When the Light Fades

Understanding and Coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Seasonal affective disorder

As the days grow shorter and the nights stretch longer, many of us feel the shift. For some, it’s just a passing dip in energy. For others, it’s something more profound — a heaviness that settles in the body and mind. This can feel at odds with the season’s themes, especially as we come on to Christmas and the New Year. Right now, you can see influencers discussing their “winter arc,” touting self-improvement rituals that promise to keep you looking and feeling your hottest during this time of year. Elsewhere, companies are already putting out their Christmas decorations, creating an ominous pressure to keep an impossible level of holiday cheer for the next three months.

But the reality is that the holiday expenses, cold weather, and the long stretch of winter can create stress, a shift in mood, and a deep fatigue that sets in as the days get shorter and the nights grow longer. “Blue Monday,” often labelled as the “saddest day of the year,” usually falls on the third Monday of January and represents a convergence of all these things. But it’s more than just a single day; depending on where you live, this feeling can go on for five to six months. And while the science behind Blue Monday is more cultural than clinical, it highlights something real: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Image taken from Instagram

How SAD Shows Up

You’ve probably heard of SAD by now. From the sitcom Broad City to celebrities like Adele sharing their personal experiences, it’s clear that this phenomenon is fairly common. It’s more than just “winter blues”; left untreated, SAD can have serious effects on a person’s mental health. Symptoms can include:

• Low mood or persistent sadness• Lack of energy and fatigue• Changes in sleep or appetite• Difficulty concentrating• Loss of interest in activities usually enjoyed

SAD in Therapy

As a therapist, I approach SAD much as I do other forms of depression — with gentleness, curiosity, and attention to the body as well as the mind. Together, we might explore:

• Patterns and triggers: noticing when the dips come and what helps to soften them.

• Resourcing: building practices that bring small sparks of joy and connection, even in the greyest weeks. I often get my clients to create mood boxes filled with items that bring comfort, connection, and vitality through direct contact with the senses. For example, a soft scarf, a scented candle or an uplifting playlist.

• Embodiment: working with the body and breath to gently release the heaviness that accumulates when the nervous system is in a prolonged state of contraction.

• Compassion: countering the self-criticism that so often accompanies depression with patience and kindness.

• Creative Experimentation: exploring how small changes in daily routine – increased light exposure, new rituals and expressive activities - support increased aliveness and improved mood.

• Exploring polarities: inviting creative expression of polarised experiencing – light/dark, energy/rest, connection/solitude, inner/outer - to give form to each pole and facilitate dialogue between them. This can deepen understanding and foster integration rather than resistance to the seasonal low.

• Gestalt Dialogue: to discover what winter represents symbolically and personally — loss, rest, fear, renewal. Many people carry cultural or familial narratives about productivity and emotional brightness; Gestalt dialogue can help them confront and soften these internalised shoulds. This turns seasonal suffering into an opportunity for meaning-making and self-compassion.

Moving Through the Dark Months

I also encourage clients to consider the role of light, movement, and routine. My colleague Annelie Whitfield is an expert in circadian rhythms and the impact of daylight on wellbeing. She reminds us that our bodies are designed to live in sync with the sun: natural light regulates our internal clock, supporting sleep, mood, and hormone balance. What she writes in her recent piece on SAD is crucial:

Morning brightness is your most natural antidepressant, strengthening the signal to wake, stabilise, and energise. Evening darkness gives the body time to restore and repair. If you choose to swap sunrise for screens, eat late into the night, and scroll under LED glare, expect your internal clock to begin to drift — which is where SAD can take hold.

She discusses how Seasonal Affective Disorder is more complex than we usually give it credit for. It stems primarily from disruptions to the body’s circadian rhythm rather than just low serotonin or vitamin D levels. Shorter winter days reduce natural light exposure, which throws off the brain’s internal clock and hormone balance. While vitamin D decreases in winter, our mood depends more on maintaining proper light cues — especially getting bright morning light to boost serotonin and avoiding blue light at night to support melatonin. By aligning light exposure with natural rhythms, you can reset the body’s clock and improve mood regulation.

In this way, having a winter arc can help. Keeping a consistent routine that includes prioritising time outdoors in the morning, vitamin D supplements, speaking to a therapist, and even investing in a light therapy lamp are all things that can stave off the worst of SAD symptoms.

From US Sitcom Broad City

Winter shouldn’t be about endurance. With the right supports in place, it can become a time of deep rest, reflection, and gentle renewal. Therapy can provide a safe, compassionate space to explore what’s happening on the inside, and practices rooted in light and rhythm can support the body on the outside.

I want to extend an invitation: don’t trudge through it — listen. To your body, your brain, everything. Take time to notice where light is missing, both within and without, and let’s find ways — together — to let it back in.