take a walk, you might not want to if the weather isn’t on your side. On those days when it’s snowing, raining, or just too cold, a light box can come in handy; you can still get some light exposure in the mornings to help lift your mood.
You don’t have to leave the house
For moms with young kids, leaving them in the house to go for a walk outside isn’t always an option. With a light therapy box, you can still get some of the benefits of light exposure without getting dressed and leaving your home.
You can multitask
The ability to do other things while using a light box is another compelling reason to get one. As long as you’re within the recommended distance from it, you can simply sit in front of it and have breakfast, sip your morning coffee, get a head start on emails, plan the day, or just meditate in peace.
How bright light therapy can help with mood changes
Bright light therapy has been used since the 1980s to help people with seasonal affective disorder, depression, and certain types of sleep disorders. It has been shown to help with:
- Lessening symptoms of depression
- Improving mood
- Promoting better sleep
- Improving energy levels
- Improving cognition
Although the beneficial effects of bright light therapy have mostly been studied on people with clinical mood and sleep disorders, it may be helpful for those who experience milder mood changes in the winter. When used as recommended, it can help improve mood, cognition, energy, and sleep with little to no side effects.
How to use bright light therapy
Using a light box is pretty simple – you just plug it in and sit near it – but there are some general recommendations for to keep in mind:
- It should be used for 20-30 minutes within the first hour of waking up in the morning (preferable before 8am)
- The light box should emit about 10,000 lux of light
- The light source should be between 16-24 inches from your face (the exact distance depends on the manufacturer’s recommendations)
- You shouldn’t be looking at it directly
If you’ve been battling the winter blues and feel like your mood is just off, consider trying bright light therapy. We know too well how a negative mood can affect our productivity, interactions with our family and friends, energy levels, and overall happiness. Bright light therapy can help improve our mood, sleep, energy, and focus, which allows us to rise to the challenge of being a working mom. Winter blues are relatively common, but if you suspect that you have a more serious disorder that is affecting your behavior or thoughts, make sure to consult with a doctor or mental health professional.
