Doctor shares ‘realistic’ 3-step practice to beat seasonal depression

A lot of people feel down in the winter. Here’s how to perk up.

Erik Barnes

Dec 11, 2025

By Erik Barnes

December 11, 2025

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Photo credit: Canva – Millions are impacted by seasonal depression.

Seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), impacts millions of people during the winter. The dark, cold weather can easily lead to dark, cold moods from the “winter blahs” that leave people feeling lethargic and depressed. The sneaky thing about it is that you could be going through it without knowing it because it’s not as “dramatic” as regular depression while still being a significant emotional burden.

Doctors tend to recommend going outside, exercising, planning activities, etc. to tackle seasonal affective disorder. But if you’re in a mindset that causes getting out of bed or making a phone call to feel like an exhausting struggle, it can feel impossible to hit the gym or arrange an activity with a friend. Luckily, one doctor gets it.

Psychologist Dr. Raquel Martin understands that the struggle with seasonal affective disorder is real. “It’s so crazy to me that this spells out ‘sad,’” she says in her video. Dr. Martin makes sure to point out that seasonal depression can appear in different forms (losing interest in things that usually bring joy, sleeping more, not sleeping, “feeling heavy,” etc.) to hammer home that seasonal depression can be different from one person to another, in varying degrees. The lack of daylight in late fall and winter can mess with a person’s serotonin and melatonin levels, influencing a person’s mood, sleep, and energy. So, depending on how a person’s body responds, seasonal depression could as benign as a person feeling sluggish or emotionally crippled like full-on depression.

She also mentions that the common recommendations to combat seasonal depression are good, but emphasizes that there doesn’t need to be dramatic change to effectively fight against it. Martin stresses that it’s not the intensity of the treatment but the consistency—doing it every day rather than worrying about doing it “right.” “Don’t go big with this, go realistic,” she says.

Most doctors like her recommend making it a point to expose yourself to daylight by going outside. But, she says, even as little as four minutes by the window with open blinds can help if you’re office-bound. Exercise is also a booster, but if you can’t or won’t go to the gym, going for a short walk, doing a quick dance to a song on your phone, or just shuffling your shoulders will do more than doing nothing at all.

Planning activities and hobbies is also commonly recommended, but Martin says to just make one “anchor activity” for each day rather than a routine. It can be as simple as making yourself a cup of coffee or shooting one text to a single person.

Martin’s peers reached out to GOOD to agree with this mindset, especially if an affected person has tasks or chores to do that add onto the stress and struggle.

“When you’re dealing with seasonal depression, the goal is micro-movement and tiny habits,” said therapist Lisa Chen. “The smallest shift in your body or environment can start to lift your mood within seconds.”

“Break down tasks into smaller parts,” suggests therapist Aaron Mostin. “Instead of ‘clean the kitchen,’ just put three things away, which is much less overwhelming.”

Martin also says that folks who notice their friends or family members getting impacted by seasonal depression can help without being overwhelming or overbearing.

“Instead of asking, ‘What can I do to help,’ offer to bring dinner over or stop to pick them up for a change of scenery,” added Mostin. “Try being a gentle presence. Ask, ‘Do you just want me to listen, or would like me to give you advice?’”

This allows you to not only help them with some tasks, but ensures that they’re taking care of themselves, too. If requested, you can do some other things to help like going on a walk with them or participating in other activities to get them out of the house if they feel comfortable.

While something as simple as the weather can greatly impact a person’s mood and physiology, it’s encouraging to know that there are methods that are just as simple that can help counter its impact.

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Photo credit: LPETTET/E+/Getty Images – End-of-life decisions can be complicated, and ethics consultants may help families and care teams navigate them.

Care, Health

Who are hospital ethics consultants, and why should you care?

Helping families face the hardest medical choices.

Good Partner

6/4/2026

Jennifer McCurdy

Imagine the following scenarios:

A surgeon prepares to amputate a patient’s foot to save his life, but the patient refuses the procedure. His decline in thinking and memory raises doubts about his ability to consent, and he has no family or friends to help with the decision.

A 17-year-old declines a liver transplant, while her mother insists on going forward with the lifesaving surgery.

Siblings stand divided at the bedside of their 85-year-old mother with dementia, one rejecting a feeding tube, the other calling it a basic human necessity.

I am a hospital ethics consultant, and these are the kinds of situations my colleagues and I regularly encounter. Yet many people are unaware that hospital ethics consultants even exist – or that they can ask for one.

Who are hospital ethics consultants?

Healthcare ethics consultants are trained to help patients, families and clinicians navigate difficult medical decisions.

They could be called in situations where healthcare staff struggles with providing procedures such as cardiac resuscitation that are unlikely to benefit the patient and might even cause more pain and suffering. They could also be called when it is unclear who has authority to consent for a patient’s care, or when end-of-life decisions are complicated and resources are limited – such as ICU beds and ventilators during COVID-19.

Ethics consultants come from a range of disciplines: physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, lawyers and philosophers who have specialized training and experience in clinical ethics. Since 2018, ethics consultants are increasingly pursuing formal certification through the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

What is their origin?

The modern field of bioethics emerged from the 1947 Nuremberg Doctors’ Trial, where Nazi physicians were prosecuted for conducting brutal medical experiments on imprisoned people.

This led to the 1947 framework outlining ethically acceptable human research called the Nuremberg Code, written by a panel of American judges. The 1979 Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Protections of Human Subjects of Research, called the Belmont Report, followed the Nuremberg Code. The Belmont Report turned the ethical ideals of respect for persons, beneficence – to do good – and justice into a regulatory framework to protect vulnerable and marginalized medical research participants in the U.S.

In the 1980s, many of these ethics protections moved from the research lab to the patient bedside. During this time, lifesaving technologies such as the ventilator, dialysis machine and organ transplantation created new, difficult ethical questions: When should life support end? Who decides? And what happens when there aren’t enough resources?

A series of court cases and laws expanded patients’ rights, with the Patient Self-Determination Act, a 1990 law which upheld patient rights to refuse or accept medical treatment, marking the key turning point.

Lifesaving technologies have revolutionized medicine, but they also raise ethical questions about who receives care when resources are scarce. Jackyenjoyphotography/Moment via Getty Images

High-profile court cases exposed the ethical dilemmas around end-of-life care and patient self-determination. The 1976 case, In re Quinlan, involved Karen Ann Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state whose family sought permission from the court to withdraw her ventilator.

Following In re Quinlan was the 1990 case, Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, which affirmed that adults have the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment.

Both cases became touchstones for how ethics consultants and care teams navigate the life‑and‑death decisions that have become routine in an era of life‑sustaining technology.

Today, most hospitals have some formal process for addressing ethical concerns in patient care.

What do ethics consultants actually do?

A member of the healthcare team usually requests an ethics consult when they face conflict or uncertainty about the care of a patient. Patients and families can also request an ethics consultation, but in reality, few know this option exists or feel empowered to use it.

The ethics consultant’s first task is to gather as much information as possible from everyone involved to understand the full context of the case. Importantly, ethics consultants do not make treatment decisions; they assist the people who do.

Imagine a loved one with advanced dementia who is in the intensive care unit with respiratory failure and is on a ventilator. The physician believes further treatment will prolong suffering; the family is not willing to let him go.

An ethics consultant would be called by the family or healthcare team to slow things down, provide space to reflect, and help navigate the situation. The ethics consultant will often meet with everyone involved to ensure that all voices are heard and that the patient’s wishes remain central to the discussion.

As part of the ethics review, the ethics consultant would draw on their knowledge of policies, laws and ethical precedent about withdrawing life-sustaining treatment to provide some guardrails for the situation. In this case, a legal guardrail might be that the physician cannot remove the ventilator without the family’s consent.

Rather than making a decision, the ethics consultant would then outline the ethical options available from which the patient, family, and healthcare team can choose.

Why are ethics consultants a valuable resource?

Ethics consultants are trained to help people work through not just the medical facts, but the deeply human questions beneath them: What counts as an acceptable quality of life? How do we weigh hope against suffering? How can we know what a patient would want if they cannot speak for themselves?

In these moments, decisions can feel urgent and heavy, and communication can easily break down. Ethics consultants don’t take decisions away from patients or families, and they don’t replace the role of clinicians. Instead, they help ensure that everyone understands the situation, that different perspectives are heard and that the conversation stays grounded in the values and goals of the patient.

They also bring something that families often don’t realize they need until tensions rise: a calm, measured presence. By clarifying misunderstandings, naming sources of conflict and guiding difficult conversations, they help families and care teams find a way forward together.

The choices may still be painful – and there may be no perfect answer – but with the right support, those decisions can feel more thoughtful, more shared and more aligned with what matters most.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. You can read it here.

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Photo credit: klebercordeiro/iStock via Getty Images Plus – Eye rubbing may feel good, but it comes with risks.

Care, Health

Is rubbing your eyes bad for you? 2 eye specialists explain what’s behind the urge to rub and what to do about it

Why the urge to rub can hurt your eyes.

Good Partner

5/27/2026

Taylor Starnes

Neelam Patadia

You know the feeling – the itchy eye that is just begging to be scratched.

Before you start rubbing your eyes, you may want to think twice about the potential consequences.

While eye rubbing may seem harmless, people who rub their eyes are at risk of infections or damage to their cornea.

Fortunately, there are a number of common causes of itchy eyes that can be treated to reduce the urge to rub.

We are a board-certified ophthalmologist and optometrist who provide comprehensive eye care.

Itchy and irritated eyes are some of the most common reasons that patients visit eye doctors. We have experience in treating the causes of eye rubbing and the consequences, which can require specialized contact lenses or corneal transplantation.

Causes of eye rubbing

Rubbing your eyes is often a reaction that occurs when your eyes feel uncomfortable or itchy.

The most common reason for that itchy sensation is allergic conjunctivitis, which accounts for nearly 50% of itching cases. Allergic conjunctivitis is an inflammatory reaction of the conjunctiva, the clear skin on the surface of the eye. Allergens bind to the surface of cells, ultimately leading to the release of inflammatory chemical molecules that trigger the sensation of itching. People may experience redness, swelling and little bumps on the inside of the eyelids.

Sometimes the urge to rub happens if there is a gritty sensation, dryness or something stuck in our eyes. This is often a symptom of dry eye syndrome, or blepharitis.

The urge to rub the eyes can also occur because the eyelids feel itchy, often from other conditions such as dermatitis, which is an inflammation of the eyelid skin.

Because of the anatomy of the eyelid and the thin outer layer, called the epidermis, it is more vulnerable to irritation from the environment or from contact lenses.

The outer layer of the eyelid, called the epidermis, is highly sensitive to environmental allergens and other irritants. Francesco Riccardo Iacomino/Moment via Getty Images

Eye rubbing is a risk factor for corneal disease

The most serious risk that has been associated with eye rubbing is the development of keratoconus, a condition in which the cornea – the clear window in the front of the eye – becomes progressively thinner and more irregular in shape.

While healthy corneas have a more spherical shape, those with keratoconus become steeper and cone-shaped. Keratoconus often causes high degrees of irregular astigmatism, which is an imperfection in the curvature of the cornea that leads to blurry vision.

Fortunately, keratoconus can now be treated with a procedure called corneal cross-linking, which can halt further progression in many cases. During this procedure, collagen strands are cross-linked together, strengthening the cornea. Many patients with keratoconus need specialized contact lenses to achieve optimal vision, even after treatment.

In the most advanced cases, patients may need corneal transplantation to remove the damaged corneal tissue and replace it with healthy donor tissue.

Other conditions associated with eye rubbing

A corneal abrasion is a scratch in the thin, clear skin that covers the cornea and can be triggered by aggressive eye rubbing or a fingernail that inadvertently touches the cornea. An abrasion is exquisitely painful and usually causes blurry vision. Corneal abrasions require treatment with antibiotics to prevent infection.

Eye rubbing can also cause a subconjunctival hemorrhage. This occurs when rubbing breaks a small blood vessel on the surface of the eye and makes the eye appear very red. While it can look and feel alarming, a conjunctival hemorrhage is essentially a bruise on the surface of the eye and does not cause lasting damage. This condition typically resolves in one to two weeks without any intervention.

Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye, is an infection of the conjunctiva that can be spread by eye rubbing. It can be caused by viruses or bacteria. If you must touch your eyes, washing your hands first is a good practice to prevent the spread of infection. Viral forms of conjunctivitis are highly contagious, so you should be particularly careful about rubbing your eyes if you have had contact with someone with pink eye.

Eye drops can provide some relief from itchy eyes. milorad kravic/E+ via Getty Images

Treatments for itchy eyes

Most people rub their eyes without even realizing it. But there are ways to address underlying conditions that might trigger eye rubbing.

Often, over-the-counter treatments and home remedies can be quite helpful. One treatment that helps address most underlying causes of the urge to itch is to use artificial tears. Pro-tip: Cooling them in the refrigerator helps too!

In cases of allergic conjunctivitis, it’s important to try to avoid the allergen that triggers the symptoms. For example, if allergies are due to pollen, staying indoors, using sunglasses or rinsing off your face after exposure can help decrease allergen load around your eyes.

The next option is to try over-the-counter artificial tears to rinse out the allergens. In general, it’s best to avoid the drops that advertise “get the red out,” which provide temporary relief but carry risks of side effects. Cool compresses can also provide some relief from itching, decreasing the urge to rub your eyes.

If you still find no relief from the itch, the next step would be to try allergy eye drops, which are available with or without a prescription. There are topical treatments that are antihistamines, mast cell stabilizers or a combination of both. Antihistamine eye drops help block the release of histamines, a substance that the body releases after exposure to allergens. Mast cell stabilizers block the breakdown of mast cells – part of the body’s immune system – which helps reduce the release inflammatory chemicals. Combination eye drops help by targeting both mechanisms.

Since there are many options available, it’s helpful to discuss with your eye doctor which one is the best for you. In cases where there are other symptoms of allergies, such as sneezing or a runny nose, an oral allergy medication could be effective for treating all these symptoms. If you have persistent symptoms, a prescription steroid eye drop can be helpful.

If the urge to rub your eyes is not improving with artificial tears, cool compresses or over-the-counter allergy eye drops, it’s time to schedule an appointment with your eye doctor for an evaluation.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. You can read it here.

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Photo credit: Canva – A woman intensely exercises, left, and a morning stretch, right.

Care, Health

More women are rejecting ‘optimization culture’ for realistic wellness plans

Feel great and be happy.

Mark Wales

5/16/2026

Being fit used to mean getting enough sleep, drinking more water, and moving your body, perhaps in a daily walk. With the explosion of social media and digital self-help trends, finding an acceptable level of wellness can feel like stepping into a full-time job with daily performance reviews.

For many women, what started as self-care has slowly become another exhausting form of self-optimization. And increasingly, they’re pretty much done with it. According to Women’s Business Daily, one of the biggest wellness shifts happening right now is a move away from extreme routines. Women want habits that actually fit into real life.

An intense workout.
Photo credit: Canva

Wellness feels like a full-time job

Instead of chasing perfection, more women are choosing what can be described as a more realistic approach to wellness, incorporating sustainable routines built around balance and emotional well-being rather than climbing a never-ending ladder of constant improvement.

The shift comes after a solid decade of what many refer to online as “optimization culture.” This exhausting idea assumes that every part of life needs to be carefully measured, improved, and optimized.

Experts believe this mindset is not only making people miserable; it’s unsustainable.

An exhausting routine.
Photo credit: Canva

A backlash against the “always improve yourself” culture

A recent article in Psychology Today found that “wellnessmaxxing” trends turn self-care into another form of anxiety. This is especially true when routines become so demanding that people feel more guilt than relief. As creators post TikToks showing themselves “maxing out” in some kind of self-congratulation, they spread unhelpful expectations that no longer promote self-care.

Verywell Health explains that these influencers broadcast an all-consuming performance metric. People now face a painful realization that they can never do enough. It’s hard to miss the irony that wellness has begun to feel unhealthy.

Women are increasingly embracing low-pressure routines instead of overly aspirational ones. Think walks instead of cross-training, and a morning meditation instead of a week-long stay at a Tibetan monastery. It’s okay to just eat more vegetables instead of a perfectly balanced daily nutrition plan of 150 grams of protein, wheatgrass smoothies, and specifically rated pH-balanced alkaline water.

After all the extreme exercises, self-help books, and sophisticated meal plans, it’s time to get back to basics. Here’s one version of a realistic plan: drink some water, get outside, and try to sleep a little better.

A casual walk with a dog.
Photo credit: Canva

Getting back to the basics

A beauty editor writing for Who What Wear documented her attempt to follow a social-media-inspired wellness reset. With all the expensive and complicated habits she hoped would unlock the “incredibly high-functioning, ultra-productive version” of herself, she came away understanding that she should stick with the basics.

Modern life already asks women to juggle careers, caregiving, appearance standards, finances, and relationships. Somewhere along the journey, wellness became just one more category to add to the pile.

Maintaining a perfect life balance.
Photo credit: Canva

Women are choosing simple, sustainable routines

Finding realistic wellness is a trend that reflects a growing desire for community-centered wellness rather than isolated self-improvement. Instead of wellness looking like a solo pursuit for an achievement award, many women are leaning toward connection: walking groups, shared meals, accountability with friends, and being honest about feeling burned out on all of it.

The Times reports that people feel walking groups are less intimidating and more emotionally supportive. People don’t just want fitness; they want to belong to something.

A 2025 study in Frontiers in Psychology focused on the benefits of women finding social support groups. Programs that incorporated women’s preferences into their daily lives were more likely to be enjoyed and maintained.

Wellness cultures have told women the answer is to do more: more discipline, more self-reflection, more perfect sleep, more work dedication, more family direction, more effort.

Making life more enjoyable and realistic can help well-being feel easier to maintain. A joyful life is better lived “in” than constantly measured “against” unrealistic expectations.

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