Five Tips for Combating Seasonal Depression

Growing up dyslexic before anyone really understood it, I suffered from depression and felt like an outcast. Of course I didn't perceive the cause of the negativity, so it began to show up through anger.

Finally, by the time I was fourteen, my mother handed me a book - it was something written by Sigmund Freud. It helped me to discern what could be causing the depression.

Many talks with Mom brought forth her words of wisdom. One suggestion she gave was to go ahead and be depressed. Let it run its course. This was a dead ringer for truth. Later, I realized the reason why this was good advice.

No one can be happy all of the time. Using lingo that Mom wouldn't have recognized - it's about yin and yang. It's contrast that's needed in order to have perspective. How could you know you are happy, if you've never been sad?

So embracing sadness or depression gives familiarity to the opposite frame of mind which would be happiness.

I heard the same theory espoused in one of my favorite blogs, "Sidhere." At first when I went there and read his articles, I thought that everything was so clear to this man that he had to be very young. Shades of gray don't appear until your hair starts turning that color.

Amongst his other words of wisdom, (turns out Sid's age is 84) one matched with my mother's advice to go ahead and embrace those times when feeling depressed.

Mother also suggested keeping busy. She said you can't have two emotions at the same time. I would like to add that physical exercise helps, too. It releases endomorphines which tend to create a good feeling.

I like the Bible quotation from Phillipians that Mom told me about. In essence this verse suggests keeping your mind on all things lovely and pure. The timelessness of this advice is really coming in handy with so many disturbing events going on in the world. Focusing on the depressing events amplifies the power of such.

After having read about primitive man, and humanity's evolution to the complexity of symbolism, a few more thoughts cropped up. We spend so much of our time indoors, away from nature's fragrances, and colors, why not focus on bringing this back into life's experiences?

Take a walk in a pine tree grove. Pine trees are known to eliminate negativity. They have a deep lavender aura you can see if you look at the branches against the backdrop of the sky.

Fill your surroundings with fragrances that please. Take a bath in lavender, or jasmine, or rosemary oil. Rosemary, especially, is well known for alleviating depression. Rose or vanilla scented candles raise the spirits, too.

Eat grapefruit. It's known as the happy fruit.

Daydream about colors that make you happy. Close your eyes for a moment and conjure up this imagery inside of your mind. What are the colors that make you happy?

The color of gold releases negativity and promotes health. Other helpful colors are shades of lavender or purple. Pink helps keep you "in the pink."

Don't let the winter blahs get to you. Depression is a part of life, especially in winter, but there are ways to alleviate a simple condition of seasonal blahs.