The days are finally getting brighter and it feels like the war is over, however for most people the remains of Seasonal Affective Disorder or better known as SAD, is still there and anxiety can follow people through the seasons. This can make it hard to keep yourself in good spirits and motivated, even when that is the best thing for your mental health.
The past few years I have struggled with my own mental health and even wrote an article about the best way to push through your SAD. However, this time around, I am struggling to follow my own advice and no amount of crafts or self care has helped.
Despite SAD and anxiety being a big part of my annual routine, and knowing the tricks to keep the sadness at bay, I have never experienced anxiety the way that I have since the start of the year. With this being a new feeling for me, the whimsical ways I have used to cope in the past haven’t provided me with the mental clarity like before.
I have had to resort to making myself uncomfortable in order to be comfortable, which thankfully has proven effective. However, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, when you’re already finding it difficult sitting in your comfort zone, isn’t easy. I’ve not made any ground breaking discoveries, these methods aren’t new and recently discovered, however, they have started bringing me back to life.
So, here are five uncomfortable ways to get you back to you.
Get off your phone:
The term ‘doomscrolling’ was popularised in early 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, to describe the mass consumption of distressing news on social media. We have all been there, for many of us, doomscrolling is embedded in our daily routines, and nine times out of ten, we don’t feel good afterwards.
This year one of my goals was to be on my phone less, and as embarrassing as it is, I have found this very challenging. With my anxiety being so high, I find myself stuck scrolling and scrolling and when I stop I feel guilty and horrible, and it makes everything feel worse. So I have been making an effort to put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ so I get no notifications and try to do something else.
My boyfriend and I have started implementing ‘no tv dinners’, where we eat at our coffee table with music on so we have time to talk to each other instead of watching tv on the sofa, where the temptation to pick up your phone and scroll is so much easier. This helps us both to decompress after a long day and I find myself feeling much lighter afterwards.
With having everybody’s life at your fingertips, it is so easy to get bogged down and compare. It is good to ground yourself, remember that social media is fake and you are on the right track and that all starts with switching off.
Cold Showers:
Cold water swimming has risen in popularity in recent years, with numerous health and mental health benefits. However, if you don’t have access to a safe place to swim, the next best thing is something we all have at home: a shower.
This is something I have been doing almost nightly for the past two months, and whilst it is a mental battle in itself to get under the cold water, it has been the most effective method in relieving my anxiety.
Although there are no official scientific reasons as to why cold water therapy works, there are theories that it boosts your mood by releasing endorphins. It also activates your fight or flight response, which increases your heart rate and alertness and releases stress hormones. This means that over time regular exposure could train your body to handle stress more efficiently.
For me personally the shock of the cold water forces me to breathe, and stops the noise going on in my head. Initially I start to breathe short and sharp, however, when you just concentrate on your breathing, it slows right down and you start to feel relaxed. Then when you turn the water off, and just wait a second before wrapping up in a warm towel (always better straight off the radiator), you feel in a complete state of relaxation.
Exercise:
It is a well known fact that exercise boosts your mood and makes you feel better, hence the phrase ‘depression can’t hit a moving target’, which doesn’t work for everyone, however, for me personally, I can relate to it.
Exercise releases endorphins and serotonin in your brain which has a positive affect on your mood. Movement also improves your sleep which is important for emotional regulation, it also lowers the stress hormone, cortisol.
I started exercising regularly last January, and noticed a positive difference in my mental health almost immediately, even just finding something you enjoy and look forward to doing once or twice a week really helps.
Running was always an exercise that I found horrible, it always felt like a punishment to me. However after six months of going to gym classes, I put on my running shoes and ran without a distance or time goal in mind and realised that this is something that I actually really enjoyed. I found that my head cleared up, and I just enjoyed the beauty of being outside.
Write Everything Down:
When I feel like my mind is going 100 miles a minute and I can’t find a start or an end to any problem I am feeling, I write it down. I don’t mean writing all your feelings down in a journal Bridget Jones style, but just get it all down on paper.
When I am feeling this way, I find it helpful to write down every tiny thing that is in my head and why I think it is bothering me, and then sitting down with someone and trying to find a solution.
This could be as easy as ‘I am stressed because I need a new toothbrush’ and adding it to the shopping list or as big as struggling with something at work. But having that open conversation about finding ways to resolve them (even the small ones) helps you to see the bigger picture and that, actually, you don’t have as many worries as you originally thought. Sometimes it is the overwhelming feeling that is worse than what is actually on your mind.
Journaling helps to provide mental clarity and helps you work out how to process your thoughts. It’s like unravelling a ball of yarn that has become tangled up, when you find the beginning and the end, it’s easy to start over and put it away neatly.
Don’t Cancel Plans:
When your anxiety is making itself known, and all you want to do is curl up and sit in your home comforts, it can be so tempting to cancel your gym class or text your friend with an excuse as to why you can’t meet up any more. Going out and sticking to the plans that you have made can provide enough distraction to ease your anxiety temporarily.
The immediate relief that you get from rescheduling can often make you forget the long term consequences. If you have cancelled plans to sit at home on your own, feelings of guilt and regret can creep up and sit with your anxiety, adding to that bad feeling which made you cancel in the first place.
My friend and I usually meet up once a week to go for a coffee or a walk after work, which is always fun and we both get a lot off our chest as we both rant at each other for hours. I always come away with a weight off my shoulders, having been given advice, solutions and sometimes just validation that I am not going insane.
However, during the past few months when my anxiety has gotten the better of me, I have been tempted to cancel so that I can stay home, even though I know which one will make me feel better in the long run.
Talking to someone who has gone through a similar experience and can provide reassurance can be really helpful. It can make you feel less alone and can bring a sense of relief that you aren’t the only person to feel this way and you will come out the other side of it.
So far 2026 has given me lots of ups and lots of downs and thrown my mental health through a loop, forcing me to deal with feelings that I am not used to. Although I still don’t necessarily see an end in sight, everyday is getting easier and I do feel like I am managing more and more everyday.
Despite taking the time to romanticise life working for me before, it has not provided me with relief the same way it once did. However, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and being physically uncomfortable, even for a short time, has forced me to recognise the comfort ten times more. Whilst this is not a long term solution, it is comfortable being in the temporary.
If you need someone to talk to there are options:
Samaritans: 116 123 (24/7)
CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably): 0800 58 58 58 (5pm-midnight)
Or alternatively, contact your GP if you need long term help.