DBT Skills for the Winter Blues
DBT Skills to cope with the Winter Blues
Winter brings cold, short days, and less sunlight. It is very common to see a decline in your mood or overall mental health. In the UK, about 3 in 100 people have seasonal affective disorder, a form of winter depression, and more may have mild winter blues or depressive symptoms as daylight decreases. These experiences are linked to changes in your circadian rhythm, serotonin and melatonin levels.
The Winter Blues also affects your energy and vegetative functioning. You may sleep more. You may feel low. You may lose motivation. You may eat more. This is normal for this dip in mental health. You are not alone and it is definitely treatable.
If symptoms interfere with daily life you should seek treatment as soon as possible. A GP visit, structured individual or group therapy, and evidence-based treatments help.
DBT Skills for Winter Blues
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) teaches structured skills that support stress management, distress tolerance and emotional regulation.
Two key sets of skills useful during winter are IMPROVE and ACCEPTS. These are distress tolerance strategies. They help you cope in stressful moments without making things worse.
What IMPROVE Skills Are
IMPROVE stands for ways to get through a stressful moment with manageable steps. Activities include:
Imagery: picture a calm scene or memory that brings you peace.
Meaning: focus on personal values or purpose. Create small tasks that keep you aligned with this.
Prayer: connect to a belief or intention that steadies your mind. This can come from your belief system.
Relaxation: include tasks in your day that are just soothing on your senses such as a warm bath, yoga or progressive relaxation exercises.
One thing in the moment: focus on a single task and put yourself entirely into that. Redirect back to the task when you become distracted or have negative thoughts.
Vacation: take a break from stress with a short rest often this may be away from your home. Possibly a walk in the forest or on the beach. It may even be a different part of your house you usually don’t spend much time in.
Encouragement: speak supportive words to yourself and keep repeating the positive self-affirmation mantras that appeal to you.
Use these skills when sadness, anxiety, or frustration rise. They reduce emotional intensity so you can think clearly as many of my clients have seen.
What ACCEPTS Skills Are
ACCEPTS skills help you tolerate distress with distraction and focus shifts:
• Activities: engage in a task or hobby.
• Contributing: help someone else or volunteer for a charity.
• Comparisons: reflect on past strengths or context. Compare your situation to worse situations in the past.
• Emotions: shift emotion with activities that evoke another feeling. If you are angry, you could watch a sad movie, or a comedy when you are sad.
• Pushing Away: set the distress aside for a moment. Visualise putting it into a box and putting that box away until you feel well enough to start healthy problem-solving instead of unhealthy rumination.
• Thoughts: keep switching your focus onto thoughts that contradict the negative narrative or use cognitively stimulating activities to distract your mind.
• Sensations: change physical feelings (cold shower, warm drink). Cold water immersion therapy or warm showers/ baths have helped many of my clients when they have poor mental health.
How This Helps During Winter
When depression or low energy strikes, your brain may default to passivity. Routine breaks down. You avoid activities. Stress increases. Using these DBT skills creates structure and helps you cope in the moment. Often when demotivation is so severe, these activities and tasks are the first steps of structure a person can tolerate in their day and that is completely okay!
Practical Ways to Use These Skills
Every morning plan a routine.
Set times to get sunlight, exercise, eat meals, and use IMPROVE skills when you feel low.Track emotions.
Note how you feel each day and which skills you use and help most effectively in each of those moods.Use ACCEPTS when overwhelmed.
If sadness peaks, do an activity you enjoy or shift focus to another task.Set small goals.
One task in the moment helps reduce stress and builds momentum.Mix with routine habits.
Light exposure, exercise, and routine improve mood and regulate sleep. Include a vitamin D supplement during winter months. For more information click here to see our blog on this.
When to Seek Treatment
If your symptoms last more than two weeks, are intense, or disrupt daily life, seek professional support. If you or a loved one are thinking about taking your life or harming yourself, contact 111 option 2 immediately or go straight to your nearest hospital and check-in at A&E. NHS and local services provide assessment and treatment. At Clarity Mind Therapy, we are able to assist you if you are stable enough to keep yourself safe and just need some support to transform your life. Contact us here if you would like to book an individual or a group session with us.
You deserve change and it is possible. You do not have to suffer alone in silence.
FAQs
What are Winter Blues?
It is milder seasonal low mood linked to reduced daylight in winter. It differs from clinical depression but shares some depressive symptoms.
How do DBT skills help my stress management?
DBT distress tolerance skills help you tolerate emotional discomfort. They provide immediate tools when you feel low to self-regulate your emotions.
Can IMPROVE and ACCEPTS replace treatment?
No. They support coping and routine, but clinical treatment should be considered if symptoms are intense or persistent. As seen with many of my clients, they are important for maintaining optimum mental health in-between psychology sessions or after being discharged.
How long should I use these skills?
Use them whenever you feel distress. They help moment-to-moment until your emotional distress decreases.
Where can I get help in the UK?
Your GP can assess depressive symptoms and refer to therapy. Local services and NHS improve access to psychological therapies. Phone 111 option 2 if you require mental health guidance. Phone 999 if you require assistance in a medical emergency situation. Contact us here if you are not in crisis but would like to improve your mental health.
