The Winter Blues Infosheet

Winter in Canada brings many changes to our daily experience. The days get shorter and greyer. The weather is colder and leads us to spend more time indoors. This transition of season can lead to changes in the quality of our daily experience. Some of us start to notice a dip in energy levels, an increase in irritability and other symptoms that we tend to associate with feeling down or depressed. This usually starts to take hold in the fall as we get less and less sunlight. A common term for this experience is the “winter blues” – a period of general malaise characterized by the symptoms mentioned above. A more severe label, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), can be diagnosed when the experience is severe enough to affect our ability to function in day-to-day life.

This info sheet defines the winter blues, and seasonal affective disorder, as well as highlighting what causes it, who it affects, what the symptoms are, and how to manage it in one’s own life.