Defeat the Doldrums Topic of the Week

Weekly Topic #4

" Defeat the Winter Doldrums" for some of us we get the doldrums and others don't. For the ones who get doldrums what helps you get rid of them? For the ones who don't get the doldrums, what helps you keep them away?


I consider myself very lucky that I don't really get the winter doldrums. One of the good things about living in eastern Kansas is that if you have a stretch of cold, gloomy days, you don't have to wait long before you get a couple of days of warmer temps and blue skies. It also helps that I feel really alert and energetic when it's cold (the opposite of how I feel when it's hot) so I mostly enjoy winter.

I am also lucky to be a mostly positive thinker - I don't come by this naturally and had to train my brain to see the good side of most situations but it comes pretty automatically now. So a cold and gloomy day becomes a great day for knitting and drinking lots of coffee. I try to think of at least one thing to look forward to every day, and I am now trying to be more mindful of things I feel grateful for. And I consciously choose to be happy every day. These 3 changes in my thinking have made a tremendous difference in my overall mood all year and really helped my "summer doldrums" this past year, too.

(I don't mean this to in any way suggest that "positive thinking" is all it takes to overcome depression or seasonal affective disorder or any other kind of biological disorder, or to minimize the pain many people experience because of these problems. Some people need additional support in terms of medication, light therapy or alternative therapies before they can get to the point of taking control over their thinking. I am just referring to what has helped me.)