Banish the winter blues

Overcome by annual anxiety, Helen Moat set out on a quest to dispel her low winter mood. Via Lapland, Japan and Britain's remote and rugged landscapes, she discovers how nature itself has the answers

- Helen Moat

SAD-Seasonal Affective Disorder - or milder forms of the 'winter blues' impact up to a third of the British population. When the days grow shorter, many of us start to feel lethargic, anxious and low in mood. Getting up in the dark is a chore, and the thought of going out in the cold and damp isn't an attractive option. And yet, while it may feel counterintuitive, heading out into nature can help us manage winter anxiety and depression.

Making sure we're exposed to all available light on the shortest days of the year is proven to boost your serotonin and melatonin levels, lifting mood and improving sleep. Physical activity, such as walking and cycling in nature, improves your mental health and sense of wellbeing. Spending time in forests and beside or, indeed, in water when wild swimming is known to lower heart rate and blood pressure. It reduces your levels of stress, boosts the immune system and helps with recovery from illness.

SAD was first identified by mental health experts in 1984, but it's something many of us have recognised for a long time, even if we've not been able to put a name to it. Now we can face feelings of listlessness and sluggishness in winter by getting outside into Britain's great landscapes. Here's how I helped combat my own SAD and what you can learn from my journey.

SOARING SPIRITS

On a trip to the Arctic Circle in Finland, as a SAD sufferer I noticed something strange. Even though I was living in the 'polar night', my spirits were high. If the darkest months of the British Isles affected my mental health so badly, why did I feel so alive in the If perpetual dusk and darkness of December in Lapland?