The Dr Boyce Breakdown

Dr Alicia Watkins explains the science behind holiday sadness

Dr. Boyce Watkins and Dr. Alicia Watkins are a powerhouse couple dedicated to empowering Black families through financial literacy and emotional well-being. Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Finance PhD and founder of The Black Business School, is a global leader in wealth education, helping millions build generational wealth. He’s the author of The 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power, a must-read for those serious about economic elevation.

Dr. Alicia Watkins, a licensed therapist and professor of social work, leads the Black Financial Therapy Department. She specializes in helping individuals and couples navigate the emotional and psychological aspects of money and relationships. Together, they provide a holistic approach to family empowerment, blending financial expertise with relationship strength.

Learn more at BoyceAndAlicia.com and text "Love" to 87948 for free relationship and mental health resources!

Duration:: 45m
Broadcast on:: 31 Dec 2024
Audio Format:: other

- We can't believe I almost forgot my mic. Hello everybody, how you doing? Welcome everybody, welcome to mental health of Monday. Merry Christmas everybody, happy new year, happy Hanukkah, all the holidays. Anybody wants to celebrate right now. This is a really joyous time of the year for many of us. It is not joyous for all of us. I think the holidays is a wonderful time for some people and not so great of a time for others. But today we are going to talk about what affects many of us today. And that is seasonal affective disorder. And we're gonna talk about here with my wonderful guest, Renata Weatherspoon. And we're going to have a conversation about seasonal affective disorder. We're gonna talk about the causes, the symptoms and its impact on our mental health. Who knew not having the sun would have this effect on us? And seasonal affective disorder, just to let you know what it is, it differs from other types of depression. It is connected to not being in the sun, having the times of the month when the sunlight, the times of the year when the daylight shrinks down, like winter solstice. We're now in the winter solstice and we don't get as much sun as we used to. And that's why I'm kind of light and bright right now. I can't have no sun. But and some of the common symptoms is low energy, sadness. Sometimes we oversleep. Sometimes we gain a little weight. We kind of hibernate for the winter, but it can also have an effect on our mental health. So joining me here today to help me talk about is Renata Witherspoon. Oh my goodness, she is a board certified psychiatric mental health professional. Hello, she's got her doctorate recently. So she's Dr. Renata. Healthcare administration, what? And she like myself, we spent time, I'm a medical social worker. So I spent time working in hospitals and ERs and so has Dr. Renata. And so welcome Dr. Renata, how are you doing? I am fine, thank you so much for having me. Yes, and so everybody who's joining me, y'all, in the chat. Do you guys know what seasonal affect of disorder is? How do y'all feel in the winter time? Do you notice a change in your mood? Sometimes in the winter. Hey, Carl Brock, how you doing? Welcome, welcome Carl. Everybody say hello to Carl. And Carl, let us know, do you ever feel different in the winter months? Have you noticed some other people around you can be just kind of blah in the winter? I know when I look outside today in particular and I'm in Illinois, the sun is gray. The whole sky is gray. I don't even see the sun. And I'm just kind of like, it makes me feel kind of sad and reflective. Hey, Deborah, how you doing? Deborah says hello. So let's ask our guests. Yes, let's ask our guests, Renata, Dr. Renata. What happens, do you feel a change in your mood and tell us about your experience with seasonal affective disorder? So with seasonal affective disorder, I do feel, I do notice a change in my mood. It's not as drastic as some people, but I do notice a significant change in my mood when the winter time comes, particularly daylight saving time. Here, where I'm located at in the southern state, what soon is daylight time hits, we get dark at about five, five, 30. So we get pretty dark and that's pretty early, right? So normally around that time, we're usually at the park or my daughter, doing some outdoor activity, but by getting so dark so early, we're kind of hurrying up to get inside. So we do notice that we have a change in mood. It's kind of like, it's not like really a sadness for us, but it's just, we're not as upbeat as normally as we would normally be during the summertime because we're indoors a lot more often than in the wintertime than what we are outside in the summertime. So it's definitely a noticeable change. - Oh, I hear you, Renata. I know for myself, I like the Netflix and chill, but it's something about the winter months. I just really don't feel like going anywhere. And if it's nice and sunny outside, it makes me want to go outside more. It makes me want to interact with people more. And I just feel like I'm hibernating, but that is different from actual seasonal affect of disorder. How is just a normal wanting to just go inside different from actual seasonal affect of disorder and how it is a clinical term used to describe a very unique experience for people? - So you have just basically the winter blues and then you have seasonal affect of disorder. With the winter blues, you might have a low mood, but you're still engaging with people. You're still being social. You're still doing things that you would do on a normal day-to-day basis, right? But with seasonal affect of disorder, it's a clinical syndrome, right? It's a subtype of depression to where the onset is usually in fall or early winter. And it's due to the season changing and the daylight saving time is usually the onset because you get that period of time where it gets darker earlier. So you have to, like you said, it's kind of sort of like hibernating. It gets really cold and people want to stay inside. And the sun's just not out that much as opposed to summertime. So with seasonal affect of disorder, you're gonna notice some changes in your mood and that's the cardinal symptom, right? You're gonna feel a little low as far as feeling depressed and you're gonna notice some other changes such as not being well, excessive sleeping, excessive eating, not really having too much energy and social isolation. So not wanting to really interact too much as you would normally interact. - Oh, thank you for that. I mean, you know, I noticed I'm a clinician and you're still a clinician, right? And I just noticed my senses is up. I get way more clients in the winter months. And magically, magically everybody gets better in the summer. (laughing) It's like all of this happens, people get better. And I'm really curious if we got Christmas coming and this in a few days. And there's so many people who see this as the time of the year where it's not as exciting, it's not as fun. How do we distinguish memories and thoughts related to the holidays versus an actual seasonal affect of disorder? Like, it's so hard. I'm just thinking about some of the cases that I've worked with that as a person experiencing this, they're like, wait, I know about the regular winter blues. I know there's seasonal affect of disorder and then we have the holidays. You're expected to spend so much money on things and then those bills start coming in and it's almost just like a compound. All of these different factors are just compounded and related to each other. What do you recommend that even us with winter blues, what do you recommend we do when we are trying to figure out, I'm not feeling quite myself. (laughing) I have this seasonal affect of disorder. So one thing that the best thing that you can do is acknowledge how you feel and know that it's okay to feel how you feel but just don't get stuck in it. We know with holidays, there's an extreme amount of pressure to buy gifts and to just do things that causes a lot of financial strain on top of the emotional and mental strain that we have already experienced and with the seasonal affective disorder, right? So don't add too much pressure to yourself. You're not obligated to buy anybody any gifts. So don't put that added stressor on yourself. Take time out for you. If you have some, if you really are in a mood where you don't wanna be bothered, take some time and do something that really makes you feel better. Whether that's journaling, whether that's sitting, just getting outside and getting into the sun, whether it's called an a friend, whether it's looking at a Netflix movie that brightens up your day. Just take some time for you. Like I said, it's okay to not be okay but don't be stuck not being okay. - Yeah, and it's funny. I like how you're talking about acknowledging it and not pathologizing yourself that we're human and not putting this pressure, unneeded pressure on yourself. How many of y'all stressed out and stressed out over making sure you get the Christmas gifts and you're wrapping everything up and everything needs to be just so when you put this pressure really you're putting it on yourself because chances are the people wanna be around you because they love you. They don't care if they get a gift or not. And it's a good time to be reflective and thoughtful. You don't have to spend a bunch of money on a gift. And I think that sometimes our society and expectations that we feel like we have to have is unrealistic and I call it a little distorted. Like who told you that you need to do this? Why are you taking on these responsibilities that you do not have to take on? And sometimes it's your perception of what you think people want from you when really just being around family and friends can actually make a difference. So other than making yourself feel better other than being around family and friends what would you recommend, what else would you recommend for someone who is experiencing symptoms of seasonal affect disorder? 'Cause we're not diagnosing you or anybody. But we're just talking about whether you have, you can see it in yourself, some of the symptoms. - So one of the things that you can do that's relatively simple that I tell all of my patients is open the curtains, open the blinds. That's something relatively easy. Open the curtains, open the blinds. You wanna get that sunlight. Where seasonal affect disorder, there's evidence that shows individuals who have seasonal affect disorder has vitamin D deficiency. So we know with the sun, the sun is the main source of vitamin D. So by us not going out in the sun, during the winter months because we're staying inside, we're hibernating, it's cold, we wanna Netflix and chill. And we are on our phones, we don't get that direct sunlight. So when we don't get that direct sunlight, it decreases the vitamin D levels that we have in our bodies. And vitamin D is directly associated to move. So low vitamin D levels can look like depression. So you wanna get out and you wanna get some sunlight. So vitamin D is very important. You wanna check your levels, get with a primary care provider, get with your provider and assess your vitamin D levels. And something simple as getting a vitamin D supplement can help you feel better. So doing something simple, just like opening the blinds, opening the curtains and just stepping outside in the sun for a few minutes a day will help you feel better. The sun releases endorphins. Endorphins are our body natural mood enhancers. So vitamin D, the direct sunlight we get from the vitamin D that we get from the sunlight is going to help us feel better naturally, right? Because we're getting the release of those endorphins. - Oh my God, listen. Do y'all hear what Dr. Renata is saying? Y'all, everybody, if you wanna know, I forgot I gotta mention this, if you wanna know when I go live to talk about these, these are jewels, text the word love, L-O-V-E to 87948 and you'll get this information. Do y'all listen, do y'all guys hear this? Here's the thing, this is something that doesn't cost you anything. Open it up with your blinds, it's free. That's free.com, talking to your friends. It don't cost nothing no more to make a phone call to your friends. Let me tell you, a third thing, maybe you gotta get up and go to CVS or we're not sponsored by CVS, but we'll take sponsorships at CVS wants to. All you gotta do is take some vitamin D3, like Debra. Debra says she takes more vitamin D3. That's simple, that doesn't cost, that's less than $10 to get to vitamin D3. What we're saying to you is that you have control over your own mood. You have, you can take responsibility for how you wanna live your life. Opening the curtains, take in vitamin D. Talking to people who love you and support you, creating what I would call safe spaces, creating safe spaces with people with wonderful people. That's all you have to do. Oh my God, Tara is living in Florida. - Oh, I'm in Florida, you're not in Florida. - I'm in Florida too. - I'm in Florida. - I'm done with you, Tara. - I'm in Florida, that's why I got my doctorate is at Florida State. And I won't tell you, I needed to be, when I was getting my doctorate, it was so painful. I needed to be in a nice, warm, sunny place because I don't know how I would have done it. But yes, Florida is actually awesome and very sunny. But, and you know, we black people. Black people don't absorb vitamin D, like everybody else. And so we need a little more vitamin D. Can you speak to vitamin D absorption and among African-American groups? - So we have this thing called melatonin. And so when we do go out in the sun, we have to stand the sun a little longer than other ethnicities. So when we go out, we wanna stand in a direct sun. When it gets too hot, you can take a break from the sun, but we wanna make sure we stand in that direct sunlight to increase the absorption because it is a little bit harder for us, African-Americans to absorb vitamin D from the sun because of the melatonin that we have. - Thank you, thank you. And I don't have as much melatonin as most people do. As all of us do, but it makes a difference, I know. So if you're more darker skin, you probably do need a little more vitamin D. And of course, as Dr. Renata, she's a nurse, your background is a nurse practitioner. And I wanted to say, I'm saying melatonin, but I meant to say melanin, not melatonin. Melanin, not melatonin. Melatonin is what makes you sleep. So melanin, our skin tone, the melanin and our skin makes vitamin D a little bit harder for us to absorb. So we wanna stand in this direct sun until it gets a little bit unbearable. We don't wanna get some burn or some tan, but we wanna stand in there for about 10 or 20 minutes and make sure we get that direct sunlight to increase and enhance our vitamin D levels. - That's right. So these are simple things that we can do. And I know you are a nurse practitioner and I don't have that medical background that you have, but have you looked into whether there's any other advancements in research and treatment for seasonal affect of disorder that you've come across that you think will also be helpful for us to know? - Sure. So there are some lamps specifically for seasonal affective disorder. They call them light bots. And what you do, what that does is it mimics the natural sunlight. So not only does it increase the vitamin D levels, but it also increases the serotonin levels. With serotonin, it's directly related to your mood as well. We know decrease serotonin puts us at an increased risk for depression. So the lamp therapy and the light therapy, what that does is that boosts the serotonin thus increasing the mood. So the lamps, they are very inexpensive. They have a few on Amazon. They start off at like $19.99. - 1999, that is cheap. That don't cost much of anything. And I love this because the serotonin levels, when it decreases, that's what makes you sad. And being sad, feeling sad makes you think negative thoughts. And the negative thoughts has an effect on your behavior because you're not gonna want to interact with anybody. You're gonna say, nobody likes me. No one is there and I'm not gonna call them back or I'm not gonna send them a text message. You start having distortions in your thinking. And it is all because of a chemical in your brain. It's just science. Science gives us, I love science. I love medical advances that have been able to pinpoint what happens in the winter months. So in addition to taking vitamin D, in addition to getting your vitamin D levels checked by a medical professional, you can ask for that. They'll give it to you. Being out in the sun, opening those curtains, you can also get a lamp that is 1995. Y'all put that on your Christmas list and maybe Santa will come bring you. Santa will come bring you one of those lamps that can mimic the sunlight. And you can use that around you so that you can take responsibility for your mental health and making sure that you show up for your family. Like a lot of us don't live alone. We're married, we're spouses, we're moms, we're children. We have responsibilities to our work. We have responsibilities to our loved ones to make sure that we show up and we can create these environments in which we can be appreciative and grateful of everything that we have around us. And sometimes we aren't able to do that. So, hey everybody, we are here talking about seasonal depression, clinically known as seasonal affect of disorder. And we're talking about finding hope in the darkest days. And I gotta say this weekend was the winter solstice. So these were the darkest days of the year and it's happening, it happens every single year. And Gary Hatcher wants to know what type of lamp. - So I'm gonna drop it in the chat for you. - Okay, drop it in the chat. - It's a light therapy lamp. It has to have 10,000 lux therapy light. So I'm gonna drop it in the chat for you. - And it's early, it's 1999. - Okay, look at this. We should've got some sponsorships. Dr. Renata, what's going on? (laughing) Obviously, CBS can sponsor me if they want to or Walgreens or whatever or Rite Aid. Anybody know some sponsorships? We're taking sponsorships. But anyway, while she puts this in the chat, I just wanna say hello everybody for joining us. We are talking about seasonal depression. We are explaining it. You got two licensed professionals here to talk about mental health. And we are finding hope in these dark days. Oh, Debra is talking about how she finds she is working out. - Yes, and that's what I wanted to add. Exercising, staying active will also boost your mood because it will give you more energy. A lot of people say, oh, I don't wanna work out. I get so tired. Well, exercise actually boosts your energy and a boost in energy boosts your mood. So staying active can also boost your mood and help you deal with symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. And Debra, I know that line dancing class is fun. - Yes. Well, listen, I know y'all can tell Dr. Renata's from New Orleans. - I am. (laughing) - Well, why line dancing that? I mean, I know I partied in New Orleans, oh my Lord. I partied in New Orleans. Okay, so Black Lexicon has a question. He says, what Calvin level and color spectrum is the light? Let me tell you, Black Lexicon is on Amazon trying to buy this thing. So talk. - I would have to, I don't know that exact answer to that specific question. I would have to go look in the description and let you know. - Usually I find that if you, I'm putting it in there. I'm putting it in here. Light therapy from Amazon, the link is in there and we are not sponsored by this. So, but if we, if we, if anybody wants to sponsor as you can, we are not sponsored by this. We're just professionals who understand that this light therapy can mimic the sunlight. It has to be at least 10,000 lux. And typically if you go on Amazon, it'll tell you. - It'll tell you the specifics. - Yeah, this is for seasonal affective disorder. And that's how many people get it. Let me go over some information, some stats. Let's see what we have. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, up to 0.5% to 3% of the general population is affected. It is effective by seasonal affective disorder, 10 to 20% of individuals with major depression disorder and 25% of those with bipolar disorder experience seasonal patterns of their mood disturbances. There's also gender disparities. According to research from Boston University, women are four times more likely to be diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder than men, probably because women would just wait, we complain more and we probably have two more hours. We'll make some assumptions there. Also, of course, geographical, the prevalence of seasonal affective disorder in North America varies by latitude. Not too many people in Florida, but New Hampshire. I don't know too many black people live in New Hampshire, but I'm sure we everywhere. But 9% of people in New Hampshire have seasonal affective disorder. Children, according to a study, between of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, between 1.7 and 5.5% of children, age nine to 19, also experienced seasonal affective disorder. These are teenagers and kids that don't wanna get out of bed, they don't wanna go to school, they tire, their energy level is down and they don't have enough vitamin D in their body. And you need that. So, come on, we gotta be easy on our children. We need to know if they're tired and they're not wanting to hang out and they're not as upbeat as normal, it could possibly be seasonal affective disorder. We already talked about light therapy. Light therapy can be shown to be effective. 85% of individuals diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder. 85%. 85%. And can I speak on the kids right quick? - Can you speak on the kids? - All the kids. So, we know kids growing up now are totally different from how we grew up. So, when we grew up, we used to go outside. Our parents used to make us go outside, right? Now we have this social media where our kids are just on it all day. So, that's another reason why we see seasonal affective disorder is more prevalent in kids because they're not going outside because of social media and just the digital world that these kids have become accustomed to. So, it's important for kids to do a digital detox. So, get them off the phones, get them off the computer and get them outside, get them playing soccer, get them playing jump rope, hopscotch. Just get them out and get them more active so they can get their natural sunlight and boost those vitamin D levels up 'cause vitamin D and kids can look like depression. It also can look like ADHD as well. So, be mindful with that and have the pediatricians monitor the vitamin D levels and see if you can get that supplementation if there is a vitamin D deficiency because that is something that can be corrected with a simple vitamin D tablet or a liquid. - Yeah, and we've got to get our kids outdoors. Even though it's cold outside, they can put a coat on, by the way, none of my kids wear coats. (laughing) It'd be 20 degrees outside and they're just going out in the hoodie. Where is this? I don't know what that is, but you can get them bundled up and get them outside and active. So, not only are you getting vitamin D from the sun, but these kids are moving, you feelin' good, their serotonin level is up and hey, I live in Illinois, so I know the winter is coming and the snow is coming. Get out there and go sledding, have some fun in the snow. - That's fun. - I have some of my best memories as a child with just walking around in the snow suit, just getting cold, having snowball fights and playing with my friends. And we never, the cell phone, I didn't even have a cell phone in college, that's how old that is. (laughing) We just can't believe it, so you guys, the world is changing and we have to figure out how we can adjust to the changes that's happening because we can't stop it. There is no going back to how things are. We have to be, we have to accept and embrace change, but then we have to understand how we can adjust to the inevitable change. And part of this is having some time where we're putting down our phones, all of us. Parents, mamas and daddies, go outside with your child. - Outside with your baby. - Go for a walk. - It is bonding time, it's bonding time, so you get to talk about your kids, find out how their day was, find out what's going on with them and their friends, so it's a win-win. (laughing) - We're taking a holistic approach here. - A win-win, and just to circle back on women at an increased rate for seasonal affective disorder, and I think the simple explanation for that is because of all of the hormonal changes we go through, we have the menstrual cycles, we have pregnancy, we have menopause, all of that has a direct effect on serotonin levels, and we know serotonin levels can be decreased in individuals who have seasonal affective disorder. So that's why women are more prevalent to get the seasonal affective disorder symptoms because of our hormonal levels. - And then on top of it, it's a lot on us, as women. - Yes, we do. - Yes, women and mothers. (laughing) Women and mothers, we carry on quite a bit. I find that women absorb the emotional burden of everybody in the house. - Mm-hmm. - We take on, and we pick up, and we carry on, all of the emotional things that are happening within a family that we hold on to a lot of that stuff because we're helping everybody else out. - We're helping everybody else out. - On top of all these other biological changes. - Yep. (laughing) - So that's the explanation. That is the clear, cut dry explanation for why women are more prevalent to seasonal affective disorder. - Yes, Carl, we know men affect, but I like to look at facts. We are explaining as professionals. Why is it that women are four times more than likely to be diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder than men? We are not making it up in our head. We are licensed, I'm a licensed therapist. Dr. Renata is a board certified. We're not talking off of the top of our head from experience. This is evidence-based information that you're getting. We know men suffer. - Yes, men, we know that we need more affective disorder, we are not taking that problem. - Acknowledging that women have unique sufferings does not diminish men. When we talk about the unique challenges that women have, that how do people think that it somehow takes away from what men have? It comes across Carl. Disrespectful. It comes across like you're diminishing the real experiences of women. The most of my clients are men, so I understand. But we're explaining the gender disparities here. All right, let's move on. But thank you for the comment, we love you Carl. But I wanna make that clear. I just wanna make that clear. Lots of love for you. We wanna make that clear. Anyway, let's move on. So anything else you wanna say about gender differences? Gender disparity. - I think I nailed it. - Do you think you nailed it? - Whoops, that's the only one I did. - Oh, I wrote many feathers. - I just wanted to add some more color to it because these are the things that I think that we say to each other and that we do to each other and I think we don't wanna have this energy where we're diminishing and devaluing someone's real experience and being able to speak up and to be able to talk about it and to be able to voice things without it being, okay, well, what is it for this person and what is it for that? It's like it comes across as let's validate this real experience for children. Children are vulnerable. Women are a vulnerable group in a lot of different ways because of the biological things that are happening with women that are unique to women. - Okay, it does sound a little insensitive Carl, but we love it. - Dr. Sadie, take vitamin D pills. Yes, Gary Hatcher. Oh my God, that guy named Hatcher was mayor of Gary. So when you say Gary Hatcher, it reminds me that. But anyway, hello everybody, welcome, welcome. Seasonal affect of depression explained. We are finding hope in the darkest of days. We have talked about all the different ways in which you can recognize this in yourself. But if you know that you have other people who are affected by seasonal affect disorder, please make sure that you like and you share and you comment. Yes, I know Carl, we love you. She's just asking questions. And there's some other people who self-disclosed. Like David, David is a gentleman and he said, he's been going through a lot of anxiety and depression. Thank you for sharing. And then he found ways to cope like exercising, like stated in like artwork. - Artwork is a really good form of therapy. It really is. Artwork, music therapy, I encourage all of that because that is a unique form of expression. And it does help you focus on what the canvas that you have in front of you. As opposed to being so directed with other negative thoughts, you're really focusing on the piece that you have in front of you. So it kind of works as a thought deterrent. So I definitely encourage artwork. Music therapies are also a good one as well. - Yeah, I mean, I think being creative and looking at our creative side makes you feel really good. And sharing that creativity, men can sometimes, or I can't, I get real self-conscious about my creative side when I do some artwork and I get people, artists are sensitive. - Mm-hmm, they do. - So it's a better prayer. - You know, but it's beautiful to be able to share what you've learned and you'll be surprised how much you inspire other people and how you can create a community that inspires creativity. Because a lot of times, like sometimes I have my job, the things that I do where I'm teaching and I'm grading papers, I don't always have the outlet that I really want to be able to be as creative as I want. And it makes me feel really balanced. I'm balancing literally my left brain and right brain and it makes me feel good. - Yeah, and I'm so glad that he brought up artwork and we're talking about creativity because another thing that comes to my mind is getting into the holiday spirit. Something so simple as decorating a Christmas tree or throwing up some lights can definitely change your mood and put you more in the spirit and take you out of such negative thoughts that's associated with seasonal, effective disorder. Even getting a lighter color blanket or painting a wall, a lighter color, things like that can help enhance your mood. - Yeah, this is what's called self-care and self-care is self-love. And it works that way. It's kind of like one little thing that you do, like getting up in the morning and saying, "I'm gonna open these blinds." It's a domino effect because it makes you go, "Huh, I think I'm gonna go outside and grab the newspaper." If anyone gets the newspaper, grab the mail. My mailboxes across the street. So I gotta walk over there and grab the mail, you know? And then you end up talking to a neighbor and you end up sharing things. And it just helps you get out of our shell, out of our houses and into the world just by one step or going out instead of buying it on Amazon, maybe going to Walmart, we're not sponsored by Walmart, but getting out and moving around and, you know, spending time with people. Who said Nurse Ratchet? Nurse Ratchet allows me to do puzzles only when I'm nice to other people. This is, I'm sorry, that is hilarious, by the way. One flew over the cuckoo's desk. That's the last one. (laughing) Thank you. Whoever, 2025, Pearl, Sange. Anyway, y'all, you hilarious. But yeah, comedy. Making laughing, having fun with people, it just instantly increases your mood. And I know I talked about this before, but we've now given you a whole list. We've given you a list of things to do. If you know somebody who has seasonal affective disorder and are affected by the blues, the winter blues, here are some things you can go out and get them for Christmas. Number one, a 10,000 luxe light therapy. The link is in the chat, you guys. Let me see if I can put it in here again. The link is in the chat of where you can get light therapy. It costs $19.99. It's not that expensive. You can get that. Going outside, feeling better. Take an vitamin D, talk into your primary care physician so that they can take some blood work and see if you are deficient. 'Cause black folks, we need more vitamin D than most. - For you to absorb. - We talked about artwork and music therapy. Being around people who are confirming to you. Children, children need to put the cell phones down and get out and move around. And as we talked about, all of us need to move. So we can move with our children. We talked about gender disparities with seasonal affective disorder. Women are four times as likely. So there's an interaction between a chemical happening when our serotonin levels drip dip. But also we got menopause. We have menstruation cycles. We have all of these hormonal changes happening as well. And before we wrap up for the night, could Dr. Renata, let everybody know where to find you. Let are any less thoughts that you have about seasonal affective disorder. So my last thought for seasonal affective disorder is if you are dealing with seasonal affective disorder, or you know someone who is dealing with seasonal affective disorder, let's give each other some grease. Let's be patient and let's be positive. I also want to encourage you all to educate yourselves. There's a lot of resources out here to educate yourself. So you can be a support for yourself and others. And if you are experiencing seasonal affective disorder and the symptoms seem to persist and the symptoms get a little worse, don't be afraid to reach out for help. So if you notice your mood just getting more depressed, you can't get out of bed, your appetite is fluctuating, you're eating a little bit more, you're not eating enough. And you just feel like you just have thoughts of wanting to hurt yourself. That is when you need to seek help, okay? So don't be afraid to reach out. There's a lot of resources out there. There's national alliance for the mentally ill. That's nami, you can reach out to them. Also, I just want to tell everyone to just be a little kinder to people, especially during this time, because we never know what people are going through. Like I said, there's a lot of financial strain on individuals. There's people experiencing grief. A lot of times we lose some loved ones. And when holiday comes up, we kind of long for that person to be present with us. So it's a lot that people can be going through during this time. So just be a little patient. I also want to say that journaling is helpful as well. I have created a workbook. It's called Wrong Thoughts, Right Notebook. And in this journal, there are daily props and daily exercises for you to go through and identify negative thoughts and do all kinds of exercises to change those negative thoughts into positive thoughts. So I am going to drop the link in the chat for this journal. - I just dropped it in there. Thank you so much. Y'all get this journal with Dr. Renata, Dr. Renata Weather School with this graphic. And it is a journal to help you. All you gotta do is click on it and go and download her journal by this journal. This is so important. And I just want to thank you so much, Dr. Renata. I got to have you back on. - Sure. - Look at you girl. ADHD, children with ADHD. Sometimes we just talk about children with ADHD. It really could be a vitamin deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency, seasonal affective disorder. Sometimes it looks like it could be ADHD. So it's definitely important to see a professional. Thank you, Carl. And sorry, I didn't want to come down on you hard. Carl, but I want to give you a limit. I do want to give women their space to be, it's important for all of us to give each other the compassion that we need. And we have to be mindful. Thank you, Parrish, Mental Health Awareness, USA. Yes, happy. - Yes, that's another resource. Thank you so much. - Yes, another, let me put it up here. Another resource up there for everybody. And also, to know when we talk about these things, you can text the word love to 87948 and you'll get notified. People will get notified about when I go live. And I want to say Merry Christmas to everybody. - Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. - Happy New Year, everything. No matter where you are, you are in control of your mental health. You deserve it. You are in control of your self-care. Self-care is self-love. Put that Christmas tree up. We know, I know, don't come down on me. I know, I know it's a pagan, civil ritual, I know. But you know what, the Christmas lights are beautiful and it's gonna help you feel better. I know, don't tell me, I know. (laughs) But it's gonna make you feel good and I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with my family and waiting on my hubby, my hubby's coming home soon. He's been out and about visiting some of his relatives but he's coming home and we gonna hang together and enjoy each other. So y'all make sure y'all enjoy each other. Make sure you text the word love to 87948. And especially make sure you go and get Renata, Dr. Renata's workbook here about your thoughts. Yes, oh, and then I don't want to forget. Let's not forget, follow me on Instagram please. Coach over Dr. Alicia. And if you want to work with me of course, and I got a team of people, I got a team of therapists that I work with, coachingwithdoctoralisha.com. Y'all go there, you fill in the blues and nothing that we're saying seems to pull you out of this sadness, you can come and talk to me. I'll make sure I link you up with some professionals in your area. And also if you're in the New Orleans, Louisiana area, you make sure you reach out to Renata Witherspoon. - Yes, that's no website right there. And that's progress.com. - Advancedpracticeconsult.com. - Yes, you can just fill out a contact us form and we will get back with you. - Contact us form y'all reach out to her. And I just want to thank you for coming on. I'm happy back on. We're going to talk about her first form. - I need a nurse. I need a nurse practitioner on here so we can talk about some medical stuff. And so anyway, goodbye everybody. Thank you Gary, thank you Deborah, thank you David, thank you for disclosing Carl, hanging there Carl, thank you Perish, thank you everybody. I appreciate it. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. I'll be back Monday though. I'll be saying Happy New Year to everybody by then. Okay, bye everyone. [BLANK_AUDIO]

Learn more at BoyceAndAlicia.com and text "Love" to 87948 for free relationship and mental health resources!