When the Dark Months Get Heavy: Winter Mood Changes in Alaska

By Christi Kersten, MA, LPC · Telehealth for adults 18+ in Alaska

If you live in Alaska, you know the shift. By December, Anchorage gets about 5 hours and 28 minutes of daylight on the winter solstice, and in Utqiagvik the sun doesn't rise at all for about two months. For many adults, the dark months bring more than cold. Energy drops, sleep changes, motivation fades, and the things that usually feel manageable start to feel heavy.

If you've never lived this far north, the speed of fall can catch you off guard. Around the fall equinox, Anchorage loses about 5 minutes and 40 seconds of daylight every day, roughly 40 minutes a week. That's about four times faster than Miami. In Utqiagvik, days shrink by more than 9 minutes a day. It can feel like the light disappears from one weekend to the next, and your body notices before you do.

You are not imagining it, and you are not alone.

What winter mood changes can look like

Seasonal changes in mood show up differently for different people. Some common patterns:

• Sleeping more but still feeling tired
• Craving carbohydrates or comfort food
• Pulling away from friends and plans
• Trouble concentrating or getting started on tasks
• Irritability, low patience or a flat, "going through the motions" feeling
• Anxiety that rises as the days shorten

For some people these changes are mild and pass with spring. For others, they meet the pattern sometimes called seasonal affective disorder, or seasonal depression. Either way, it is worth paying attention when winter starts affecting your work, relationships or sense of yourself.

Why it can hit harder in Alaska

Alaska layers the darkness with other stressors: long distances from family, isolation in smaller or off-road-system communities, demanding work schedules and, for military families, frequent moves and separations. People who are neurodivergent or already managing anxiety, grief or trauma may find winter amplifies what they were already carrying.

Research backs this up. A 1992 study of about 300 long-term Fairbanks residents found that 28 percent had seasonal affective disorder or its symptoms, compared with 4 percent in Sarasota, Florida.

Why early spring deserves attention too

Many people expect the darkest weeks to be the hardest. For the most serious risk, research shows a different pattern. Across many northern countries, suicides peak in spring, around April and May, and are lowest in December and January. In Northwest Alaska, a 20-year study found suicide behavior peaked between April and August.

One explanation clinicians often describe is that energy and activity can return before mood does. Longer days, breakup season and the push to get moving again can add stress too. If winter has been hard, spring is a time to keep checking in with yourself and the people around you, not to assume the worst is over.

What can help

There is no single fix, and what works depends on the person. Things many adults find useful include:

• Keeping a consistent wake time, even on weekends
• Getting outside during whatever daylight there is, even briefly
• Planning small, doable activities ahead of time instead of waiting to feel motivated
• Staying connected, even when withdrawing feels easier
• Talking with your medical provider about options like light therapy, especially if your mood changes are significant

How therapy fits in

In therapy, we look at what winter changes for you specifically: your sleep, your thoughts, your routines and your relationships. Using approaches such as CBT and ACT, we build practical strategies for the dark months and make room for the feelings that come with them. We also look at what else winter may be bringing up, such as grief, loneliness or burnout.

Because sessions happen by secure video, you can meet from home, wherever you are in Alaska, without driving on icy roads or waiting out a storm.

If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.

Related: Anxiety & Overwhelm Support · Teletherapy in Alaska

Sources

• Shortest day in Alaska: Anchorage and Utqiagvik daylight
• Anchorage daily day-length change, September
• Why fall color starts up north: 40 minutes a week (Farmers' Almanac)
• It's almost the equinox (Alaska's News Source)
• SAD: a Sign of the Sunless Season (UAF Geophysical Institute)
• Seasonality of suicide: a multi-country multi-community observational study
• Seasonality of suicide behavior in Northwest Alaska: 1990–2009