154: Tips for SAD Writers

 

SAD (seasonal affective disorder) used to make this time of year so difficult for my writing, creative output, and life overall. In this episode, I share things that have helped me navigate that feeling of dread that sets in every fall/winter.  

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tips for sad writers

Hi friends, welcome back to your big creative life podcast. We're back for another floor episode where I'm sitting on the floor and we're going to talk about mental health. We're going to talk about sad seasonal affective disorder, because mental health and creative output, writing or any type of creative output, they're so closely linked, not in the sense that you have to have your mental health perfect and everything in order before you write or you create, but just that, we can't ignore the impact That one has on the otherright? And I want to talk specifically about, like, sad about seasonal affective, effective disorder, because this is something that has had a huge impact on my life. But I've also it's like, gotten so much better that I just feel like, sometimes I want to spread the gospel of, like, the things that I've done to help this is, in no way, shape or form meant to be a substitute for medical advice.

 

Obviously, I'm not a doctor. I'm a writer and a book editor, which is very far from being a doctor. All I'm going to do in this episode is share my experienceand share what's helped me as we're going into the fall into the winter, because this can have a big impact on my writing. It can have a big impact on my well being on my business, like everything, and so it's really important for me to stay on top of this and to be honest about how I'm doing, how I'm feeling. So yeah, but it, but please don't like none of this is medical advice andalso content warning and whatever is, we're not gonna get, like, super dark. But I you know we're talking about mental health, we're talking about real shit.

 

So okay, I created some content around this last year, but I was thinking about just this time of year, and how different it is for me this year, like in 2024, and how far I've come with this. I did not know that sad seasonal affective disorder was a thing like that, you could get seasonal depression. I didn't realize that was a thing until probably, like, my late teens, maybe maybe even early 20s. I don't know. I just feel like no one really talked about it, winter blues. I think I'd heard that term that people got a bit more like low energy in the winter. For some context, I grew well, I was born in Minnesota, and then when I was like, eight months old, we moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and then when I was seven, we moved to Cincinnati, and then when I was 14, we moved back to Minnesota.

 

So I spent high school in Minnesota. Minnesota. Winters are rough. The Fall can be rough. The winter is very rough. A lot of people, like my parents, have adapted to it, and that's just they're fine winter. They do what they can to take care of themselves, they stay active, they stay healthy, they list of endless things, and it's fine. It's fine. They don't really mind it. For me, winter felt like a little death every single year. I'm not being dramatic. It was like the dread that I started to feel as soon as it hit September 1 was beyond anythingI can describe. Winters in Cincinnati and Louisville were not terrible. They're gray, got a little bit of snow, a little bit of cold, but it wasn't terrible, but yeah, Minnesota just was bad.

 

So it was, it was learning how to navigate a cold winter for the first time, and just wanting to do everything I could to escape it. I also was diagnosed with like, regular depression when I was 16, so that played into it as well, because when you have regular just all year round depression, seasonal depression makes it, it can just make you feel worse, like a cherry on top of a shit sundae.So one of the things that I remember being introduced to was the concept of, like light therapy, getting a light box where you sit in front of this contraption for like, 10 or 15 minutes in the morning, and I thought it was so weird and so wolf like out there when I was, you know, a teenager that I was just was like, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna try. I don't believe that thatwould work. And I just, if you're young, and you've grown up hearing about this is just, like a normal thing. I just even 20 years ago. 25 years ago, I'm 37 this just wasn't talked about as much as it is now.

 

There was no social media. There was no like resource that I could go to to find that there were other people who struggled with this and to get tips. My options were like talk to my doctor, which I did, and then that was pretty much it, because I, you know, I was, I was young, I was in high school. It wasn'tlike moving was an option. I had to live with my parents. I had to be in Minnesota. And so I just, yeah, so I mean, I'm gonna fast forward to, like, what actually helped and what got better, what what helps things get better for me, because it really was. When did things get better? Probably late 20s. I moved away from Minnesota. I moved a lot, actually my 20s, but I moved to North Carolina in 2012 because I went to grad school at UNCG University North Carolina, Greensboro, and so that helped in the sense that the weather was better.

 

I didn't have so much snow, ice, cold temperatures, but I still had that feeling of dread and exhaustion that would hit me in September, and it wouldn't let up until spring. And in my seasonal depression, winter blues, sad, whatever you want to call it, has looked different over the course of the time that I've had it. But it's a lot of low energy just being extremely tired. It's a lot of not even wanting to go outside wanting to isolate, not really working out, not eating great, not just not really doing a lot of social things. And when I was drinking, it was also drinking heavily to get through the winter. I stopped drinking when I was 27 so before 27 I definitely used that as a coping mechanism, too. And then once the first signs of spring came, and once the weather started to get a little bit warmer, once I could feel the sun on my skin,it was like life just became worth living again. It was like everything was amazing, and I just lived for those summer months.

 

So I want to talk now about what's actually helping now at 37. Yes, I live in Charleston, South Carolina, which is an amazing place to have a winter, because it's mild. We there's never snow, maybe, like once every couple years,it might be a little bit ice or a couple flurries, but and the temperatures are pretty mild in the winter. It's just not it's not bad. It's still pretty sunny in the winter too. But here are the things. Here are the tips that I want to share with you, again, not as medical advice, not as like advice from a therapist like this is just things that have these. These are things that have helped me. Vitamin D. Turns out, after getting some labs, years ago, I was like, severely vitamin D deficient. And vitamin D you get from the sun, and also it's in food, it's it's not just something that comes from the sun, but I was very my vitamin D levels were very low. So what I started doing when I was like, in my mid 20s, is I would take, I would start vitamin D supplementation, like September 1, and basically do it September through April. Now I'm to the point where I take vitamin D all year round, but I just up my dose when September 1 hits. So that way September, like going through the fall, going through the winter, I have a lot of vitamin D in my system, and I find that that helps my energy levels. It helps my mood. It's just, it's great. And what's interesting, I got my labs done earlier this year because I had my annual checkup, and they were like, they weren't. They were fine. They were like, even on the lower side of normal. And I have all of this vitamin D supplementing that I'm doing.

 

So yeah, I don't want to say the amount I'm taking, because, again, this is not meant to be medical advice, but talk with your doctor if you think that that's something maybe that you might want to supplement. I've heard that a lot of people are deficient because we're using sunscreen. We're not going outside as much. You know, I'm very careful about sun exposure. I have really pale, fair skin. I have freckles, and I burned there easily, especially living in South Carolina, so I don't go outside a lot, like in the middle of the day, so I'm just not getting as much sun, like direct sun exposure, so that that influences your vitamin D levels. That's probably, honestly, the biggest thing that has helped.

 

The second thing this is okay. This is gonna sound a little silly, but if you followme on Instagram, you probably have seen me share when I edit or write. Sometimes I'll put on these, like YouTube ambiance channels where it's like they'll play like piano music, or it'll be the sounds of a crackling fire or rain sounds, or like like Piano Jazz, and it'll be a scene of fall. It'll be like fall trees with fall colors, a crisp, you know, cabin, maybe a little outdoor cafe with some coffee shop vibes. Maybe a bookstore, anything like that. I just eat that shit up. I love it. I stumbled on this last year. Yeah, last winter, someone on Tiktok shared, it was like snowy night on street, and it was a it was a YouTube channel, and they played jazz, and it was a animated video of a snowy street with Christmas lights up. And it was very cozy.

 

And, you know, you could see the snow falling, and it was just like I had that on for probably half the winter, like it was just always on because it it picked up my mood. It made me feel cozy. What's the Swedish thing? I'm blanking onthe name now. It's h, y, G, G, E, but I forget how to say it. It's like hookah or something, I don't know, but like cozy vibes, essentially, really getting into the coziness of the winter like that really, really helped. I'm probably going to remember how to pronounce it as soon as I finish this episode. But those help,like, they really, really help. So if you're someone who struggles with it, like, just think about putting on one of those things. I know it sounds so silly, and it's not like, it cures it, right? None of these things are going to, like, completelytake it away, but it definitely, definitely helps, and it's helped me. I've realized look forward to fall in a way that I never have in my life. I used fall was alwayslike filled with dread for me. I couldn't enjoy the colors, the pumpkins, the COVID like wearing cozier sweater, like none of that. I just hated all of it. But now it's something I look forward to.

 

I like having a little break in the heat. I like seeing leaves change, and that's a big part of it is just like embracing that fall kind of like vibes, fall drinks are another big thing, which, again, sounds so silly. It's not like it's a cure, but just leaning into everything that the particular season has to offer really helps. The next thing on my list is lights, cozy lights, putting up Christmas lights early. I am putting on my Christmas tree November 1 this year, and I'm leaving it up until January 31 I've decided a full three months, maybe into February. I don't know. I took it down January 31 last year, but making my space cozy is essential. We have such harsh bright lights in the kitchen right now, and it has been on my to do list for months to get some bulbs that are a little bit softer and dimmer so the lights a little bit warmer, but that helps, because in the winter with daylight savings time, it's like the sunlight, the hours of sunlight are so much shorter, and so if it's gonna be dark at 530 or five o'clock, I want to have good lighting.

 

I've also discovered I have, really, I have a lot of, like, sensitivity to light, and so having something that's that's a little bit softer is just better for me all around I don't have as much, yeah, of an issue with with the softer light. So and I also want to put up some lights, like some string lights in my office, if you've seen me post content, or even if you're a client and you've seen me on a coaching call, there's a good chance I don't have my overhead light on. I just have this really soft lamp on, and that's it, because I don't like having thatbright light. But I need to get lights. I need to get lights in there. But okay, let me see what else is on my list here. Oh, not sleeping too much. Okay, this was something that I really had to pay attention to. Once my depression was a little bit more under control, like my all year round, regular depression, as opposed to just seasonal depression. But when my mental health is not great, I sleep a lot, or I used to sleep a lot, not too much anymore, but and that was one thing I had to watch for, because if I sleep too much, I get too tired. There's a sweet spot for me where I need eight hours of sleep, but any more than eight hours, and I get drowsy, I get tired, I get sluggish.

 

So not sleeping too much in the winter is essential, which means getting up before the sun, like getting up when it's still dark out, but my body just does better that way. I've recognized that that's the case for me, and I'm not implying that you need to figure out your sleep or fix it. You know, I don't havegreat sleep now, but I just know that getting too much sleep can be detrimental to my mood, my mental health, all of that. So, yeah, I think there'sa good there's a good balance there. Okay, let me see what else I'm not even going to touch on things like diet, like, because that's such a personal thing. Like, I don't even know if food really makes an impact on my seasonal affective disorder. I don't know. Obviously, there's medic. Conversation, you know, like a lot of strategies for depression, but I just, I really want to focus this episode on things that have helped me. The last thing I'll share, actually, two more things I'll share. One is just finding a form of exercise that's gentle, that I enjoy. I do not like cardio. I do not like really intense hit workouts any time of year, but especially in the winter, when it's cold, when it's dark, when I don't have a ton of energy, I'm not going to be doing that kind of stuff. It's justnot it's just not going to work for me.

 

And so doing like a gentle yoga class, doing a video on YouTube of some stretching Pilates bar like those things feelreally good to my body, and it's also it just helps me feel more grounded and like I don't know my mental health. It fucking sucks that it's so that there's such a link, but there is such a link with exercise and and mental health for me, and energy levels, just everything, walking, even like going for a 10 minute walk, even on days when Ireally don't want to. There's all this science that's coming out now about like, or has come out recently, about exposing your eyes to the morning light in thebeginning for your circadian rhythm, and then looking at the sunset at night. And I'm not, I'm not really on that type of schedule. I'd love to be, because I think it would be helpful. And I did that for a while.

 

When we lived in Nashville, I tried to get up and take like, a 20 minute walk every morning, right when the sun was coming up. And I think it did help is to, like, have that morning light on my eyes. But even just a 10 minute walk anytime a day, despite it being cold. Well, cold is relative again, because I'm in South Carolina, but just getting out, even 10 minutes a walk really, really helps. Let me see, okay, I'm gonna mention one more thing that's a luxury. I'mit. My parents have lived in Minnesota now for 20 we've they've been back about almost 25 years, and something that they've got in the habit of doing isgoing to planning a warm trip every January or February, not something massive. They're not going to Europe. They're not going to like Australia. They're not, you know, it might just be like going down to Florida for a couple of days to visit my aunt who has a house there, you know.

 

So it doesn't have to be a big, expensive thing. But I mentioned this as a luxury, because I know it's not like an option for everyone to go, like take a vacation every February, to somewhere warm, but that's something that really helps them, because by February, February is January. February. That's hard, but that's the hard spot. January for me, was always the worst, but being able to look forward to that bit of sun, that bit of warmth, or at least not freezing temperatures, was everything. And I feel like, you know, for them, it just like, gives them that bit of warmth and encouragement, like, okay, it willget warm again in Minnesota. Just hang in there. You're going to get through this winter, and they would really savor it and soak up the warmth, and then, like, feel recharged to go back to Minnesota, back to the dark and the cold. I don't do that now because I live in Charleston, but also because we don't have the funds and the means to be going to somewhere warm, like once a year, you know, every winter, but going to a sauna really helps.

 

Like, I in my co working space, they have a little gym that has a sauna, and soI'll pop in the sauna. I just started doing it again. I didn't do it during the summer because it was so disgustingly hot. Like, why would I go on a sauna? But now that it's fall, I'll go sit in the sauna for 15 minutes and just sweating feels so good. When I was in Nashville, I didn't have access to a sauna, but I took hot yoga classes, and that was kind of a similar thing. It was so nice to just feel warm. It was so nice to get my blood heating heated, and to have a lot of sweat and to just feel that like humidity in the air from a hot yoga class. It was a similar kind of thing, just like anything, to feel that warmth. And it's like it, it, it both recharged and also calmed me. There's something about doing that in the winter that's that's really helpful.

 

So anyway, I just threw a bunch of shit at you in terms of strategies. But again, all this stuff impacts our creative output. All of this stuff impacts how we feel about ourselves, how we feel about our writing. It's all linked. It really is. I've shared before that part. Why I had so much trouble writing the year after my daughter was born is because I had postpartum anxiety, and it was just really hard. It was really hard to have the mental space and the emotional capacity to write. I just didn't have it. I just couldn't access it. It felt like I'm through it now, and things are so much better. But yeah, I just, I want to take the stigma away from it. Like so many, so many writers suffer with mental health stuff, and like, it doesn't have to define you, and it doesn't have to be this thing that stops you. And you know, obviously you know your circumstance, and please seek help if and when you need it, but even just little tips, I hope, like what I shared in this episode will be helpful for you, because now, okay, that's the other thing let me share now.

 

This winter has been or we're not in winter. Yet, this fall has been so different, where I have not been dreading winter like much at all, and I never thought I would be in a position to say that with how severe my seasonal affective disorder was, Oh, my God, I could just like cry thinking about it. It was like I was only living half the year. And now I think part of it is just it's so ungodly hot in Charleston in the summer, like, By August, it's just like, Okay, we're everyone's ready for some cooler weather. And so then when it actually does feel a little bit crisp in September and October, it's like, oh, this is kind of nice. And I'm just lazy leaning into the cozy vibes. I'm leaning into embracing this because, like, I'm sick of feeling like I'm not fully living six months out of the year. I don't want that to be my approach to life. I don't want to pass that on to my daughter.

 

Obviously, there's genetics, and who knows if she'll have the same thing I do. But yeah, it's really shifted my perspective on it, and trying to be grateful for this time too, because then once spring rolls around and it does start getting warm again, I will, like, love it so fiercely and be so ready for it. And I know it's easier for me to say now living in a warmer client, if you have bad seasonal affective disorder disorder, and you live somewhere very cold, like I've been there, I know it's hard, but there are strategies and things that can help. It's not something you have to suffer through alone. And I guess that's the other reason I wanted to release this episode is because it's, it's had such a profound impact on my life, and getting on the other side of it and feeling better has had a profound impact on my life.

 

I mean, I could not have done this third, this whole challenge of writing a book in 30 days 10 years ago, not just because I wasn't writing 10 years ago, but because my I couldn't have done it in October, because I would have been depressed and, like, full of dread that winter was coming. But now it's like, it's fall, I'm doing this challenge. Like, yeah, it's fine. So okay, if you have other tips, pass them my way, because I still have this a little bit. I still suffer from it a little bit again, not much, but, but it's there. So any other tips would be greatly appreciated too. Yeah, hang in there. If you're with me. Oh, I have to share something else that's so funny. I did not realize that there was, like, almost the the opposite of this until, like, a couple years ago, like, I didn't realize that some people got depressed in the summer.

 

I didn't even know that was a thing summer, summer blues, or, like, summer sadness. I don't really know what it's called. I didn't realize that was a thing. Oh, so maybe if you're the opposite, and you feel depressed in the summer and like you come alive in the winter, I wonder if the tips would still apply. I guess a good amount of them would. Anyways, now I'm I'm getting off off track, but thank you for listening to an episode about mental health. I really do hope this is that this was helpful. You get some inspiration, and you take care of yourself, give yourself grace and compassion, because this shit can be hard. It can be really hard. Okay, see you next week.

Katie Wolf