Are There Summer Blues?

The calendar has made its sweet time getting here, but it is finally summer. We live in St. Petersburg, Florida. The sun is shining. It’s blue skies and ocean water that feels like stepping into a bath. We live where people vacation. 

But our suffering doesn’t end just because we’re in a beautiful place at a beautiful time. With pinched noses and clenched eyes, all sensation is lost to us. 

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” — Rumi

Isn’t The Summer Supposed To Make You Happy? 

Life marches on alongside the calendar, but independent of it. Though your calendar might be telling you it’s July, the reality of existing could feel entirely different.

Even as our bodies and the world around them embrace the summer, the heart and mind can experience a veritable winter of their own. 

When Do We Need Summertime Anxiety Relief?

When we’re tangled and suffocating in a web of our own anxiety, it’s hard to be grateful for how nice the weather is. You’d think it’d be easy to recognize when we’re feeling anxiety like that, but it does not come naturally to us. 

When anxiety overtakes us, it is easier to identify with the anxiety itself than the consciousness who is feeling and experiencing that anxiety. We stop saying, “I’m noticing anxious thoughts,” and instead begin living as though those thoughts are objective reality.

Sometimes anxiety becomes the lens through which we interpret everything around us.

Here are a few signs that anxiety may be asking for your attention:

• You struggle to relax, even while you’re doing something that’s supposed to be enjoyable.
• You feel guilty for not “making the most” of your summer.
• Your mind constantly races toward the future, rehearsing conversations or imagining worst-case scenarios.
• You feel restless, irritable, or overwhelmed for reasons you can’t quite explain.
• You avoid making plans because everything feels emotionally exhausting.
• You’re having trouble sleeping, even though you’re physically tired.
• You notice tension throughout your body—tight shoulders, a clenched jaw, headaches, or an unsettled stomach.
• You keep waiting for the next problem instead of enjoying what’s happening right now.

Anxiety is  about helping your nervous system remember that it doesn’t have to stay on high alert rather than forcing yourself to calm down.

Why Do We Need Depression Relief In The Summer? 

We don’t notice broad daylight when the door is shut, the windows are closed, the blinds are drawn, and the curtains are pulled. Without context, we might mistake this situation for nighttime, but when we have the whole story, it’s simple to understand why the room is dark. Depression is the same way. 

It convinces us that the darkness is the whole world, when in reality it is often the result of countless circumstances converging all at once.

Summer doesn’t erase grief. It doesn’t resolve loneliness. It doesn’t heal trauma simply because the weather is pleasant. Sometimes the contrast between a bright world and a heavy heart only makes depression feel more isolating.

Some of the experiences that can contribute to summertime depression include:

• Comparing your life to the vacations, parties, and celebrations you see online.
• Grieving someone who used to share summers with you.
• Changes in routine after school ends or work slows down.
• Financial stress surrounding vacations, childcare, or social expectations.
• Feeling isolated while everyone else seems busy with family and friends.
• Remembering painful experiences from previous summers.
• Living with depression that simply doesn’t care what season it is.

Depression is evidence that something inside of you deserves care, not that you’re ungrateful. 

How Can The Summer Make Us Feel Depressed?

When we feel depressed, it’s rarely just our environment. Our mood is the accumulation of all the thoughts and feelings that have recently flowed through our mind. Summer simply provides a backdrop against which all of those things continue unfolding.

• Pressure. Summer is supposed to be fun. That quiet expectation can poison an otherwise ordinary afternoon. We begin evaluating every beach trip, every barbecue, every sunset against an impossible standard. Instead of asking whether we’re enjoying ourselves, we’re asking whether we’re enjoying ourselves enough. Ironically, the pressure to feel joyful often makes joy harder to find.

• Trauma. Our brains are built to recognize patterns. A particular smell, a stretch of humid air, fireworks in the distance, or even the sound of children playing outside can transport us back to another summer entirely. If those memories are painful, your nervous system may react long before your conscious mind understands why. There’s nothing irrational about this. Your brain is trying to protect you with the tools it has.

• Reality. The sun is our friend. It helps us grow our food. It helps us regulate our emotions. It even gives us a trivial amount of vitamin D! But even though in the right doses, the sun seems to lessen depression, it cannot cure it. If you’re living with depression, no amount of beautiful weather can substitute for meaningful support, healthy relationships, good sleep, movement, self-compassion, or therapy. Depression is not a failure to appreciate your surroundings. It’s a condition that deserves treatment, not judgment.

What Are The Best Summertime Depression Treatments? 

Healing doesn’t always require a dramatic transformation. More often, it comes from gently participating in your own life again. Rather than trying to manufacture the “perfect summer,” try allowing yourself to experience the one that’s actually here.

• Indulge in summertime. You don’t have to earn your summer by feeling better first. Eat summer fruit. Watch an unphotographed sunset. Walk barefoot by the shore and feel your toes sink beneath the wet sand. Not because you have to, but because your nervous system needs and deserves moments of genuine pleasure. Remember that immersing yourself in beautiful surroundings releases good brain chemicals into the bloodstream.

• Negotiate a new relationship with your phone. Comparison and depression have always invited one another to the party. Smartphones simply make sure they arrive together. When every scroll becomes another reminder of someone else’s vacation, relationship, or social life, it’s easy to conclude that you’re the only one struggling. Try creating intentional distance. Leave your phone inside while you drink your morning coffee. Take a walk without headphones. Let yourself experience the day before consuming everyone else’s version of theirs. 

• Listen to your inner child. Buried somewhere in your heart is the version of yourself whose heart leapt at the thought of summer vacation. They wanted to chase lizards, build sandcastles, eat popsicles before dinner, stay up catching fireflies, read fantasy novels under a blanket, or spend hours making something for no reason at all. Your inner child doesn’t need a perfect summer. They simply need permission to play.

Can Therapy Help With Seasonal Depression? 

Therapy offers something that the changing seasons cannot: a consistent place to slow down and understand what’s happening beneath the surface. You’re not forcing yourself to think positively or pretend like everything is okay. Instead, you’re giving yourself the time and space to feel and process your emotions without shaming or judging yourself for having feelings. 

Healing rarely happens all at once. It is a gradual process, and it looks more like opening the blinds one morning, taking a walk around the block, answering a friend’s text, or even just  allowing yourself to hope again. Through these small and seemingly mundane steps,  the nervous system learns that it doesn’t have to stay stuck in survival. 

 

If you’re feeling stuck on your healing journey, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Our intake specialist will take the time to understand your needs and connect you with a therapist who is the right fit.

 Schedule your free 15-minute consultation.

 

Sunny Ebsary is an educator, multi-modal artist, and writer specializing in the intersection of myth and mental health. Sunny’s writing walks the line between poetic and logical, giving readers a chance to interface with the mind and imagination. Sunny’s been putting pen to paper since he was a child, writing everything from albums, novels, and plays, to essays, interactive games, and of course, many articles! While studying both psychology and writing, he realized his real passion in life was helping others unlock their creative spark. Whether he’s leading a D&D game, directing a production, or diving deep into the brain, you can be sure Sunny will be ushering you toward finding meaning in your life.