How to get rid of the autumn blues: the reasons for its appearance and how you can overcome it. Autumn advice from psychologists

Autumn blues- how to deal with it and what to do so as not to fall into deep depression on New Year's Eve?

November has already arrived, the time has come autumn blues. The Runet groans with melancholy and sadness. Articles on psychology vying with each other to give useful tips, and it seems to you that there is nothing better than taking time off from work, wrapping yourself in a warm blanket, listening to old sad songs and watching old sad films.

1. I feel sad, well, I’ll go for a walk...

The option of spending time at home seems cozy only at first glance. Give it a couple of days, no more, and then on the dullest and least sunny days. Scientists say that the state of melancholy and apathy is quite physiological symptom, caused by a lack of sun, which promotes the production of " happiness hormone» serotonin. And if there’s not a cloud in the sky, feel free to go out into autumn. Dress for the weather and walk until your inner self wakes up. inner child, who doesn’t care about rain or snow, who is happy only because he exists.

2. Lemons, tangerines and other bananas

Passion for consuming foods containing antioxidants, in fact, also has quite a basis physiological need reduce body oxidation, which leads to various diseases And early aging. Treat yourself to a variety of colorful fruits and exotic vegetables. And lift your spirits, and natural vitamins get enough, and slow down aging.

3. It’s great that we are all here today...

Communicate at this time to the maximum, but with those who bring joy and cause positive emotions. And even if in the evening you don’t feel like leaving your warm, cozy home into the autumn gloom, force yourself to do it, perhaps your Friends We also fell into the blues. The joy of communication is the greatest thing that will remain in the memory of the passing autumn, and in the near future it will allow you to temporarily forget about the fact that you need to mope.

4. I see the goal, I believe in myself...

Autumn is the time when we have not yet cooled down from summer emotions, goals and tasks that we solved against the backdrop of summer, sun, warmth and joy. What’s stopping you from setting yourself a new task and solving it with persistence and hard work? And there is time before the New Year, and a new activity will perfectly distract from bad thoughts and sad films.

5. And laugh...

Be sure to watch - funny programs, funny videos, and read - new jokes and humoresques. The same psychologists claim that you can deceive the brain if you force yourself to smile. Your brain, having received the command to purse your lips in a smile, will think that you are actually having fun and will give the command to produce the appropriate hormones.
And, most importantly, remember that all this minor is temporary. December will come, fluffy white snow will cover the ground, supermarkets will deliver fresh tangerines and preparations for the New Year will begin in full swing. And then summer is just around the corner!

How to overcome the autumn blues? We usually associate it with seasonal cooling and decreased daylight hours, but only the second has been scientifically proven. So add more light and movement to your daily schedule. We asked psychiatrist Pavel Alfimov about the features of the dark period of the year and ways to survive it without losses. “When the days become so short that I have to leave for work while it’s still dark and return at dusk, it’s like I’m hibernating,” admits 27-year-old Alina. “I have a hard time forcing myself to get up in the morning, and during the day I feel sleepy. Everything annoys me, and the most unpleasant thing is that I eat something all the time.” Alina’s feelings in the autumn-winter period are shared by about 10% healthy people V different countries. Once upon a time in the old days this depressed state was called autumn blues, today it is seasonal affective disorder(SAD) or winter depression. "Most of us don't even notice seasonal changes mood, but some stop coping with their usual stress. They feel sad and depressed, easily offended and worried about trifles. However psychological manifestations may not be as noticeable as physiological ones - lethargy, increased appetite and drowsiness. By the way, with classic depression, the patient, on the contrary, loses sleep and eats worse. If these symptoms are observed for at least two weeks, we can talk about seasonal disorder." Why is the mood unstable in autumn? According to statistics, SAD is most often affected by women who live far from the equator. Indeed, in the northern latitudes in the autumn-winter period, the day becomes noticeably short, and with a lack of sunlight, in fact, is what causes the disorder. “We feel the change of seasons first of all... with our eyes,” explains the expert. - In autumn the amount decreases bright light, entering the retina of the eye, and from the retina there are paths to the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus - the main generator of circadian rhythms. This nucleus controls the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and synchronizes the work " biological clock» organism. During the dark months of the year, melatonin is produced in excess, which is why we feel lethargic and overwhelmed even during the day.” But serotonin, the “joy hormone” responsible for mood stability, which we need during the day, is produced much less. All this disrupts our circadian (daily) rhythms and disrupts our work nervous system. In young people, due to the greater plasticity of their brains, circadian rhythms are even less stable, and this, apparently, is the reason for their special vulnerability. According to one theory, the homeland of our ancestors is the savannah, the African steppes, that is, latitudes closer to the equator. “In general, it is not very physiological for a person to live in northern latitudes. There is a theory that the homeland of our ancestors is the savannah, the African steppes, that is, latitudes closer to the equator. And our brain is evolutionarily configured to perceive a lot of light. In fact, it is adapted to life in constant summer conditions.” Hence the conclusion: the higher geographic latitude, the higher the risk of SAD. This fact, by the way, is clearly confirmed by data from a large-scale study conducted in the USA. Analyzing the well-being of residents of the northern and southern states, psychologists recorded only 2.8% of residents in sunny Florida with symptoms of SAD, while in Alaska the figure was 8%. This issue has not been studied in Russia, but it can be assumed that the difference between the so-called Anapa and Norilsk will be approximately the same.

Is it dark or cold? Having recently left behind a rainy and cold summer, we speculate that the lack of the usual heat and the transition from spring straight into autumn may exacerbate the symptoms of seasonal depression. Is it so? “The effect will not be as noticeable as we tend to think. Although it was quite humid and cool this summer, overall the length of daylight was satisfactory, as it should be in summer.” In most cases, seasonal disorder is treatable “Of course, we are more comfortable living in a warm place, but the signs of seasonal disorder are associated precisely with a decrease in daylight hours, and not with a drop in air temperature,” the expert continues. - Therefore, in principle, bad weather may create an additional unfavorable background, but most likely it will not change the number of seasonal depressive episodes. Most often, seasonal fluctuations in mood and well-being do not poison our lives so much as to require the intervention of a specialist. But if you can’t work at all, don’t want to see anyone, take psychoactive substances and feel complete hopelessness, you should consult a psychiatrist. The fact is that in some cases, SAD may be another (seasonal) episode of one of the serious diagnoses - recurrent depression (major depressive disorder) or bipolar disorder. Cheer up Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to live near the equator. But there are ways to ease the symptoms of the autumn blues. Turn up the light. A person with seasonal mood swings needs 10 times more light than others. Unfortunately, it is impossible to stock up on ultraviolet light “for future use” - the sun’s rays do not have a cumulative effect. Therefore, from the beginning of September until the end of winter, it is necessary to carry out insolation. It's best to walk on fresh air in natural light. If this is not possible, turn on the fluorescent lamp every morning for 30–60 minutes. According to Nassir Ghaemi, a professor of psychiatry from Boston, this duration is most effective. Take vitamin D and melatonin. The skin also absorbs Sun rays, under their influence, vitamin D is formed in the body, which acts as an antidepressant and helps with sleep disorders. Its source for ultraviolet deficiency is fatty varieties fish and nutritional supplements containing vitamin D. Melatonin preparations help regulate disrupted circadian rhythms, but they should be taken after consultation with a doctor. Move. Do at least 30 minutes a day for aerobic exercise - cycling, running, swimming, dancing. Movement saturates the body with oxygen and increases overall tone. In most cases, seasonal disorder is treatable, and it is especially helpful to combine different ways, combining insolation with cognitive psychotherapy sessions or medication. You shouldn’t count on it going away on its own. Unless, of course, you plan to move to southern latitudes.

Exercises to combat the autumn blues Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy helps well in the fight against seasonal disorder. Patients with depression have extremely negative views about themselves, the world around them and their future. These ideas manifest themselves in the form of negative automatic thoughts that are so fleeting that a person does not have time to realize them and accepts them as the truth. Clinical psychologist Yulia Zakharova offers an exercise that will help you notice these thoughts and distance yourself from them. If your mood has deteriorated, remember when it started. What happened? For example, a situation: you remember how you dropped your smartphone. Try to understand what thoughts this situation caused, what you thought before your mood deteriorated. How is the situation related to your personality, the attitude of others towards you, and forecasts for the future? For example, thoughts: “It’s always like this for me! Everything is falling out of hand. If only I had bought the case on time! Clueless!” Try to think critically about these thoughts. Think about what facts confirm your thoughts and what facts contradict them? Do these thoughts help you cope with the problem or, on the contrary, increase your feelings of hopelessness? For example, analysis: “I actually rarely break anything. Here's this smartphone and grandma's mug. Self-recrimination only makes me upset; it doesn’t help me be more careful.” Try restating the thoughts in point 2 in a more realistic way. Avoid self-deprecation, generalizations (everything, always, never), and shoulds. Figure out what you can do to improve the situation. For example: “Sometimes I can break things, just like other people. I’ll buy a case and try to be more careful.”

In autumn, people often complain about Bad mood, appearing seemingly without reason. Many associate a dull, gloomy state with the time of year, in their opinion, “the nastiest of the year.” They even came up with a name for this problem - autumn blues, which you need to get rid of as quickly as possible.

Causes of the blues

The main reason for the autumn blues is your own mood. Many people set themselves up for the blues even on hot, warm days, sighing every now and then: “Autumn is coming. The nasty blues will come again.” That is, negative programming of the body occurs for the arrival of autumn.

Such people, unfortunately, do not see anything good in autumn. Cold mornings, rains, dampness, dark evenings - these are the standard descriptions of autumn.

Set yourself up for the positive, and you will unexpectedly discover another autumn - a fabulous beauty that changes outfits almost every day. No matter how much we love summer, even it cannot give us as many bright colors as Indian summer gives us!

In autumn it is much easier to breathe, because the air is not as dry and hot as in summer. Walking on an autumn day is much more pleasant than in the summer heat.

The abundance of vegetables and fruits is another plus of autumn.

Of the minuses− short days, long evenings, cold, sometimes damp weather. But even in these disadvantages you can find advantages. In the fall, we are at home more, which means we can leisurely take care of things that have accumulated for a long time: tidy up the closets, wash everything that we couldn’t wash in a hurry in the summer. If the autumn blues really set in, start doing some repairs. Such a choice will leave no time at all to look gloomily out the dark window. Often time flies by so quickly during this activity that you can only come to your senses on the eve of the New Year!

Vitamins can help the body get rid of the autumn blues. Of course, on cold days you want hearty food, but if you focus only on meat fatty foods, sweet confectionery, you won’t be able to cope with the blues. A bad mood is guaranteed, plus a set of extra pounds. It has been proven that people gain 1 or 2 kg of weight in the fall.

The reasons for a bad mood often lie in poor digestion. Almost everyone who complains about the autumn blues also complains about hair, bad dream. They agree to take pills for good stomach function, for good sleep instead of adjusting your diet.

Eat more vegetables and fruits, treat yourself to a variety of salads, but remember the compatibility of foods. Incompatible products cause the formation of toxins in the body that negatively affect health, which does not improve Have a good mood.

Don't mix fruits and vegetables. Do not prepare dishes that involve the use of fruits, vegetables, or meat at the same time.

Fruits are digested much faster than other foods. Therefore, having often eaten such a mixed dish, after about half an hour fatigue suddenly sets in, headache, bloating. After all, fruits have already been digested, but vegetables and meat have not yet, as a result, toxins begin to be produced that poison the body.

There are a lot of apples in autumn . It's very valuable useful product, rich in vitamins, which will help get rid of the autumn blues. But remember that an apple eaten immediately after a meal will cause harm instead of benefit, since it will be digested faster than other food and the process of fermentation and gas formation will begin.

Make it a rule to eat an apple at least half an hour before meals. Get rid of the wrong habit of eating fruit for dessert. Eat them as a snack or before a meal.

Do not indulge in fatty foods, as they are the main culprit of bad mood and drowsiness. Avoid sausages and sausages, and do not drink sweet carbonated water.

In the fall, fruit drinks made from frozen berries or lemon, and herbal teas will come in very handy.

Many people harvest herbs and other greens in the summer and freeze berries “for the winter.” So, if the autumn blues have taken over, take out your supplies and cheer up your body, this will help you quickly overcome the dull blues.

Treat yourself to good chocolate, marshmallows, marmalade.

Fighting the blues with dried fruits

Eat dried fruits . . If you eat 10 dates daily, you can fully meet the body's need for copper, magnesium, sulfur, and get half daily norm iron and about a quarter of calcium. Dates are a powerful detoxifier that removes salts heavy metals from the body.

Dates can immediately replace fruit, drink, food, sweetness and medicine. To get rid of the autumn blues, this is just what you need.

Take dates to work, eat them instead of a snack or afternoon snack and get good mood.

Important! If you eat dates, do not eat other dried fruits on this day, as excessive consumption may cause weight gain, as dried fruits contain sugar.

Should know: If after eating you suddenly feel sleepy and feel tired, it means that the food was not right. Review your diet, remove foods that have a bad effect on your well-being.

Fresh air is our everything!

Ventilate the room! The cold season is not a reason to stop allowing fresh air into the room. Often autumn drowsiness, and with it the blues, fall on people due to lack of oxygen and fresh air.

Be calm about constant access to fresh air. Often people who catch colds and get sick are people who do not ventilate their rooms and are afraid of drafts. No need to sit down open window, freeze. Beds, sofas, and armchairs should not be placed right next to the window or balcony, although this is now highly encouraged by modern designers. Sleep with the window slightly open in any weather. Sleeping in a stuffy, unventilated room contributes to heavy sleep and awakening, and poor health in the morning.

Try to go to bed not too late. Lack of sleep negatively affects your well-being and mood. Psychologists advise preparing some surprise for yourself in the evening for an easy awakening. It might be new good cream for face, new blouse, perfume, even a cake for breakfast (sometimes, without fanaticism)!

The cause of the autumn blues can also be the lack of warm shoes and clothing. Take care of your wardrobe in advance so that when cold days arrive, you are dressed for the season. Of course, beautiful clothes and shoes will add to your mood, in which you want to “show yourself in public” as soon as possible!

You can get rid of the autumn blues . , lack of sleep, feeling unwell. Eat more vegetables and fruits, ventilate the room, treat yourself to all sorts of pleasures, walk in the fresh air and don’t be mopey!

Overcoming autumn spleen is not so difficult. To do this, we recommend eight simple tricks.

1. Get a cat

Have you long dreamed of a purring warm little bundle? Here's a sign for you! Cat - best medicine from any sadness, and life is not the same without a cat, especially in the fall.

If you are an active and active hipster, get an Instagram for your cat, because everyone loves cats.

2. Buy a stupid scarf

By the way, about scarves. Who said it's time to dress in moody brown clothes in the fall? The duller it is outside, the more cheerful the wardrobe should be. Buy a beautiful, bright, crazy, soft and expensive scarf! Let it be the main accessory of autumn. Such that passersby turn around with the question frozen in their eyes: “Did I really just see THIS?” And to ourselves we were a little envious of your courage and carelessness.

3. Give gifts

Do you like receiving gifts? Everyone loves it! Why not make you happy loved one inexpensive, but a nice little thing? Give cute mittens to a friend who is always freezing, give an employee a new cup instead of his ancient one with a chip, give passing girls a bouquet of yellow leaves. And be sure to write your mom a postcard saying how much you love her and that she best mom in the world.

4. Brew (and drink) mulled wine

Getting drunk while sad is not a good idea. But a glass of mulled wine in the autumn is so good that we couldn’t resist and added it to this list. Take thick, sweet, aromatic, slightly tart red wine, cut ripe citrus fruits, and simmer the drink over low heat in an enamel saucepan. Be sure to add a few cinnamon sticks and cardamom. Buy a couple of those same glasses for mulled wine and drink with someone dear to your heart.

5. Watch stupid talk shows

It’s not customary to talk about this, but if you turn on a talk show and start watching with one eye, the time will fly by. Unpleasant thoughts along with sorrows will disappear from your head, and your hand will reach out to turn on the next video.

Once a week, during the saddest moments, it’s really great to order a huge pizza and turn on stupid heart-warming programs.

6. Take pictures among the yellow leaves

A true method, tested over the years and generations. It’s better to hire a professional photographer for a photo shoot, or at least a person with straight hands and a good camera. Dress brightly, find a huge park with beautiful wrought-iron lanterns and benches. Collect a bouquet of leaves, toss them, fool around like a child and have fun. Put the result of the photo shoot on your avatar on social networks, to anger the snobs.

7. Do surya namaskar

It's a scary name, but there's nothing illegal about it. This is just a set of exercises that awakens, invigorates and energizes you for the whole day better than any coffee. Do it immediately after waking up, drink it with a glass warm water with lemon. After this you will be ready to positive perception the darkest weather.

8. Drink cocoa with marshmallows

Heavy artillery in case all else fails. Not a single blues has ever resisted cocoa. Pour a chocolate drink with snow-white, slightly melted marshmallows into a new red cup, and you are guaranteed a good mood. The best way to strengthen the fight against autumn spleen is with a sweet chocolate-marshmallow kiss.

Have a bright autumn with unforgettable impressions. Don't forget to take pictures of the most pleasant moments!

What are your ways to combat the autumn blues?

Human body I got used to the warmth not only physically, but also psychologically. Whatever the summer, it is always perceived as a holiday, rest, vacation. At this time of year, people become mobile, active, their mood and overall body tone improve, while in the fall activity decreases sharply: the body prepares to face the cold and begins to work to save its own resources. Starting in September, the days decrease, and the lack of light directly affects biological rhythms, which slow down. A decrease in temperature also affects the body. These circumstances cannot be called joyful, so the mood rapidly drops.

Autumn blues – quite typical psychological condition many people. Usually, this is associated with a decrease in a person’s emotional background. In addition, appetite and sleep patterns change, and motivation for activity disappears. What exactly is happening to us, and what are the causes of this condition? We asked this question to a medical psychologist from the Stavropol Territory psychiatric hospital No. 1 to Anna Tolstova.

– Signs of the autumn blues can appear in any person. In fact, autumn is just next time years and there are many reasons not to become discouraged! So, what is needed in order to calmly endure the change of seasons? Firstly, it is important to find something you like. I recommend making a list of things that absolutely need to be done in autumn period. Then every morning a person will get up, knowing that new achievements and discoveries lie ahead. In this way, you can avoid sad thoughts, expand your knowledge base and spend your time profitably.

Secondly, you should pay attention to your daily routine. It doesn't matter that daylight hours have shortened. The body still needs strength. In order to stay in a good mood, you need to get enough sleep and not ignore rest, especially if you have to decide complex tasks At work. In the autumn period, it is important to reconsider your diet, eliminating fatty and heavy food. Autumn is harvest time, so fresh fruits and vegetables arrive in abundance on store shelves, markets and private outlets. To overcome the blues, you should go in for sports - this will help maintain a good mood and get rid of negative emotions.

I would also advise changing the space around you. Let me explain: you can add more bright colors to your home, wardrobe, and food; such an environment will not allow you to succumb to depression. What else is important? Don't neglect communication. Get together with friends or close relatives more often: you can organize themed tea parties, outings with a picnic, visit exhibitions and theaters, or go on an excursion to a neighboring city. Blues is a seasonal concept, and if you pull yourself together, you will be surprised to note: autumn is over, the bad mood has not appeared.