The abnormal number of gray and soggy days during May and June are enough to leave anyone feeling down in the dumps, but for those with seasonal-affective disorder, it could be worse. 

Experts say that the lack of sunshine and outdoor activity can have an adverse impact on mood, even in the middle of the summer. 

“When we have these weeks and weeks like we did in May and June, where there’s very few sunny days and there’s not really all that ability to go outside and really get that Vitamin D and that serotonin boost, we can see people who have SAD, probably kind of kick into that pretty quickly,” said Dr. Laura Kate Corlew, associate professor of psychology at the University of Maine at Augusta’s Bangor campus. 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, seasonal affective disorder is a variant of depression that is tied directly to seasons, such as winter months, and may affect millions of Americans every year. Exact numbers are unavailable, as some people may not even know they have the condition, according to the institute. 

Dr. Jennifer Blossom, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of Maine at Orono, said the absence of sunlight in winter months is thought to be one of the triggers of the disorder, which means a lack of sunlight due to bad weather could also trigger the disorder in the summer. 

Just as in the winter, there is no one single thing that people can do to counteract the weather’s effects, but Blossom said people who typically treat themselves for the disorder in winter could do the same now. 

“In general, if they have strategies that they know that work (they should be) taking a preventative approach to this recognizing that these longer periods of kind of gloomy, rainy, gray days might have an impact,” Blossom said. 

Blossom said those treatments could include using a light box or similar methods. Corlew said some patients may not think to seek treatment in the summer, but she encouraged them not to wait. 

“I would say, anything that they do over the winter to really boost that serotonin and make it through, go ahead and definitely take care of yourself even though it’s summer,” she said. 

Even people who don’t normally suffer from seasonal-affective disorder can feel run down by persistently gloomy days, Corlew said. Good advice for everyone, she said, is to go outdoors whenever possible. 

“Take a walk outside, do whatever you can,” she said. “Even just go sit on your back porch for a little bit, can help a lot, or have the windows open during the day. People who have SAD can feel better in just one pretty day.” 

Blossom added that taking advantage of a break in the weather that only lasts for a few hours has long-term benefits, too. It’s easy, she said, to think that for weeks on end there’s been no relief, but tying small breaks to activities, such as walking the dog, carries over into the gloomy moments. 

“That’s going to shift your recall of today,” she said. “(You’ll think) ‘Well, it couldn’t have rained all day, I was walking my dog in the morning.’”  

Other good advice, Blossom said, includes maintaining physical activity, getting enough sleep, and planning and doing enjoyable activities.