Getting Through Seasonal Affective Disorder with Hiking

Contributed by Ryan Peterson.

Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava

Seasonal affective disorder is now recognized as a genuine medical issue. If you aren’t sure what it is, you may already be experiencing it. In the past, it was called the Winter Blues and was dismissed as something trivial. However, recent studies have shown that it can be very detrimental to your health and well-being, as well as affecting your social life and work. You can combat SAD with physical activity and nature, both of which you get en masse with hiking.

What the Heck is SAD?

Commonly known as the Winter Blues, SAD is a depressive condition that feels much like any other. Not much is known about why most people don’t experience it, and some do, but it can be demanding in your life. There is some suggestion that SAD happens because of the shorter days and less exposure to natural light, with some evidence to support this. However, it can be a symptom of other disorders that also require mental health treatment, such as depression.

Why Does SAD Happen?

There is some suggestion that SAD is a response to lack of sunlight. This prevents a part of your brain from working as it should and lowers the amount of melatonin your brain produces. This causes an imbalance among other hormones, such as cortisol and serotonin, which leads to a depressive feeling. The feelings of SAD are very similar to other depressive disorders, such as severe depression and anxiety, and are made worse if you have an existing depressive issue.

Getting Through Seasonal Affective Disorder

There is some good news, however, because SAD often affects most people in the late fall and winter. As such, it goes away as we get longer days into spring and summer. So, the effects are temporary. However, as temporary as they are, SAD can cause severe disruption to a somewhat normal life, just like any other depression state can. Because of this, some of the same treatments and recommendations are similar. So, below are some things you can try.

Try to be more active

Exercise such as hiking is a genuinely recognized treatment for depressive conditions. There are many reasons for this, and one is that you can do this socially, which comes with its own benefits. However, exercise helps rebalance the hormones of the body, which can be out of sync, as mentioned above. Exercise releases dopamine and serotonin, both of which could be lacking when you are in a depressive state. These will help lower your system’s cortisol levels.

The wonder of nature

There’s nothing better than hiking to get you out into nature. When hiking a stunning trail, you are surrounded by trees, plants, and animals. And if you really look, rather than stroll past everything, you will see things you never thought of. These include butterflies landing on flowers, bees going about their pollination jobs, and birds building a nest for their chicks. These can remind you that the world is a beautiful place with medical benefits such as lowered blood pressure.

Recognize the main symptoms of SAD

Of course, it is hard to help yourself if you don’t realize something is wrong. Yet SAD is the kind of issue where you will notice, but it can often be too late. If you are experiencing specific issues, you can work on treating them immediately. Some of the biggest signs of SAD are as follows:

• An everyday feeling of loneliness and depression you can’t seem to shake.
• No interest in doing the things that usually bring you a lot of happiness.
• Not wanting to eat your favorite foods or any food, and losing weight quickly.
• Irritable sleep patterns and difficulty getting to sleep, much like insomnia.
• Brain fog and a general sluggish approach to work and everyday tasks.
• A noticeable drop in your usual levels of energy throughout the day.
• Feeling like you aren’t worth anything and losing hope about small and large things.
• Finding it hard to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.

SAD can creep on you and cause disruption in your life before you even know it. It can affect your work, personal life, and everyday well-being. If you have just one or two of these issues, it can be challenging. Beginning hiking is a great way to help you feel more focused on yourself.

Learn something new

Learning something new can help take your mind off any of the depressive symptoms you have and away from the seasonal problems you are facing. A new hobby such as hiking isn’t just about walking. You need to learn about safety, your personal walking level, and the gear you need just to start. It is a more involved hobby than people realize, and it can often involve long days. The long days out and about can be just what you need to reset your focus and feel alive again.

Learn to love the seasons

SAD is, of course, seasonal. Fall and winter are when SAD typically occurs, and the reasons can be related to the seasons themselves. But that shouldn’t mean you have to fear these times of year. It can help to try to remember the seasonal goodies that come with this time of year. Fall holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween are fun for family and friends. And most of us look forward to Christmas and what it means, no matter how cold and dark it can be sometimes.

Seasonal Affective Disorder and the freeze response

Like some other depressive disorders, SAD can be debilitating. There is nothing wrong with you when this happens, and in fact, it is quite the opposite. When the amygdala in the mid part of your brain senses stress, it pulls resources (blood and oxygen) from the frontal part. This is important because the frontal part is your conscious area that you need to get up and do things. But the amygdala hogs the resources to freeze you in a defensive position so you can’t get up.

Speak to friends and family

Any mental health professional will tell you that friends and family are a vital resource when going through something like SAD. If you find it hard to open up, then organizing something like a hiking trip can be a great way to break the ice. It’s amazing how close you can feel to others when out in the wilderness with nothing but trees and sky around you. You may even find that people close to you are going through or have gone through similar things, and you can all talk to each other.

Understand That You Aren’t Alone

You should never feel alone and ashamed because of a mental health problem, and you are never alone when going through something like SAD. In fact, recent figures show that SAD affects up to 3% of the population and about 25% of people with existing depressive disorders. So you aren’t the only one, and there is nothing wrong with you. In short, there is a chemical and hormonal imbalance, and because of this, you can reset it with physical activities such as hiking.

Summary

You can get through Seasonal Affective Disorder with activities such as hiking. Physical movement has been shown to reduce stress and rebalance hormones such as cortisol and serotonin. Hiking also gets you out into nature, which has its own benefits, but also exposes you to more sunlight, a lack of which can cause SAD. But if you experience some of the worst symptoms of SAD, a trip with friends and family can help you talk it through with no judgment.