By Bryce Jones for Better Homes & Gardens
Photo: Better Homes & Gardens
As fall transitions into winter and leaves and temperatures drop, it’s not really surprising that your mood can follow. With shorter days, a lack of sunlight, and the inability to spend a lot of time outdoors (depending on where you live), many people struggle with feeling down or not like their normal selves during this time of year.
This phenomenon is known as seasonal affective disorder (aka SAD), and it can last about four to five months. SAD has been part of the mental health discourse for years now, but it has gotten even more attention since the pandemic and rise of TikTok. Bisma Anwar, a licensed mental health counselor based in New York, was doing panels about the disorder before COVID-19, but she’s noticed an uptick in conversations around SAD.
Symptoms to watch for include a change to your sleep schedule, difficulty with appetite, feelings of loneliness and isolation, and an increase in feelings of helplessness, Anwar says.
Whether you experience SAD fully or just get a bit of the winter blues every year, it’s never a bad idea to indulge in some self care when you’re feeling low. Try taking on a few plants or starting an indoor garden, which could boost your mood.
In 2019, Melinda Knuth, an assistant professor at North Carolina State in the horticulture department, and one of her colleagues published an updated review summarizing the different effects plants have on people. They combed through existing studies from the last 10 years on emotional and mental health benefits—which totaled to about 2,500 articles and nine months of work.
“We talked about the fact that plants can help you reduce the stress hormone cortisol, just by being around plants,” Knuth says. “Not only can we have this subconscious benefit when [we’re] near them, but just simply looking at a picture of a plant can also help reduce your blood pressure and heart rate, which is incredible.”
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