The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are falling – and with it, for many people, the joy of life. The annual winter low is not only on the weather map, but also on the emotional agenda of around nine percent of Germans. According to data from German Family Insurance, that is more than 720,000 people who suffer from winter depression.
Those affected then have a harder time getting out of bed, suffer from depression, loss of interest and leaden fatigue that lasts throughout the day. The result is often isolation and retreat to your own sofa. This is exactly the wrong approach. If you notice that the winter blues are getting worse or that you can’t get out of the autumn slump, you should definitely take action.
Active against the autumn blues: first do it, then feel it
Sometimes that also means tackling things that you don’t feel like doing at first. In behavioral psychotherapy it is said that you sometimes have to carry out an activity for several weeks until the corresponding positive feeling arises. So it’s worth doing things that you know purely cognitively that they give you something.
And if you have no idea what these activities could be, we have summarized ten tips in the picture gallery that, from a scientific point of view, can help each of us against the winter blues. If that doesn’t help either: don’t hesitate to seek professional help.
Those: German Depression Aid