Seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder ( SAD) , is a mood changing disorder , in which you have normal mental health throughout most of the year , than out of nowhere this wave of sad emotions hits you . some of the common symptoms of this disorder are sleeping too much , having no or little energy , you basically don't want to do anything , you don't want to talk to any one , feeling the need to be alone all the time , having difficulties with concentrating and making decisions , having zero energy to wake up in the morning , nausea , decreased appetite and weight loss ( in my case ) for others it can go the other way which leads to weight gain .
here are a few tips that helped me through this insane phase , these are ways i have learned over this time that has seriously helped me through this difficult period .
TIP 1: MORNING ROUTINE 
try creating a normal routine that suites you best , waking up in the morning and getting up and moving is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself , most successful people have morning routine , they wake up and they get moving , i know that's easier said than done , but you need to fight the urge to stay in bed and play couch potato and get up , morning routine may differ from one person to another , cause we are all different human beings , but these some for you to use , so every morning try waking up using a real alarm ,don't use the phone, try staying away from all electronics , when you wake up and see the buzzing and the noise it just does something to your brain , so for at least an hour in the morning don't check your phone , get a nice cup of water , it will get you going , fallow that with a little snack enjoy you breakfast and if you have a dog wake it , it will get your morning going the sunlight is good for you , little bits of it in the morning will do the body so many wonders , after that come back do a little bit of workout pump some blood in your veins keep it nice and short than start your day , try to keep this as active and on it as possible , Because at the end of the day it will help and benefit you.
TIP 2: MAKE A DAILY TO DO LIST
every day if you have a list of things to do write them all down , try adding some of your hobbies in there add things that you find fun as well keep it broad and simple , the biggest problem that you may face is locking up losing interest having no energy to finish what you started ,( you in the middle of a task , you need to do it but then something clicks and sadness hits you ) try to remind yourself why are you doing what your doing , motivate yourself and as you are sitting there crossing out the list of tasks you prepared , you will feel better knowing you got something done , try finishing with a little bit of fun ,having a hobby and working really hard on it you can literally go into a mode of meditation it's called THE ZONE STATE . find something that you can zone out that you can feel alive in , don't feel bad about feeling alive in those moments because it's those little moments that keep us going .
TIP 3: SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 
I know it's not the easiest thing especially nowadays if you are a little bit older , past collage and it's not that easy to find new friends and engage in social activities but it's very important for you to do that , somehow some way , whether it be with family or anyone ( i know you feel the need to be alone but that won't help with your sad mood being around the right people can change it with ease ) a human interaction a human connection is very important , if you have no friends go to a concert , attend a game of football , soccer, basketball whatever meet new people be open minded , go by yourself have fun enjoy life , there is always someone out there that can restore that smile on your face , so get up go out reject those feeling of loneliness that shit won't help don't allow sadness to dwell on your soul .
TIP 4: DRINK LESS 
using less alcohol ( or none actually ) but the key word here is less , cause i know that some of you are social drinkers but my advice for you guys is moderation , too much of anything is bad for you , alcohol is a downer when you are depressed it does not help your depression it will make it worse , literally puts you in a downward spiral causing the situation to become progressively worse ,you might think it helps but you're just numbing the pain , you are not facing it , in fact you are just sitting there and just having something else ( alcohol) deal with it , so my advise for you guys especially when you're depressed use less alcohol , even a small amount can have a negative effect, it will worsen some of your depression symptoms and cause your problems to seem worse than they actually are and make you feel more depressed than before you had a drink , so please be smart about it .
TIP 5: KEEP A GRATITUDE JOURNAL 
In this day and age of social media and we are constantly bombarded with people that live these amazing lives , looking like their magazine cover models , always out eating and drinking having a good time , spoiler alert they're not all happy , all they are doing is showing you the best parts in their lives , they've just done a good job of showing you the good part that's it ( not all of the of course but many you can be surprise ) this confusion leads to a lot of people to astray , it makes them feel like shit , cause they are just seeing other people do great have an amazing time while they are just sitting there thinking about their empty boring lives , the thing is we are all the same , we all go through the same things ( not all the time ), be grateful for what you have the live you live stop worrying about other people , research shown that practicing gratitude transmits a surge of Dopamins into your brains and it just make you happy , the art of appreciating your life can do so much , i implore you to either start a journal or create some kind of list where you go throughout the day ana just list all the great and awesome things that happened that day , "learn to appreciate what you have , before time makes you appreciate what you had".
That is all i have for you , hope this hepls in any shape or form stay safe appreciate yourself , and always remember nothing really matters 😊
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