Well, it's coming up to the end of Winter and I'm already hyped for Spring. Finally, I'll be able to fully break out of what I know as the winter blues.
A Dump Month Of Emotions
To explain the full context, I suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety from time to time. Not social anxiety (I'm perfectly fine in most social situations), but just anxiety and stress in general. Most of the time, I'm able to keep this under control by getting the support I need and making sure I stick to a particular schedule that makes me feel comfortable.
Not in the winter season apparently. Then it just goes into full-on borderline depression.
January-March is not just a dump month for movies, it's also a dump month for emotions. Similar to how Summer is a time for blockbusters and October-December is a time for holiday films and award bait, Summer also seems to be a time for going on holiday and not having to go to school, university or sometimes work, whilst October-December is a time for looking forward to all of the winter celebrations. However, between January and March, unless it's a Valentine's Day flick, you can mostly expect nothing but box-office garbage from the cinemas. The same goes for my mood. Instead of having something fun to look forward to like in the other months, people in my situation are just left wishing that Spring would come already.
The coronavirus was not an issue for me (or at least it wasn't until they started shutting everything down). That was actually one of the "less" depressing bits of news I found out about, and I feel I'm doing a good job avoiding it so far. But I still ended up feeling sick anyway. It was one thing to get several colds in a row, but then I started becoming a full-on hypochondriac who kept on freaking out over every little "symptom" that I had. Yep, hypochondria is something I get when I'm really stressed, and it sucks.
Then there was all that political stuff going on in the news, which just left me feeling burned out. For example, whilst everyone else was at least able to make a few dark jokes about the conflict between the USA and Iran, I just kept panicking about the possibility of nuclear war and whether we were all going to die. I know that the whole debate calmed down after a while, but that wasn't the whole point in my opinion. The whole point was that I was getting way more stressed about this than I would have during another season.
So why does January-March seem like a miserable time? Especially when I feel that Summer is worst due to the ridiculously hot weather?
It's after Christmas and all of the other winter holidays.
December is a time for all of the winter celebrations - Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Yule, Kwanzaa, etc. With those, at least you can distract yourself from any worries that you have and just try and have a good time (unless you have holiday depression, that is). Receiving presents, spending time with loved ones, seeing the nice decorations that the stores put up, completely different holiday activities...the list goes on.
Once the 6th January has gone though, it's all over. There's nothing much to celebrate anymore until later on, and even then most of these special days are spread out rather than close together. All that's left to think about now is having to get back to work and how to keep warm. Sure, they have the film award ceremonies, but I only show interest in a few of them.
It's the start of the year, and we want it to be over already.
It seems that all of super fun stuff happens later on. My birthday happens in May, big events such as the conventions are normally expected to take place in the summer (though E3 has been cancelled) and plenty of the games and series that we all look forward to don't start until springtime (fortunately, this was not the case with the seventh series/season of Death Battle!, which started at the end of January this year). As a result, the winter season feels longer than it actually is.
You're more vulnerable to disease during the winter.
It's probably to do with the cold weather when you think about it. The winter season seems to be when you're more likely to catch colds and similar diseases (I mean, that's why they have their name, right?). I mean, I caught a cold earlier this year and as soon as that appeared to be over, the next one came along. As a result, you feel more grotty and that makes you prone to being more miserable.
Beating The Blues
So how is it possible to stop these winter blues from happening? Well, unfortunately, it's not really possible to stop them completely. But I've found quite a few things help me out in order to lessen the impact.
1. Getting creative.
One of the things I really like to do when I'm stressed is to doodle or write up stories. Sometimes I can actually draw or write about what is bothering me and it helps me to get off my chest. Or I can just draw and write in order to distract myself and get my creative juices flowing. My favourite things to draw include the hosts of Death Battle! and my own interpretations of the hosts of Jackbox games (who we never really see but everyone has different ideas of what they look like). I also like to make progress on the story drafts that I've been planning, including a fan comic that I've been planning for some time. Now all I need to do about that is to find at least one illustrator.
2. Talking to someone.
One of the main problems I sometimes have is that I tend to want to avoid certain problems, which just causes them to stew up inside me. In that case, I end up having to talk about them to other people. Whilst it can be awkward at times (and sometimes very strong emotions are felt in the process), at least all of that stress has come out. And most of the time, whoever I've been speaking to is able to tell me that things aren't really as bad as they seem. My family and friends are good to talk to on some of these difficult subjects, as well as my psychologist and university mentors.
3. Getting outside and going somewhere.
Obviously this won't work for agoraphobics, in which case it's perfectly fine to stay indoors. For myself however, I find that getting out of the house not only gives me something to do, but also distracts me from my worries. Going to the shops, going for a walk in the countryside, going to a museum...these are just some of the places that I enjoy visiting.
And before anyone asks "But won't that put you at risk of getting the coronavirus?", I'd just like to point this out. Barely anybody else is outside at the moment due to the panic surrounding it. What does this mean for me? I get to have some peace and quiet either watching the wildlife in nature reserves or sitting down in a cafe drinking a warm hot chocolate.
4. Getting absorbed in favourite works.
This is a pretty obvious one for me. I love watching new Death Battle! episodes when they come out, and whilst there are still more to come throughout the year, there have been a pretty good mix of match-ups so far. It helps that the new schedule for the series means that a new Death Battle! episode comes out every two weeks rather than three like the episodes did originally, meaning that I don't have to wait so long for them. Those Video games are also a good way for me to relax - in my case, I like to play Yoshi's Woolly World for the 3DS, as it's bright, happy and soothing. It also means that I get to create my own Yoshis, something that unfortunately cannot be done on the Wii U version.
I don't just pay attention to digital media. I've been a massive bookworm since I was a kid and so I like to read books in my spare time as well. Graphic novels are one of my favourite mediums due to the pictures, but I also like to read picture books (they're not just for kids; there are some like the ones by Shaun Tan that are aimed for an older audience) and chapter books that also have pictures in them. Basically anything that's either for children or young adults - adult books can get a bit dull at times unless it's something that I'm really interested in. And as well as fiction, I like to read fact books and quiz books. With the latter in particular, this includes puzzle books such as Sudoku and Crosswords and personality test books. I've always enjoyed doing those personality tests, even if sometimes I end up with a result I don't always identify with. What can I say? I'm a real sucker for them. X)
5. Getting fit and healthy.
I really need to exercise more often. Not only will it be healthier for my lifestyle, but it really helps to get rid of all that stress. I recommend that you take up an exercise that you actually enjoy doing, as it will make it all the more worthwhile. For example, I love dancing and I frequently take part in zumba classes (for those who are unaware, it's a mixture between aerobics and Latin dancing). Best of all, I can do this inside my own house, which is handy when I'm unable to go out anywhere. Once you find a fitness regime you like, go for it! Just remember not to push yourself too hard though. That'll just make you feel worst.
6. Getting on with work.
Yes, I know that this doesn't sound very relaxing and some of us would rather avoid it. But here's the thing - it can actually distract you . For example, I recently had to do a "self-archive" project for coursework which involved discussing a set of items the same way that an archivist would. Besides the fact that it was actually a short project (only 1000 words!), I also got to comment on items that were personal to me and rediscover some of the creative projects that I did in the past. Coursework may be stressful at times, but for me it's less stressful than hearing the news of today.
Obviously, Spring will arrive on the 21st March and we're already getting signs of it such as the flowers coming up and the sun appearing more often. But I felt that it was important to write up this blog post as soon as possible so that anyone else who suffers the winter blues and doesn't know what to do about them could have some advice on how to feel better for the next few days, as well as when winter comes along again next year. I hope that you find these tips to be helpful in the same way that I did for myself, and hopefully things will look up once winter ends.
