RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – It’s the gloomiest time of the year, and some people are really feeling it.

“It’s harder to get up and meet people, or do trivia or go to yoga, because it’s just — the motivation is missing,” said Fiona Jensen, a Richmond resident.

The winter blues affect approx 5% of the US population and is usually caused by short daylight hours and cold temperatures outside.

“When it’s cold outside, it’s so nice to just sit inside and cozy up,” Jensen said.

Featuring Hayley Jenkins RVA Consulting said tiredness or laziness are normal feelings during winter.

“When the temperature starts to change, or the amount of light around you starts to change, the rhythms or these routines that you’ve been in feel different, strange,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said people who experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD) usually feels like this about 40% of the year.

“For a lot of people, they can notice that things they enjoyed during the summer or the energy levels that they had or maybe even their mood, it kind of looked like when we had these bright, sunny, long days, lots of things to see forward and then it could start to taper off or there could be this change,” she said.

Jensen has experienced this feeling firsthand.

“In the summer it’s a big change because it’s assumed that I’ll go and do something after work, and in the winter it’s basically the opposite. It’s weird if I don’t start watching TV after work,” Jensen said.

Seasonal depression can also manifest in comfort eating and socializing or mood swings.

Jenkins says a good way to cope is therapy, light therapy, medication or just doing things for fun.

“Add things to your schedule that make you feel good,” she said.

However, if someone notices that these low feelings continue past the winter months, it could be a sign that something else is going on.

“Seasonal affective disorder can almost serve as a starting point of ‘oh, okay, we’re noticing this. Maybe let’s look at a bigger picture, maybe let’s look at a bigger timeline of my experience as a person and see if that can point to a larger pattern, says Jenkins.

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