How does winter affect your mood?

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Even though I live in a milder climate than most (northeast FL), it's still been colder and wetter than this winter than I'm used to. I think that the weather has started to affect my mood much more in recent years. I don't think it would be a stretch to describe my mood as miserable for most of the past two months. I did my best to pull myself out of the funk. I bike 4 miles to work every morning, unless it's raining. We visited with friends and family every weekend in February. We took the kids to the park when it was pleasant enough. But ultimately, when I only have an hour of sunlight to enjoy after spending all day in my gray cubicle - and more often than not, the precious little sunlight that I have is obscured by cold and fog and drizzle - there just doesn't seem to be any way to stay happy.

The last two days have been utterly glorious. Highs of 70 degrees and sunny. The kids woke me up at 5 AM this morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I went for a run, took a shower, brewed some coffee, fried a couple of eggs, and relaxed until 7 AM. When it was time to leave for work, the morning was so beautiful that I broke into a huge, uncontrollable smile on the ride to work. I felt better than I've felt since December. The high hasn't worn off since I got to work.

Does anyone else find that their mood is so heavily affected by the weather? Is there anything I can do about it? The forecast calls for a straight week of fog and drizzle starting tomorrow :'(

[thurston howell iv]

Quit yer whining! :)  We had 14" of snow the week before last. Expecting another 8-10" this week. (plus some freezing rain)
I absolutely hate cold weather but I'm stuck (for now). So, I have to deal with it and my family taunting me with text messages from South FL where it's 80*.

Otherwise I feel fine. I have pictures of tropical islands on my screen saver. It's the only way to keep my sanity. (what's left of it)

[dadu007]

You're kidding, right?
Try a Minnesota winter.
Yes, winter affects your mood.  Google Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and then go buy a Happy Light, which I have on my Minnesota desk, in my Minnesota home, in the state of Minnesota.
I grew up and lived in AZ until I was 40, so I should know.  Don't ask me how I ended up in the land of darkness. That's my own sad story.
NE FL. Gimme a break.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

You're kidding, right?
Try a Minnesota winter.
Yes, winter affects your mood.  Google Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and then go buy a Happy Light, which I have on my Minnesota desk, in my Minnesota home, in the state of Minnesota.
NE FL. Gimme a break.

No, I'm not kidding. How many days has it rained in Minnesota since December? And thanks for the support.

[dadu007]

Well, I'm pulling your leg.  Of course winter affects your mood!  But you need to have a thick skin when you complain about FL winters, you have to admit. ;-)

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Well, I'm pulling your leg.  Of course winter affects your mood!  But you need to have a thick skin when you complain about FL winters, you have to admit. ;-)

I've lived all over the south, including a few years in the Appalachian mountains, where it didn't get above freezing for a week at a time. I know it's not Minnesota, but we just moved to Florida in October, and this was has been the most miserable winter I've ever experienced. The fog, the drizzle, the days on end of wet, 40-degree weather. It feels like fricking Washington state (actually, we are in the same climate zone as coastal Washington). This ain't Miami.

I don't think it helps that we downsized considerably, with the expectation that we would spend a lot more time outside. Well, that was true in October and November. Not so much by mid-December. Between the cubicle and a small home with two toddlers, I think I got cabin fever in a bad way this winter. Spring can't come fast enough.

[Bob W]

Thanks for reminding me that winter sucks.  Around here it is dark, cold and windy with no real winter fun activities like skiing.   I will run to my garage and grab my 5000 lumen SAD light for morning use.

On a bright note time changes this Sunday, so there will be another hour of light at night and spring is just 17 days away officially.  The crocus will be blooming soon here.

Someday I too will spend winters in southern somewhere but I might opt for southern south America or Australia where winter is summer and daylight hours are 16 hours long.    Oh hell I would even settle for Hawaii or Panama.

[dadu007]

I'm with you there!  Overcast, sunless days, one after the other; that's THE WORST.
I could never live in the northwest US for that reason.
At least in Minnesota after it snows you will see bright blue skies...we lived in the Chicago area for 10 years and I about lost it one winter when it was day after day of gray overcast days.
So hang in there...Spring is just around the corner! 

[stuckinmn]

How does winter affect my mood?  Badly.

Complainypants warning.

Some people are cut out for the winters and it does not bother them- they are usually fair skinned and named something like Olsen, Knutsen and Hansen.  Those of us that are not Scandanavian suffer through.

At the end of every winter I mentally mark a calendar and note it is one less winter until my youngest graduates high school and I can get out of here.  In the meantime, if i die before then my executor is under instructions to spread my ashes somewhere warm and far, far from here.  One way or another I'm getting out of this place.

Dadu-  i feel for you.  Let me guess- you got married or engaged to a Minnesotan who then convinced you to move back so they could be close to family?  90% of non-locals that live here have the same story.  I have a theory that Minnesotans send their young out for a few years to bring back new people and diversify the gene pool.  Otherwise everyone here would have the Hapsburg jaw.   

[jrhampt]

Well, I personally haven't seen bare ground since I came back from a visit to Florida in January to ease the suffering of a New England winter, so I can't say my heart is bleeding for you exactly...  It doesn't rain here; it snows every couple of days, and that lasts for months.  Plus the sun sets about an hour earlier up here than it does for you.  I left my house maybe three times total last March because the snow was so bad and my hilly driveway becomes an ice slick.

Yeah, when it gets dark around 4 pm in December, it totally has an effect on my mood.  But by now, when we're starting to get more light during the day, I do feel hopeful that in another month or so, the snow may be mostly gone.  I think the key to surviving winter is to remember to eat healthy, since there's a tendency to eat less fruit and salads (at least for me) in the winters than I do in summer.  And it's also really important for your state of mind to find some way to keep exercising in the dead of winter, even if you can't leave your house.  This year I got a bucket of sand so that I can make it back up my driveway if I go to the gym...which I rejoined for the winter because I found I really liked the group exercise classes, yoga, etc.  And I got a pair of snowshoes, so that's been a fun source of exercise as well (along with regular snow shoveling - not so fun).  I go to the local art museum for their activities, which is nearby and indoors, but gets me out of the house. If you hate exercising outdoors in the rain, find an alternative, and yeah, try to get out of the house - I can't imagine it's fun being cooped up with kids.

[samburger]

Another sad Minnesotan reporting for duty. I was born and raised here, but goddamnit, these winters.

My mood is pretty ugly in January, February, and March. Every winter I decide this is no way to live, and then a gorgeous May comes along and ropes me right back in...

We have 50 degrees in the forecast now. So close.

[samburger]

Well, I personally haven't seen bare ground since I came back from a visit to Florida in January to ease the suffering of a New England winter, so I can't say my heart is bleeding for you exactly... 

Can we refrain from minimizing other people's SAD, please? Seasonal Affective Disorder feels like shit regardless of the severity of your winters.

[shelivesthedream]

Normally I'm fine with winter but this past one has been a killer. It's not been the weather (although I have been more bothered by the rain than usual) but the hours of daylight. Seeing the sun go down at 4pm pretty much made me want to cry. Sunset is around 6pm now, which I feel is the beginning of acceptable. I've never felt this way before this winter but for whatever reason it's been really tough.

[dadu007]

Dadu-  i feel for you.  Let me guess- you got married or engaged to a Minnesotan who then convinced you to move back so they could be close to family?  90% of non-locals that live here have the same story.  I have a theory that Minnesotans send their young out for a few years to bring back new people and diversify the gene pool.  Otherwise everyone here would have the Hapsburg jaw.   

Close, stuckinmn!  Was living in AZ, got married, my Illinois-born wife hated AZ ("too hot"), and I needed a job change, so we moved to Illinois for a new job, where her mother and sister were.  Both of them died within 5 years after moving there (no joke).  Then my company closed up shop in IL and shipped me to MN.
Funny thing is, I'm half Swedish and I have one of the most common Scandinavian surnames.  Go figure.
I do like Minnesota for the most part, but the desert rat in me constantly longs for the wide open spaces, heat, sunshine, and cacti.
Good thing I adore my wife. ;-)

[jrhampt]

Well, I personally haven't seen bare ground since I came back from a visit to Florida in January to ease the suffering of a New England winter, so I can't say my heart is bleeding for you exactly... 

Can we refrain from minimizing other people's SAD, please? Seasonal Affective Disorder feels like shit regardless of the severity of your winters.

Yeah, I know.  It's just hard when I'm choking up with envy ;-)

[queenie]

I find winters very hard.  Our winters are very drab and gray in Ontario.  There has been very little sun this season and it definitely makes it harder to function.  Even on the days that aren't overcast (hallelujah!), they are short and cold and snowy and wet and miserable.

It's been between -13F and -31F here for the past couple of months.  We had to cancel tobogganing for my son's birthday last month and stay inside because of the extreme temperatures.  It's too cold to enjoy most winter activities lately.  Months of scraping down windows in frigid temperatures, spinning tires in slushy snow, highways being closed for white-outs, that biting cold - it gets to me.  But none of it gets to me as much as the lack of sun.  It's very hard to feel happy in the winter.

It's worse for DH, who works nights and misses any chance of sun at all.  I'm so sick of the winter.  Winters are the only thing that make me want to leave Canada.

I've thought about light therapy before.

[jrhampt]

Let me guess- you got married or engaged to a Minnesotan who then convinced you to move back so they could be close to family?  90% of non-locals that live here have the same story.  I have a theory that Minnesotans send their young out for a few years to bring back new people and diversify the gene pool.  Otherwise everyone here would have the Hapsburg jaw.   

Haha!  That's how they got my sister!  We like to send each other angry texts about the snow while my little brother talks about how it's 70 and he's out on the lake.  The jerk.

[Nickyd£g]

Try living on the west coast of Scotland.  Cold, grey, rainy about 9 months of the year, and between October and February it's "light" (i.e. grey) around 10am to 3pm.  Then it's just dark.  Summers do at least mean it's light(er grey) between 4am and 11pm but warm, sunny days?  We get about 2 weeks worth a year.

Can you tell my mood is affected?  I really struggle with it, and I plan to move somewhere warm and bright as soon as I can.  Which, unfortunately, looks like in about 15 years. 

I've checked out other countries' requirements to emigrate but I don't have any special skills (I'm in admin/project management) and can't speak any language other than English at the moment - I am taking Spanish lessons this summer though.

OK, I'll stop whining now!

[rubybeth]

Another MN native here. I don't really experience SAD, but the winters are long and harsh, though when it's cold it's also generally sunny. Have you tried taking vitamin D? My DH has found that it's helped him this winter. Also, we try to exercise really regularly (at the gym when it's miserable outside), and using the hot tub at the gym seems to lift our moods considerably. The light thing could also help; a lot of people swear by them. I just try to get out and walk on my work breaks, especially on sunny days. My office gets a lot of afternoon sun, too.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Well, I personally haven't seen bare ground since I came back from a visit to Florida in January to ease the suffering of a New England winter, so I can't say my heart is bleeding for you exactly... 

Can we refrain from minimizing other people's SAD, please? Seasonal Affective Disorder feels like shit regardless of the severity of your winters.

Yeah, I know.  It's just hard when I'm choking up with envy ;-)

It will be gorgeous around here in short order, of that I'm aware. Fall was absolutely spectacular. I don't think it rained for the first month that we lived here. But February, dammit. For a few weeks during, it felt like my eyes were sinking into the back of my head, and I constantly had a headache. I almost considered that I might need to see a psychologist, but then we got 2 beautiful days, and now I feel like a new man. Something has changed lately that makes me much more sensitive to the weather, and it's not something that I can easily snap out of.

Strangely, I actually have burning desire to spend at least one winter in my life (post-FIRE) in a northern climate. My dad had a co-worker who sold everything he owned and moved to Montana after retirement. He would send my dad pictures of his cabin under 8 feet of snow. Dad asked how he tolerated the cold, and he replied that he hadn't experienced a single day in Montana as cold as a 35-degree rain in Georgia. Of course, the humidity in Montana is a lot lower than in the East, which has a lot to do with how we perceive the cold. I know that I can tolerate a sunny 20 degrees way better than a rainy 40 degrees. Not sure if I can convince my wife to give a northern winter a shot, though.

[CtrlMagicDel]

Fellow Minnesota transplant here (from New Jersey so not exactly much of a difference). Always kind of had mood issues in the colder months. Recently got bloodwork done and found out that my levels of B3 were super low which can have an affect on mood. Have been taking B3 pills every morning for a few days and it seems to be helping. If you have mood issues during the cold months might be worth getting a physical done and see if you have any similar deficiencies.

[dadu007]

Did you see the CBS Sunday Morning segment this past Sunday about the guy who is a caretaker at Yellowstone National Park over the winter? He's been doing it for 30+ years.  Now there's a winter!

My strategies:
Fish Oil
Vitamin D
Happy Light in my office
Sun bathing in rooms that have sun streaming through the windows every weekend (when sun is available). Not kidding, I really do this...
Saunas (not very mustachian, but my house actually had a sauna in it when we bought it!)  Saunas are proving quite helpful, much to my surprise, and a lot of recent science is coming out on their many benefits.  Man, I am more Swedish than I thought.

[gt7152b]

I'm built for hot weather: darker skin and less than average body mass. I'll take a sunny 110deg day over 40deg and overcast anytime. I don't think I have SAD but winter is not my favorite and really I just feel lazy because of the short days and wanting to stay inside more. I use winter sports to make it more bearable and I try to work out indoors more often. Spring/summer/fall are for biking so winter is more for weight training and snowboarding. I'll ride my bike on the trainer more in winter also but I do try to bike as much as I can stand it in the cold. It just gets miserable on some days. Since you are a cyclist you may try mountain biking on the colder days. You warm up much quicker and can stay out of the high winds that plague the roads. Cyclocross is also a good winter biking activity from what I hear.

[TheFrugalFox]

108 yesterday in Cape Town - to be fair, that was the hottest day we have had this summer so far - it's actually been pretty mild *. But really looking forward to a nice cool winter.

* Mild for us in summer is around 90

[Better Change]

Same latitude as you Minnesotans but living in the Mitten.

The past two winters have been absolutely brutal.  We just had the coldest February on record.  And oh man, my mood is FOUL.

We went skiing last weekend just to get outside.  And though it was chilly (18F?), we were all celebrating the positive temperatures and appearance of the sun.

Winter to me means huddling up in front of the fire with a bottle of wine.  While whining.

[begood]

Winter makes me want to STAB SOMETHING. So maybe I experience MAD, not SAD? ;)

I lived my first 40+ years south of the Mason-Dixon line, where winter is measured in respectable weeks, not months. About this time every year, I'm just chafing for warmth. I want to sit on my screen porch and read a book. I want to drive down my road without testing the brakes every hundred feet. I want to put my goddamn fleeces and corduroys back in the attic.

[Vilgan]

Winters in Seattle are typically pretty dreary, although this winter has been pretty nice.

Main things I do to tackle it:

1) chug vitamin D
2) still try to get outside, especially on the nicer days
3) take a trip to somewhere sunny in Feb, when the dreariness usually starts to wear a bit

At least we don't have snow/cold weather to deal with

[sbdebeste]

Kinda shocked to be the first, but personally I *love* winter. It lasts a little too long for me (2 months instead of 4 would be amazing), but I like to view the winter as home court advantage.

(edit) - Northeastern US here.

[DecD]

I don't do well in winter.  It doesn't help that gardening is my hobby.  I do better living in Texas. I spent 5 years in Indiana and I found it brutal... The winters just stretched on FOREVER!!

Vitamin D helps. Moving to a climate where spring arrives in early March helps more :) usually by now we are frost-free and the garden is in.  But I expect one last freeze tomorrow night...hopefully winter's last hurrah.  I may be in zone 9a but I live here for a reason!

[seanc0x0]

I make do, but winter definitely does affect my mood.  I think for me it's mostly the light. In mid-winter here, we get dark for most of the day. Sunrise is after 9am and sunset is before 5pm, so if you're stuck in an office all day, you never see daylight.

I work around that by getting in early and leaving early. This works since my employer allows it, YMMV. I also try to get out at lunch. Just that little bit makes a marked improvement for me, though it would be nice to get even more light. I keep meaning to look into a daylamp, but haven't gotten around to it.

Personally, I like winter. I live about 100m from a great cross-country ski trail, which helps! 

Eventually, though, it does get kind of old.  Woke up this morning to an extreme cold warning (-33C, -43 with the windchill), and man am I ever ready for spring!

[rubybeth]

Kinda shocked to be the first, but personally I *love* winter. It lasts a little too long for me (2 months instead of 4 would be amazing), but I like to view the winter as home court advantage.

(edit) - Northeastern US here.

Oh, I love it, too! I was just offering advice for the OP. I don't really 'get' my fellow Minnesotans who spend months complaining about it. It is what it is, might as well try to enjoy it, and I do. I walk to work and dress appropriately for the cold. I love the snow, and cross-country skiing. I don't have to drive much, so blizzards hardly bother me, and cold weather is the same. I like to say that it weeds out the weak. :)

[cthoops]

It may be hard to find much sympathy given how historically bad this winter has been in places that REALLY have winter. Anywhere in Florida is a cakewalk in comparison. 70 degrees?  We haven't seen that since a fluke day on October 29, and it rained that day.

Anyhow, while I'm not particularly sympathetic, I certainly understand how winter weather can affect someone. I personally despise it, and will be getting the hell out of here in 6 years and 3 months, max. Each day when I walk home from work in subfreezing temperatures I repeat to myself, "Six more winters, six more winters.".

I saw in the forecast next week that it's supposed to get up into the 40's for several days in a row. I got irrationally excited.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

It may be hard to find much sympathy given how historically bad this winter has been in places that REALLY have winter. Anywhere in Florida is a cakewalk in comparison. 70 degrees?  We haven't seen that since a fluke day on October 29, and it rained that day.

Anyhow, while I'm not particularly sympathetic, I certainly understand how winter weather can affect someone. I personally despise it, and will be getting the hell out of here in 6 years and 3 months, max. Each day when I walk home from work in subfreezing temperatures I repeat to myself, "Six more winters, six more winters.".

I saw in the forecast next week that it's supposed to get up into the 40's for several days in a row. I got irrationally excited.

To be fair, I didn't come here for sympathy, or to play the "my winter is worse than your winter" game. I was mostly hoping for some tips on how other people deal with the effects that short, dreary days can have on one's mood. Thanks to those who suggested the Vitamin D supplements and the "Happy Light". I think I'm going to give it a shot. In October, I switched from a job where I was in the forest or driving for 50% of my time to being in a cubicle 100% of the time. I wonder if that's part the reason this winter has affected my mood more than most.

[mrsoski]

Another northern transplant.  I too have 6 years and 3 months to go until my youngest graduates, and then I am popping smoke and heading south.  My husband can come too, if he wants.

[FoundPeace]

I typically battle a bit of SAD due to lack of sun more than the cold. Now that I live in Portland it has been pretty bad, but this winter has been unreasonably sunny and warm. This has definitely been the best winter I've had in a long time.

I feel for all of you who have to summer sunlessness and/or bitter cold. I just got lucky this year.

[Gone Fishing]

I think I miss the green trees and grass more than anything.  Snow almost seems better than the brown and grays we have for most of the winter. 

[retired?]

Lived in Chicago for a few years.  The grayness in winter had a much bigger affect on my mood than the temps and weather.  I'll take sunny and freezing over mild and gray.

[k_to_the_v]

I'm in SW Michigan (Hi Minnesotans!). Life long Michigander. Yes, the winter sucks. The last two have been particularly brutal. Last year we had record snowfalls and very low temps, this year February was the coldest on record.

However...spring, summer, and fall are glorious. Michigan has some of the most beautiful state and national forest lands you will find anywhere. Lake Michigan has the most beautiful beaches. My hometown is a fantastic place to live. So, even though I could live anywhere due to my job, I decided to stay here and battle it through every winter. Here's what I do during the worst of it.

I have found the mood has improved quite a bit by moving my office (I work from home) to my small sunroom. The entire east and southfacing walls are windows. I refuse to put blinds on them; I am right now working with a cowboy hat on to reduce the glare. Getting sun on my face, even indirectly, really helps.

I try to get out with my dog for a walk every single day. There are, of course, some days that are just too wicked awful to go out, but I've gotten out a lot more this winter than last, and I believe it's made a difference. A friend of mine says "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes."

I give myself a break. I try to be very active throughout the rest of the year (I love to hike, have a horse, go camping, my family has a place out by Lake Michigan, I also am a social person...), and these winter months are my time to be quiet, sleep a little more, catch up on reading, veg out a bit. I think it is good to give your body some time off.

This year, I gave up alcohol for 90 days starting January 1. In one sense, this is nuts, but I have felt better this winter than I can remember. Consuming a known depressant during the most depressing time of year just doesn't work for me.

Everyone is different...but those things make the winter months tolerable.

[stuckinmn]

In October, I switched from a job where I was in the forest or driving for 50% of my time to being in a cubicle 100% of the time. I wonder if that's part the reason this winter has affected my mood more than most.

This is your problem.  I don't think you have a winter problem, you have a not getting outdoor problem (which I suppose a winter problem is a subset of for those up north).  you just need a job where you can get back outdoors.

Another northern transplant.  I too have 6 years and 3 months to go until my youngest graduates, and then I am popping smoke and heading south.  My husband can come too, if he wants.

Laugh- good to find folks in similar situations.  Misery does love company I suppose.  I'm bracing for that day 8 years and 3 months from now when my wife decides she has to stay here because [insert some family reason that will inevitably come up].   

[jopiquant]

I'm with you there!  Overcast, sunless days, one after the other; that's THE WORST.
I could never live in the northwest US for that reason.
At least in Minnesota after it snows you will see bright blue skies...we lived in the Chicago area for 10 years and I about lost it one winter when it was day after day of gray overcast days.
So hang in there...Spring is just around the corner!

Yep. We have pretty much six months of rain, which isn't so bad, but the short days and low overcast get tough after a while. I (don't) cope by hibernating and comfort eating. Looking into getting a SAD light. Enjoying an unusual, sunny early spring in Vancouver.

[Kmp2]

So glad we don't get the weeks on end of overcastyness! We do get dark... I have spent the winter north of 56º. It gets 'light' out at 10am, and dark by 4am... but the really noticeable difference is that when the sun is as high as it gets for the day, it's still lower than it is in the southern states 10 minutes after the sun comes up... it's a couple of months of being in the darkness, or near darkness all day. And it's cold bald windy prairie!

My strategies are:
Get outside, everyday - if possible while the sun is still 'up' (and yes I get my toddler dressed up for at least 10 minutes even at the coldest of temps)
Exercise - works best if it's combined with strategy 1. (I bike commuted all winter this year, 20 minutes/day guaranteed outside down to about -20F, it's been my best winter yet!)
Vit D
and light therapy if required (or sitting by a south facing window... where hopefully you will feel the 'heat' of the sun, and not just cold drafts)

Edmonton has a whole indoor beach where we used to go and absorb daylight @ +30C temperatures - it was awesomeness, and way cheaper than flying south for a week... although that does work too.

[Schaefer Light]

This year, I gave up alcohol for 90 days starting January 1. In one sense, this is nuts, but I have felt better this winter than I can remember. Consuming a known depressant during the most depressing time of year just doesn't work for me.

I tend to drink more during the winter (which probably doesn't help matters any).  I owe this to the fact that the days are shorter and there's no time for my favorite hobby (golf).

[Minimali]

The weather never bothers me (I like changeable weather conditions) but being in Scotland it does get dark during winter. Not quite polar night but I do go a couple of months of walking to and from work in darkness. It drags a bit.

But as soon as the end of February rolls around, and I start seing sunlight again, my mood improves a lot.

[MsFrugalista]

I think I miss the green trees and grass more than anything.  Snow almost seems better than the brown and grays we have for most of the winter.

I very much dislike winter and cold climates, but also have to agree with the statement above. Droughts suck also.

Having lived in Southern Ontario most of my life (although, I shouldn't complain too much considering there are 13 states (http://barelybad.com/north_of_canada_map.htm#states_entirely_north) entirely north of where I lived) and then moved down to milder climate locations in the US, I don't think I can move back to a colder climate anymore...

[MLKnits]

Living in the frozen north, this is something we take pretty seriously on a cultural level (though not as seriously as some places--only a climate like Sweden's could have produced both Abba and Aqua, don't you think?).

I agree with everyone above who mentioned this: make sure you're seeing the sun. If you're stuck inside and it peeks out from the clouds, take a break and go stand in it for a few minutes. Seriously. Do whatever you need to do to make sure you get morning or afternoon time outside, or both.

My best non-sun-related tips:
1) Eat well--fruits and veggies especially--and sleep as well as you can
2) Wear bright clothes and carry a bright umbrella (mine is orange)
3) Always, always, do something new and interesting in winter. This is the big one. Try a new hobby or a new area of your hobby. Make a new friend. Start a new volunteering gig. Change up your exercise routine substantially, or rearrange your schedule (especially if this means getting more outside time). Whatever: do SOMETHING that makes a difference from the drag of predictable, boring normality.

[sabertooth3]

Not good. Mid-Atlantic, so no Midwestern-level snowfalls, but it's been awfully cold this winter. I've put on ~10lbs since last summer :(, my vice is baked goods so the holidays and after aren't awesome times. Although I've been replacing chocolate and candy with clementines, it's been a moderate success. For exercise, I play indoor soccer once a week, but it's not really enough. Gotta do some body-weight workouts!

I know what I have to do, it's just the motivation in the moment is fleeting.

[GoCubsGo]

Chicago winters are soooo gray.  I bought a Suntouch Plus light lamp from Amazon and it's helped quite a bit. I sit in front of it for an hour in the morning when I'm at the computer.  I also take Vitamin D and try to work out at the gym more as it releases endorphines that help my mood.

[RetiredAt63]

That description makes me understand why so many Scots settled in Canada - we have a whole province named after that emigration.  Eastern Ontario was also basically settled by Scots - we have North and South Glengarry counties, and Glengarry School Days is a book about Ontario, not Scotland.  Not to mention our first Prime Minister, who was born in Scotland.

We are colder, but our winter days are a bit longer.  Plus arctic highs bring blue skies, as long as you can cope with -15 to -25C daytime temperatures.

Try living on the west coast of Scotland.  Cold, grey, rainy about 9 months of the year, and between October and February it's "light" (i.e. grey) around 10am to 3pm.  Then it's just dark.  Summers do at least mean it's light(er grey) between 4am and 11pm but warm, sunny days?  We get about 2 weeks worth a year.

Can you tell my mood is affected?  I really struggle with it, and I plan to move somewhere warm and bright as soon as I can.  Which, unfortunately, looks like in about 15 years. 

I've checked out other countries' requirements to emigrate but I don't have any special skills (I'm in admin/project management) and can't speak any language other than English at the moment - I am taking Spanish lessons this summer though.

OK, I'll stop whining now!

[samburger]

Kinda shocked to be the first, but personally I *love* winter. It lasts a little too long for me (2 months instead of 4 would be amazing), but I like to view the winter as home court advantage.

(edit) - Northeastern US here.

Oh, I love it, too! I was just offering advice for the OP. I don't really 'get' my fellow Minnesotans who spend months complaining about it. It is what it is, might as well try to enjoy it, and I do. I walk to work and dress appropriately for the cold. I love the snow, and cross-country skiing. I don't have to drive much, so blizzards hardly bother me, and cold weather is the same. I like to say that it weeds out the weak. :)

Oh, I also love the winter, but it depresses me. The too-cold, short days really eat at me, but I LOVE being outside in the snow and mild cold. I'm outside every single day the temp gets over 20 (assuming there's enough light to to get outside...). It truly is a love-hate relationship.

[Sibley]

Chicago transplant here - we're supposed to have slightly warmer temps soon. 40s!

But today is another negative windchill day. Really struggling with energy - getting up in the morning is hard. So looking forward to Spring.