This is an article about some of the low feelings we can feel about this time of year, along with some suggestions about how we can support ourselves.

The days are greyer than any other time of the year, the wind lashes with its own arctic kiss. The light seems to never fully arrive on a day to day basis and those that work a 9-5 barely see any light at all. The shivering temperatures and the cold of the dampness seem to penetrate right to the bones. Somehow this time of year everything feels like it is done as though we are stuck in tar.

The anticipation of the festive period along with the New Year’s celebrations are now a mere memory, the high has now gone low. This can be a low time of year for reasons related to the festive period, people may be lonely or have experienced bad family relationships at a time where the television makes out, everyone’s festive period is perfect. As I have written in a previous blog, perfection is at the core of failure and feelings of inadequacy.

More people die at this time of year than at any other time of the year. Statistics have shown that in the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in some years has seen an increase of people dying rising by up to 31%. The reasons for this are unknown but it’s thought cold alone is not the defining factor.

According to the Independent the third Monday of every year is considered to be the most miserable day of the year, it is dubbed ‘Blue Monday’. Whilst some mental health organisations feel it is not helpful to have a day considered the most depressing of the year, I feel it would be hard to overlook the fact that there are factors that lead to this time of year being not the jolliest!

For example like I have said, the grey weather, a battered bank balance from Christmas, not to mention the excess pounds gained from over indulging over the festive period. Then there is the possibility that you may have failed your New Year’s Resolutions, I think you get the jest of where I am going, on top of these possibilities, there is the day to day norms which can be enough to get us down. I myself I am not immune to this, at this time of year getting out of bed and waking up feels harder somehow.

(Macmillan, 2011, p. 505) Writes in ‘The Little Book of Life’, ‘In winter everything dies back in the ground, but in spring, everything comes alive again. Year in year out. But there is nothing magical about this, nor superstitious, it is a natural process controlled by our friend in relationship, the sun.’

Some might argue about the magical and superstitious part but for me the sun is what breathes life into everything. Plants use the process of photosynthesises to turn sun light into food, the sun gives the earth energy by offering its radiant warmth to the seas which in turn determines our weather cycles. The sun gives us vitamin D which according to science is vital for our bones, immune system and our mental health. Apparently 10 million of us in the UK about 1 in 6 of us are lacking vitamin D! We live in the UK and lack vitamin D and we have very little sunshine, coincidence I think not!

So how can we get more vitamin D? Well rumour has it Portobello mushrooms are a great source of Vitamin D, I have also heard if you leave them in the sun for a couple of hours before consuming them the amount of Vitamin D is dramatically increased.

As for feeling grey and glum at this time of year? For me the key to mental well-being is holding healthy relationships with our friends, family and colleagues. I also believe being in a healthy counselling relationship can be a way to finding out what lies under our greyness and get closer to who we are.

I believe at the bottom of every Mental Well-Being Kit Bag there should be a person you can talk to, someone to be there to hear your thoughts out loud (please note this is not advice to put someone in a kit bag!!).

I also believe that internalising our unhappy feelings is the way to perpetuate them. Therefore accessing someone to hear you out in times of need is vital to mental well-being, so reach out, talk to your friends, family members, your work colleagues and where this is not possible seeking counselling could be an option. If you are affected by any of the things mentioned and would like to find out more about counselling you can find out more here www.brighter-pathways.co.uk