With spring upon us, we often feel rejuvenated with the wonder of life that abounds.
The winter blues are over and cabin fever has finally broken. You may find yourself more motivated to clean and tackle what you have put off all winter long with your home, yards, and gardens. Spring is a time to de-clutter, organize, clean up, make needed repairs and prepare for the change of season.
However, spring isn’t just time for cleaning a physical space. It is also a good time to evaluate how your moods may impact how you feel, how you handle challenges and obstacles in your life, how you interact with others, and how you perceive the world.
Not everyone is able to embrace the new, vibrant season with the exact same vigor. For some, welcoming spring isn’t as easy as it is for others. It’s more than being stuck with a case of the winter blues or having a lasting sense of cabin fever; sometimes mental wellness can take a toll during seasonal changes in a way you might not expect.
Seasonal changes are a good time to reevaluate your current mood and assess your mental health. Below are nine questions to ask yourself to help determine how deeply your moods are affected.
If you have these feelings several days of the week, you may be more negatively affected by the seasonal change than you think. Contact your primary care provider or a behavioral health specialist to set up an appointment for a mental health check-up.
Evaluating how you react to different challenges and obstacles shouldn’t just happen once a year; different seasons bring different triggers. With spring in the air, now is the perfect time to renew your mind and make your mental health a top priority.
Brad Powers, PsyD is a psychologist with the Ozarks Community Hospital Health System. He specializes in mood, anxiety and PTSD disorders. Additionally he holds a certificate in Primary and Behavioral Health Care Psychology.
Evaluate Your Current Mood
When answering these questions, keep in mind the last two weeks. Consider rating the following for your answers: Not at all, several days, more than half the days, and nearly every day:
1. Do I have little interest or pleasure in doing things?
2. Am I feeling down, depressed or hopeless?
3. Do I have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or sleeping too much?
4. Am I feeling tired or do I have little energy?
5. Do I have a poor appetite, or am I over eating?
6. Do I feel bad about myself, or feel as if I am a failure/let my family down?
7. Do I have trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television?
8. Do I move or speak slowly enough that other people have started to notice (or the opposite, am I being so fidgety or restless that I have been moving around a lot more than usual?)
9. Do I have thoughts of hurting myself or that I would be better off dead?
