Fresh Air and Sunshine Can Help Relieve Depression

It has been a very long, cold, depressing winter. Snow storms. Ice storms. Wind chills that can freeze your face. I spent a lot of my days hunkered down inside the house, battling my depression symptoms as best I could. But, spring has sprung and it's finally time to get outside!

I know, I know. Just because the sun is shining and the days are getting longer, doesn't mean your depression will just melt away with the snow. I know only too well how a sunny day can mock you and taunt you and make you feel even worse than you already do. You close the blinds, pull the blanket back over your head and wish that you had the energy to go outside.

The truth is, however, that going outside and getting a little bit of sun and fresh air can go a long way to relieving depression symptoms, even if it's just for a little while.

Depression Relieved by Sunshine and Fresh Air

Today proved just such a day for me. While I wasn't in one of those stay-in-bed-with-the-covers-over-my-head days, I was still feeling the downward pull of the depression vortex. I was on the sofa, wrapped in my blanket. Had watched a few shows on TV and had a splitting headache. Outside, the sun was shining in a cloudless sky. I peeled the blanket off, shuffled to the closet and donned my coat and boots. I opened the back door, stepped onto the porch and took a deep breath of spring-laden air.

I didn't stay out for long, only about twenty minutes, cleaning up here and there. I could almost feel the vitamin D, sometimes called the sunshine vitamin, seeping into my skin. Okay, I know, that was a little over the top. But still, those twenty short minutes in the sun and fresh air revived me. For the first time in a long time, I felt energized.

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