Mental Health

This Year, The January Blues Seem Turbo-Charged. Here’s How To Banish Them…

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Feature on oversized Autumn Winter fashion. Female model wears baggy green and red lingerie dress, red parka, white hi-tops, sitting on a sofa, newspaper, alone, sad, melancholic, eyes to camera.David SIMS

Let’s face it: January is the most depressing month of the year. Just ask all those with January birthdays. Your friends are either doing Dry Jan or intense detoxes, and have spent all their money on unnecessary Secret Santa gifts. The weather is usually pretty terrible, and people are just generally less inclined to help you celebrate one more trip round the sun. But this year, the January Blues feel that much more depressing, whatever month you were born in. As Omicron spikes and Flurona rears its head, we’re back to working from home. We’re testing positive and feeling negative. Uncertainty abounds and burnout cranks up a notch as we attempt to get back up and running after the post-Christmas slump. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve asked leading mental health experts for their top tips on how to cope with the 2022 January blues, in the face of, well, everything. 

Gail Marra, clinical hypnotherapist and author of Health Wealth & Hypnosis 

Breathe

Boost your serotonin! Practise deep abdominal breathing. When you take a deep breath right down into your lower abdomen, your heart rate quickens slightly. As you exhale slowly your heart rate slows down. By focusing on taking five or six slow deep breaths, your heart rate and your breath will synchronise, signalling to your brain to release wonderful feel-good hormones like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, all of which have a natural calming, balancing effect on your mind and body. Do this often during the day or any time you notice yourself losing the will to work!

Let the sunshine in 

Throw open your windows (if there’s a chill in the air, grab a jumper, stay warm). Keep your blinds and curtains open during the day. Get outside as often as you can during the daylight hours.

Bring the outdoors indoors

Researchers from Bristol University and University College London discovered a friendly bacteria in plant soil (Mycobacterium Vaccae) that triggers the release of serotonin. So, not only do indoor and outdoor plants look nice, but they can also alleviate symptoms of depression. 

Frederique Murphy, leadership mindset strategist and author of Lead Beyond The Edge: The Bold Path to Extraordinary Results

Reward yourself

Did you know that our brains respond extremely well to rewards? Decide on the reward you’ll get upon completion of your new thing. Treat yourself with a gift, massage, movie, book… By visualising the celebration, your reward desire will motivate you further, as you know what’s coming up upon completion.

Express gratitude

At times when you feel low, shift your energy by turning your brain onto gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful habit, and one that has been proven to have neural effects in the brain. Write down five things you are grateful for every day –  ideally by hand, and as the last thing you do before night.

Focus on the present

Watch out for the “go, go, go” mentality, and make time to be mindful by journaling, doodling, and meditating. These mindfulness activities help you focus on the present, and as a result, reduce stress and anxiety, boost self-esteem and improve sleep.

Sharmin Aktar, psychological counsellor for Private Therapy Clinic  

Identify your thoughts and feelings

Taking some time during the day to reflect on our thoughts and feelings can go a long way in helping us to be more understanding and compassionate towards our experiences and ourselves. One tip I give all my clients is to keep a reflective journal where they write about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Alternatively, speaking to a friend or family member about it could also help to manage those January blues. 

Exercise

Due to shorter days and the return to working from home, we may be moving around less than usual. This can make you feel weak and lethargic and can contribute to a low mood. One tip to help manage this is exercise, which helps to release endorphins and contribute towards better mood and wellbeing.

Nic Marks, happiness expert, therapist, and CEO of Friday Pulse™

Connect with people 

Working from home inevitably makes us feel more isolated. We not only miss our teammates but also those ad hoc interactions that occur daily. To counter this, reach out to a different colleague each day. Book in a coffee over Zoom, or go for a walk and talk meeting. It’s guaranteed to enrich both their day and yours.

Try something new

Variety is a great way to break up the humdrum of daily life, particularly when working from home. Try setting yourself a new challenge that you will enjoy undertaking. Learning new things will make you feel more confident, as well as injecting some fun into your routine. 

Dr Houda Ounnas, GP  

Relax

Activities that relax the body such as hot baths, massages, and yoga can release trauma trapped in the body. 

Seek professional help

If things get out of control, there’s always the option of seeking professional help in the form of counselling, talking therapies, medications or a combination of these. Do not hesitate to ask the advice of your doctor or psychologist/therapist if you feel overwhelmed and need directions.

Dr Olivia Remes, mental health researcher and author of The Instant Mood Fix

Take a dose of positive emotion

January can dampen our moods but taking a dose of positive emotion, such as by watching your favourite comedian for five to 10 minutes, can offer a lift. This boost can make it easier to get things done. This is a great hack when our motivation dips, as is bound to happen when we’re dealing with the monotony of working from home again. A boost of positive emotion also raises your endorphin levels (feel-good chemicals in the body), and lowers your stress hormone levels.  

Increase your “intolerance of uncertainty”

One thing that can help us during this time is tackling intolerance of uncertainty – becoming more comfortable with “not knowing” rather than letting it fuel our fears. In my coaching practice, when I ask people who may be struggling with anxiety how they’ve been trying to cope, oftentimes they will say that they’ve been trying to increase the certainty – doing everything they can to feel more sure in an uncertain situation (working longer hours at the expense of their health, indulging superstitions to prevent dreaded outcomes). But doing this only serves to raise their stress and dampen their moods even more. A much more effective way of going about it is working to increase the tolerance. Becoming more tolerant of unpredictable situations – whether it’s job insecurity or this pandemic. You do what you can (getting the work report in on time, wearing a mask in crowded indoor places), and then letting the chips fall where they may.  

Stop worrying

Oftentimes we think that worrying helps us arrive at a useful solution. And this is why we may become preoccupied with our worries, focusing on worst-case scenarios and trying to mentally solve them. But worrying can dampen our moods. 

Lizzie Slowe is a fully qualified Chi Kung Instructor and author of The Living Art of Chi Kung

Find the balance

It’s important to find the balance of Yin and Yang as a means of coping with stress and anxiety and low mood as we return to work, and in light of all these covid variants. Yin is the quality of nourishing and support that helps us be soft and rounded, and Yang will weigh in with energy, fire and passion.

Breathe in joy

Imagine something ahead of you that brings you joy, a real or imagined pet, person, view, that has a good feeling with it. Inhale: breathe in that joy, exhale: just let it go. Float your arms up to chest height as you inhale, and float them down as you exhale. Repeat for one to five minutes.

Melissa Snover, registered nutritionist, and founder of 3D-printed personalised vitamin brand, Nourished

Eat healthy balanced meals

What you eat can have a direct influence on how you feel mentally. Whilst in wintertime we may naturally crave salty or processed ‘comfort foods’, it’s important to incorporate fresh plant-based meals as much as possible and to fuel your body. Foods such as mushrooms, and fortified cereals and juices are all great as they contain high levels of vitamin D which is more important in winter due to less direct sunlight and shorter days. Foods like salmon, seeds, and nuts – which are all rich in omega-3 fatty acids – are great for your mental health and cognitive function, which is vital as we can be more prone to brain fog and low moods during wintertime.

Get enough sleep 

After over two years of the pandemic causing disruption in all areas of life, increased stress and anxiety may be negatively affecting our sleep. However, generally experts recommend seven to eight hours of good quality sleep every night. Some foods and beverages can aid better sleep, such as Chamomile tea– made from a flower with antioxidants – which is good to drink in the evening as it helps induce muscle relaxation and promote sleep. Alternatively, vitamin B12 – which can be incorporated into your diet by eating more meat, fish, and milk – can help improve sleep quality.

Supercharge your nutrient intake 

Tailoring your vitamin and mineral intake can be a great way to boost your energy levels, cognitive function, and overall wellbeing. Nutrients that people struggle to obtain naturally in their diets, and which are linked with positive moods and boosted energy levels, include Maca Powder, which is derived from the roots of a Peruvian vegetable. Ashwagandha extract from a flower native to India and Southeast Asia; amino acid 5-HTP; and Vitamin B12 are also great at reducing stress and supporting mental wellbeing. Vitamin B12 supplements are especially important for those on a plant-based diet this ‘Veganuary’ as it is not found naturally in plants. All of these can be found in Nourished personalised vitamin stacks.

Kadeem, meditation teacher. holistic wellness practitioner

Visualisation

Science has shown us that the mind doesn’t recognise whether something is real or imaginary. So the glands that salivate when eating an apple still salivate in the same way when thinking about eating an apple. This is also true for our emotions and mind. If we are experiencing actual stress or even just thinking about the stress, our mind, emotions and body react. So if you are experiencing the January Blues or Blue Monday, imagining or visualising yourself vacationing in the summer or celebrating weekend activities will trick your mind to thinking that it’s actually happening in the present. This then brings about the good feelings and thoughts associated with those events. 

Change Your State

When we look at cat videos we may feel all warm and fuzzy inside. When we do an activity that we enjoy or have a passion for, we may feel alive. When we spend time with the ones we love we feel loved. All the feelings you feel in these examples or even some of the more unpleasant ones we may experience on a day to day basis are called emotional states. The best way to navigate and cope through difficulties is to change this state, whether it be mental or emotional. So if you are feeling low, instead of looking at your phone and going through your messages first thing when you wake up, play one of your favourite songs and jam out instead for the first five minutes. Or listen to a meditation that will have you visualise the light of the sun around your space and throughout your body. The key here is to change your state by combating the negative one to the positive one that you want more of. And if all else fails, you still have cute cat videos as an option!