North Yorkshire charity offers mental health advice as clocks go back
The darker nights can trigger depression and anxiety
After the clocks went back last night, people across North Yorkshire are being encouraged to monitor any drop in their mental health.
The darker nights can make some people feel low.
Hayley Doubtfire is from Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale MIND:
"As the winter months come, a lot of people do struggle with something called SAD, which is seasonal affective disorder. I actually struggled with that myself. There are things that you can get to help.
So I personally have an alarm clock that it puts a light on 20 minutes before the alarm goes off to help your body wake up more naturally because obviously those dark mornings are difficult."
"Your circadian rhythm reacts to light and that affects your mental health and how you're feeling so that can be really helpful. There's also things that you can get like SAD lamps, which provide as close to natural light as you can get so you can have those on in the room where you're working, for instance."
"We just advise to stay as active as possible within the daylight hours. So try and get out for that walk. I know it can be difficult and I know it's cold and it can feel like we don't want to go out but it really does help."
"You know, winter blues, people just sort of brush it off, but actually it's something to be taken more seriously. It can be really, really debilitating for a lot of people."
"I think with the more awareness that we have around it and the more that we can talk about it, the more innovations we can come up with to try and help people because I think the majority of us struggle with it on some level, struggle with the seasons changing on some level."
"It's okay to notice that and you might feel more tired and it's just important to listen to your body and kind of understand whether this is just a little bit of a mood shift or if it is something more then please do reach out and we have lots of projects and services at Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale MIND so if you're in the Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale area please do get in touch if you're struggling in any way."