The winter blues can sap your energy, disrupt your sleep, and destroy your concentration.

But turns out there's a simple key, a secret weapon, if you will, to defeating it, and that's light.

Welcome back to savvy psychologist. I'm your host, Dr. Jade Wu, and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with

evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear and zero judgment. Today we're going to

talk about the magic of light for your mental health, especially in the winter months.

Winter can be a beautiful time of holiday cheer, gorgeous snowscapes, and fun activities like sledding and skiing.

But even with all this fun, some people can't help but experience the winter blues.

Their mood takes a dip in the fall and winter even when life is otherwise going well

and for about 3% of people this mood downturn is so severe that they have something called seasonal affective disorder.

They not only feel blue but they also experience a loss of interest in things that they usually like, unusual tiredness or sluggishness,

trouble sleeping, a tendency to overeat and gain weight, difficulty concentrating and thinking clearly, and even feelings of hopelessness or sometimes even having suicidal thoughts.

So why does this happen and is there a way to beat these seasonal blues and seasonal depressive

episodes? The secret might lie in light. That's right, this free resource that

comes from our sun. Plants rely on soaking up light to make food and grow,

but it turns out that we animals need light too. Our biology is so wrapped up with light that our metabolism, mood, thinking are all affected.

So here are some things to know about why light is important for mental health

and how to harness it for better health and

happiness, especially in the winter months. First thing to know is that our mood is

intimately tied to light. The winter blues and seasonal affective disorder don't just

happen to people because they don't like winter. There's actually a biological

reason for winter depression. Then here's a clue. The people most

susceptible to winter-induced depression are those living far from the equator. And

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