Off Hours: Fighting the ennui of winter

Active snow-skiers and boarders are in the driver’s seat for the next few months. While they ramp up for what is projected to be a good year for snow-related fun, however, the rest of us typically alter and reduce our recreational activity in the winter months.
Even in California, the winter weather separates the hardcore from the lightweights. Maintaining a schedule of regular outdoor activity requires serious commitment, and most of us opt to take it indoors.
Of course, just getting through the holidays is all the recreation and physical activity one person can stand until the New Year, but the rest of the winter can be long and trying. It can be depressing for those alone and stressful for both adults and children in families. Even among loved ones, and even at home, there’s a natural tension that derives from the extended unstructured hours in relative confinement. At-home training and workouts keep the body healthy but otherwise can be just part of the routine.
Cabin fever isn’t an actual disease, but the conditions we associate with the term are certainly real. One needn’t be locked in a tiny cabin by snow to experience restlessness, inexplicable fatigue, depression, weight gain, social withdrawal and irritability during the winter. And cabin fever’s more serious cousin is definitely a clinical malady: Seasonal Affective Disorder produces largely the same symptoms but in a more chronic manner. Although there are few studies on the subject, many mental health and psychiatric experts believe that the effects of cabin fever can also trigger or increase negative adumbrations in those with mental, psychological, or social issues.
Spring will make everything better, of course.
In the interim, playing cards, games, reading and even designated conversation periods will help. For families, setting — and maintaining — schedules for those activities will forestall the feelings of cabin fever and reinforce bonding, as well. Another great tool is ritualizing “movie nights” and weekend sports on TV. Calling friends and going out to the library are enough to break the routine for those without family at home. It’s important to remind us that we’re not really confined at all, and breaking the routine is often all it takes.
Whether alone or with family, one sure “cure” is to get outdoors and engage in physical activity. Clean out the rain gutters. Make it a point to keep up on garden maintenance, pruning and bulb care and leaf raking. Let the kids spend a few midwinter afternoons playing outside in the elements; just get them warm and dry when they come in. Revel in the winter weather.
For decades, TV did the heavy lifting indoors, providing the diversion and ritual and time spent with others that is so important in staving off winter malaise. But the array of digital media devices available these days can contribute to the problem, rather than keep it at bay.
Findings from the 2009 American Time Use Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that teens spend a staggering average of seven hours per day using entertainment media and devices. It found that they spend more time watching TV on their cell phones than actually talking on them. At home, more than half of teenagers watch television in their own rooms, spending almost no time at all watching TV shows with their parents. PCs and mobile media devices like laptops, game boxes, wireless messaging apparatuses, cell phones, and mp3 players are all generally designed for solitary use and can end up heightening feelings of isolation.
A similar study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found similar numbers but also reported that only about three in 10 young people have any parental rules concerning what, when or how much they may watch TV, play video games, text or use the computer.
Mental health experts agree that family routines, experiences with others, and a regimen of regular goal-oriented activity will drive away the winter blues. Another study, this one conducted by Stanford University and the Kaiser Family Foundation, actually provided data to demonstrate the obvious: It’s the involvement of others that gives meaning and reward to time spent playing video games, watching TV and listening to music. The ceremony and camaraderie and interaction and shared experience make those activities more like events, raises them above the norm.
When it comes to eating, “food for the mood” is the rule — eat more fruits and vegetables and less fat and sweets to stabilize moodiness, some say. Chef Erin Dow, who knows about cabin fever first-hand, reports: “For me, eating a diet that includes healthy portions of dairy and eggs, fish, lean white meats, avocado and nuts is helpful; it provides me with a boost of Vitamin B-12, Vitamin D and tryptophan, an amino acid that is believed to aid serotonin production in the brain and elevate one’s mood.”
If there aren’t extenuating circumstances, over-the-counter magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin C and folic acid supplements work for many. And — wait for it — excessive alcohol intake, nicotine and caffeine are discouraged.
That part’s gonna make it tough.
Steve Bailey of Boulder Creek has spent plenty of time in recreational activities. Contact him at

sb*****@cr****.com











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