Journaling Prompts for Seasonal Depression and Winter Lows
For many people, the shorter days and grayer months bring something that's more than just a preference for summer. The flatness, the slowing down, the difficulty finding motivation or pleasure—seasonal depression is real and it affects far more people than openly acknowledge it. There's often shame in admitting that your mood is weather-dependent, as if it reveals something weak. It doesn't. Your brain is responding to light and warmth the way human brains have for millennia. Writing through the gray months can be one small anchor—a way to stay in contact with yourself until the light comes back.
Journaling Prompts
What specifically changes for you in the colder, darker months? Describe the shift in your energy, mood, motivation, and social life as precisely as you can.
What do you know from previous years helps you get through this season, even a little? What have you tried that didn't help? What hasn't worked, and what has?
What is one small thing you could add to your days right now that introduces light, warmth, or genuine pleasure? Not a complete overhaul—one thing. What's getting in the way of doing it?
What are you telling yourself about yourself because of how you're feeling? Is the depression generating a story about your worth or your capability that you're taking as fact?
What would it mean to be genuinely gentle with yourself during this season—not productive, not trying to fix it, just kind to yourself while you're in it? What would that actually look like?