Getting out for a stroll can be good for your mental health, but it's tougher to do when it's -50 with the windchill. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Cold Weather and Depression

Post-holiday depression worsened by cold snap

Jan 7, 2022 | 12:00 PM

When Prince Albert is colder than Antarctica for days on end, it doesn’t exactly do wonders for anyone’s mood. For those struggling with mental health, however, it can be an especially debilitating type of cold.

Frigid temperatures make it more likely for people to stay indoors, which can lead to a depression spiral as people find more and more excuses not to venture out into the cold.

“With cold weather, people do stay indoors more which creates an isolation effect,” said Doug Kinar, executive director of the Prince Albert branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. “When we become isolated, our mental health does start to deteriorate over time.”

Aside from the isolation, frustration can come from all sorts of directions when the weather is this cold. Mechanical failures are more common when the temperature drops, and that’s not helping anyone’s mental health.

“With this cold weather comes the frustration of things not working properly in the cold,” said Kinar. “So when you go out to start your car and the battery is dead or it’s too cold or water lines freeze up if you’re living in a rural area.”

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According to Kinar, depression can leave you in a state where you don’t want to leave your home at the best of times. But getting out and being physically active is one of the best mitigating factors for mental health concerns.

“Once your mental health starts to cycle downward into depression, it’s very difficult to leave your home,” Kinar said. “When you think about when you’re with the flu or a cold, you just want to huddle up under the covers and stay warm and stay safe. When you’re dealing with depression, very often it can feel that way. When it’s that cold outside, it’s that much harder to build up the fortitude necessary to get dressed and go outside and take care of the things you need to take care of.”

Leaving aside the cold weather, there are other things that make early January hard on people’s mental health. There’s a reason that what many people have termed Blue Monday, the unofficial most depressing day of the year, falls in January.

“With Christmas being as hyped up as it is, a lot of people after getting hyped up and built up for it are feeling the hangover of extra debt, exhaustion from overdoing the visiting, etc.,” said Kinar. “With the pandemic, with the low level of light, everybody is impacted by seasonal affective disorder in one way or another… We all slow down, we all tend to be a little bit grumpier, eat a bit more and exercise a little less as a result.”

Kinar added that cold weather can cause your feet to become painfully cold, and that, coupled with icy sidewalks can make it even harder for people to walk around and even more discouraging to be outdoors.

For more information or to seek mental health assistance, visit the Canadian Mental Health Association Prince Albert website.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP