Prepare Yourself Now for Stick Season, and Minimize the Symptoms of SAD

As the leaves turn and fall around Milwaukee, we’re thinking today about the approaching stick season. That’s a nickname some folks use for winter. If stick season annually challenges your daily outlook, we can help you optimize your mental well-being before winter arrives.

What Makes Stick Season Tougher for Many Folks?

According to recent research, people prefer fall to the other seasons. In fact, a survey performed by ValuePenguin, a site that researches financial products and services for consumers, found 45% of Americans like fall the most.

Still, autumn’s colors and festivities may not adequately prepare everyone for the months that follow, when the leaves have all fallen and the air rings cold. After we turn back our clocks and daytime shortens, we may start to feel a little down.

Sunlight regulates our moods. Winter’s diminished sunlight can have a profound impact.

Are You Susceptible to SAD During Winter?

You may have heard of SAD, seasonal affective disorder. It can happen during other seasons, but SAD occurs most during winter. Further, the American Psychiatric Association says, “The most difficult months for people with SAD in the United States tend to be January and February.”

If you typically feel low during winter, you may be among the approximately 5% of American adults who experience SAD. What’s the best way to deal with SAD? Prepare your mind to minimize its symptoms long before the heart of winter arrives.

Do You Know the Signs of SAD?

We can appreciate who is most susceptible to SAD by recognizing the symptoms. Check this list, and ask yourself if any of these signs ring true for you or anyone important in your life:

• Sleeping too much
• Eating excessively, especially carbs
• Gaining weight
• Withdrawing from relationships
• Withdrawing from beloved activities
• Prolonged periods of sadness or anxiousness
• Feeling pessimistic or hopeless
• Suicidal ideation
• Restlessness
• Feeling frustrated or irritable
• Helplessness
• Persistent guilt
• Fatigue or feeling less energy than usual
• A rise in forgetfulness
• Trouble with concentration or decision-making
• Unexplained pains anywhere in your body

Please remember that SAD is neither permanent nor inevitable. Taking a proactive stance can help you reduce SAD’s effects or help you avoid it altogether.

How Can You Put SAD in Its Place This Winter?

Here are some tips for getting ahead of SAD from the National Institute of Mental Health. Strongly consider integrating as many of these into your life as possible:

• Light therapy
• Talk therapy or counseling
• Antidepressants
• Vitamin D supplements

• Significantly, our healthcare practice offers an effective way to address SAD before it has a chance to arise this winter.

Are You Ready for a Modern Approach to Overcoming SAD This Year?

Seasonal affective disorder is a type of recurring depression, and we specialize in mitigating recurring depression at WIN-TMS. The answer to how we address this class of depression is in the second half of our healthcare practice’s name, TMS. Those letters stand for transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Naturally, transcranial magnetic stimulation doesn’t come up that often in everyday conversation, so we encourage you to use its abbreviation as you determine whether this 21st-century method for managing recurring depression is right for you. Much like another abbreviated healthcare term, MRI, our specialty uses an electromagnet.

Fortunately, the magnet for TMS therapy is much smaller than the one inside an MRI machine. We just place our small magnet near your temple and apply a series of short, effective magnetic stimulations to your brain’s motor cortex. Through a series of brief, convenient treatments, TMS therapy can reset your mind’s internal clock and help you feel lighter in your daily life.

Consider these crucial facts about TMS therapy:

• It’s a drug-free option.
• Insurance covers this procedure.
• Most patients report improvement early in the treatment schedule.
• The majority of patients experience full remission of symptoms.
• Our appointments are short and convenient.
• Most patients can easily drive after TMS sessions.

Schedule Your Free TMS Consultation Now!

You probably have more you want to learn about TMS therapy. We are happy to professionally answer any question you have regarding the modern treatment we offer at four Greater Milwaukee locations. To schedule your TMS consultation, reach out to us now.