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Suggestions on ways to recover from winter blues by Susan Sims Barger, FNP Family Medicine The skies turn dark early and there is a bite of cold in the air. Everyone hibernates indoors for comfort and recovery from the holiday stress. And now you might be experiencing some letdown. Do you have a depressed mood most of the day feeling sad or empty or even tearful? Are you experiencing irritability?  Do you have a marked diminished interest or pleasure in most of your daily activities? Have you had any significant weight loss or weight gain? Are you having difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much?  Do you feel worthless? Do you have any recurrent thoughts of death?  If you answered yes to any of these questions you may just be experiencing the blues.    But if you answered yes to five or more of the symptoms and they have been present during a minimum of two weeks and represent a change from previous functioning you may have a clinical diagnosis of depression.   Major depression is defined as a depressed mood on a daily basis for a minimum duration of two weeks. An episode may be characterized by sadness, indifference or apathy, or irritability and is usually associated with change in a number of functions including sleep patterns and appetite and weight, motor agitation or retardation, fatigue, impairment in concentration and decision making, feelings of shame or guilt, and thoughts of death and dying.    Some depression is normal and is a part of almost every person’s life. Life changes, such as the birth of a baby, divorce, death of a loved one or loss of a job, can leave a person feeling depressed. So can worrying about financial problems or illness. And sometimes you may feel empty or depressed for no apparent reason.   Whatever the cause, depression can be treated. Treatment includes medicines, psychotherapy and other therapies specific to the cause of depression, such as exposure to bright light, similar to sunlight, that results from seasonal affective disorder.   A seasonal pattern of depression may manifest with onset and remission of episodes at predictive times of the year. The symptoms are lack of energy, fatigue, weight gain, hypersomnia or sleeping too much, and episodic carbohydrate craving. The prevalence increases with distance from the equator.    You should seek advice from your health care provider for professional advice and treatment, if you suspect that you may have depression.   If you just have the blues, here are some suggestions that might perk you up: Get enough sleep. Eat the proper kinds of food in the proper amounts. Do something every day that you enjoy.  Say no to things that you don’t want to do. Eliminate unnecessary activities in your life. If something is worrying you, talk it over with a trusted friend or family member. If you are saddened by the loss of a close friend, let yourself cry. If someone makes you angry, let yourself express your anger reasonably. Get regular exercise. Don’t try to be perfect in everything you do. Learn to accept the things that you have no control over. Get out and get some sunshine.  For more information, contact simss@musc.edu.