With the weather getting colder and the days getting shorter, you may have noticed feeling tired, less motivated, and generally down. If so, you are not alone. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression typically present during the fall and winter months that is brought on by the colder weather and lack of daylight. Symptoms of SAD are quite similar to major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder, including decreased energy, low self-esteem, and changes in sleep and appetite patterns (NIMH, 2023). In a given year, about 17 million folks in the United States experience this type of depression (MHA). 

Depression, no matter the type or severity, can impact people’s ability to take care of themselves. This is because depression causes symptoms mentioned above, and others such as hopelessness, loss of interest in hobbies or activities, and difficulty concentrating and making decisions (Mayo Clinic, 2022). Couple that with a lack of sunlight, which can disrupt your sleep-wake cycle, reduce serotonin (a neurotransmitter that affects mood), and reduce melatonin (a hormone that affects sleep and mood), and it makes sense why all we may want to do in the winter is lie in bed until it is spring again (Mayo Clinic, 2021).  

As appealing as this may sound at times, without seeking treatment or engaging in healthier self-care habits, depression can worsen (Cleveland Clinic). But even though self-care can improve mood and help lessen depression, depression makes it inherently difficult to want to engage in self-care (NIMH, 2024). So what can we do to feel better when we are feeling down? 

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Preventative Self-Care

Depression cannot necessarily be prevented, but severity and risk can be reduced by utilizing helpful coping mechanisms (Cleveland Clinic, 2023). As we know, depression makes engaging in coping mechanisms hard when we are in the thick of it, so one solution to this is engaging in preventative self-care. 

Preventative self-care involves taking care of yourself daily to ensure you do not reach burnout. It looks like tending to your future self in the present. Meaning, doing small things now to build reserves that will help sustain you down the line when life gets stressful or tough. For example, taking a 30-minute break when you are doing homework, regardless of whether you need it. That way, when exams roll around, you are not completely exhausted. 

Preventive self-care is also a framework. By creating coping skills and tools when you have capacity, it saves you effort, stress, and mental load when you are depressed and cannot take care of yourself as easily. One of those tools is a self-care menu. 

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Self-Care Menu

A preventative self-care menu provides a customized and readily available list of helpful self-care activities, as well as necessary ways we must care for ourselves daily, such as eating and personal hygiene. These tasks are created to fit into different portion sizes: beverages, appetizers, and entrees. 

Self-care needs to be adaptable and accessible to be effective. Breaking down self-care activities into “menus” based on how “hungry” you are (how much time or capacity you have) makes it easy to engage in tasks that are designed to fit your appetite. Although it takes some time to create, doing this activity while it is still fall and preparing these menus for the winter season can provide you with an accessible, low-effort way to take care of yourself when doing so feels hard. 

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How to Make a Self-Care Menu

Step 1: Create Menu Items 

Write down things that make you feel rested, restored, etc. The bubble bath and pedicure self-care that is often portrayed in the media may be what you jump to, but if that does not feel helpful or accessible, then it probably should not go on the menu. Try and think of self-care you may already engage in or that does not require more labor of acquiring new tools, spending money, or changing a big part of your routine. For example, engaging in your existing hobby, rewatching a comfort TV show, or journaling. This will be your “Sweet” portion. 

Your other list will be the “Savory” portion. These tasks are going to be acts of daily living, such as personal hygiene or eating, as well as tasks you need to complete regularly. This could be anything from homework to laundry.

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Step 2: Break Items Down

For each item on the list, you will be creating three separate ways to engage in that activity or task, based on how you might do that task depending on your capacity. The three categories are:

1. Beverages: Low Capacity (low energy, low motivation, things generally feel hard).

2. Appetizers: Medium Capacity (some energy, motivation for certain activities, can do things, but not with a lot of enthusiasm).

3. Entrees: High/Full Capacity (high energy, high motivation, eager to take on the day).

Example: Showering (savory dish) 

• Beverage: Washcloth with soap on the body and rinse. Wipe face with a makeup wipe. 
• Appetizer: Body shower. Brushing through hair and using dry shampoo. Lotion on arms after. 
• Entree: Everything shower. Thoroughly wash hair, body, and face. Moisturize whole body and do skincare routine. 

Example: Emotional Check-in (sweet dish)

• Beverage: Do a body scan and identify any sensations or feelings that come up. Sit with them and breathe for 30 seconds. 
• Appetizer: Journal activity: write one paragraph about what has been positive and a paragraph about what has been hard. 
• Entree: Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and journal continuously about what you are feeling until the time is up. 

Whatever makes the most sense to you is going to be the most helpful! You do not have to follow this example perfectly; it is there as a guide, not a rule. 

Step 3: Make Menus

Sort these broken-down tasks into their various menus and categories. Feel free to make this a fun arts and crafts project if that will motivate you to create these menus. If starting from scratch feels too overwhelming, use the templates below! Hang these menus up on your fridge or keep them somewhere accessible that you will view frequently. Make multiple copies for different rooms, keep pictures on your phone, whatever will allow you to notice them when you are in a depressive slump. 

Templates: 

• Beverages
• Appetizers
• Entrees 

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Step 4: Bon Appétit!

Use these menus when you need to do a task that feels hard or when you know you need some self-care but find it difficult to start. It could also be helpful to decide to pick two or three items from these menus a day to engage in. With these menus, you will have ideas for self-care galore and options for necessary tasks you may not feel like doing, especially when you are feeling down. Feel free to mix and match based on your needs. Sometimes you may order a sweet off the entree menu and a savory off the beverage menu, or everything from the same menu. How you use this tool is up to you!

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Conclusion

If you continue to find yourself picking from the beverage menu the most or doing one task a day rather than the planned two to three, that is OK! You are still engaging in self-care and hopefully doing more than you would without these menus. When creating tools and plans such as self-care menus, it is important to remember that doing it perfectly is not the goal. A helpful self-care tool is one that allows you to accomplish more than you would without it. So this winter, stay warm, give yourself some grace, and eat up some preventative self-care!

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References

• Cleveland Clinic. (2023, January 13). Depression. 
• Mayo Clinic. (2022, October 14). Depression (major depressive disorder). 
• Mayo Clinic. (2021, December 14). Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). 
• Mental Health America. (n.d.). Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). 
• National Institute of Mental Health. (2024). Depression. 
• National Institute of Mental Health. (2023). Seasonal affective disorder.