rainydayblues — Therapy-Thoughts

It can sometimes feel like rainy days illicit two types of reactions in people- a sense of frustration or a sense of relaxation. For many, rainy days can feel less motivating, more frustrating, and even sad and depressing. Today’s blog will focus on strategies to help counteract the negative feelings that rainy days may be triggering for you.

The reason I wanted to focus on rainy days is because it’s a type of environment that we can’t escape and have to learn to interact with, so it’s a good example of how we actively address our negative perceptions of everyday events and promote neural plasticity. Neural plasticity is the ability of the brain to change itself based on our experiences. So, while this blog will focus specifically on rainy days, you can apply these concepts to any life events that cause you minor mood drops that you want begin to change how you unconsciously respond to.

Often our reactions to events, like rainy days, come from our past interactions with them as well as our continued self talk about them. If every time you hear that it is going to rain, you think to yourself “well that’s gonna be a cruddy day” or you feel yourself frown- you are training your brain to respond more negatively to rainy days in the future and it becomes an unconscious trigger for reducing your motivation and mood. It becomes a negative trigger.

If you remember from my previous blog, Positive and Negative Triggers, we all have sensory experiences that can trigger positive or negative emotional and physiological responses within us. These can include sights, sounds, physical sensations, tastes, smells, and more.

Triggers Blog

Identifying your positive triggers can help you use them as coping tools that you can intentionally set to address when you are negatively triggered or stressed. Lets look at how this can be applied to a rainy day. You need to approach triggering days with active intention, meaning have a plan to counteract what you find most exhausting or frustrating about those days.

Lets say a rainy day makes you feel more lethargic or unmotivated to move around or leave the house. If you are able to be home you can use some of the strategies I’m about to discuss and then you could use that time to engage in more self care- read, bake and meal plan, organize areas, complete indoor projects, catch up on social interactions/responses, exercise, etc. First though, you need to counteract the lack of energy that may be triggered. You need to boost dopamine and serotonin. Some ways you can do this is by leaning on your positive triggers- your favorite sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or physical sensations- that excite or stimulate you. Turn on your favorite music, light you favorite smelling candles, turn on more lights in the house, complete a quick and easy task first, take a quick shower and use your favorite smelling products, put on an outfit with intention (meaning not one aimed at relaxation but one aimed at feeling positive), have a snack that is higher in protein or tryptophan, do a quick exercise, or a few minutes of meditation or mindfulness.

If you have to work or leave the house, though, think of how you can apply these positive triggers in public settings. What food, scents, visual motivators can you bring? What rewards can you set midday for yourself? How can you incorporate music? How can you build in physical resets for a serotonin or dopamine boost, like 5 minutes of meditation, grounding, mindfulness, stretching, etc?

Lets say a rainy day makes you feel more irritable or down. This increases your baseline stress levels, so unfortunately in a self-fulfilling way, you are more likely to get frustrated, to struggle with concentration, and to feel more reactive throughout the day. It may feel like an anxious urge to just get the day over with. You want to counteract this type of reaction by being more compassionate to yourself (and others). Increase your self awareness by acknowledging that you are being triggered by something you can’t control (the weather) but that you can intentionally shift your reactions to. Use your positive triggers-your favorite sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and physical sensations- that are more soothing and calming for you. Practice calming strategies BEFORE you are going to engage in conversations or interactions with people or tasks that typically frustrate you, as well as during or following them. Practice emotional regulation techniques like movement exercises, mindfulness, meditation, grounding, and deep breathing.

Finally, for all negative responses to rainy days- you need to rewrite your thoughts on what a rainy day means for you by building in a positive activity that you can always repeat on a rainy day. Maybe it’s a promise to end the day with a favorite old movie, a favorite childhood meal or warm treat, a favorite hot drink, jumping in puddles with your kids, or it can be a cue to call a friend to catch up. Make a new goal for your brain to link rainy days to a positive activity in the future.