Winter Blues in New Jersey: What They Are, How They Differ From SAD, and When to Get Evaluated

Labyrinth Psychiatry Group · Published November 10, 2026 · Prepared by the practice’s editorial team · Sources read November 10, 2026

The short answer

The winter blues are a mild, short-lived drop in mood and energy that many people feel when the days get short. The term is not a medical diagnosis. A mental health expert at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Matthew Rudorfer, put it this way in NIH News in Health: “Winter blues is a general term, not a medical diagnosis. It’s fairly common, and it’s more mild than serious. It usually clears up on its own in a fairly short amount of time.”

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is different. In the same article Dr. Rudorfer calls it “a well-defined clinical diagnosis that’s related to the shortening of daylight hours” that “interferes with daily functioning over a significant period of time.” The American Psychiatric Association says the same in one line: “SAD is more than just ‘winter blues.’”

Three questions separate the two:

• How long has it lasted? The blues pass in a short time. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) draws the line for depression at symptoms “most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks.”
• Is it getting in the way? The blues are “more mild than serious.” SAD “interferes with daily functioning.”
• Does it come back every year? For a SAD diagnosis, NIMH says depressive episodes must occur in the same season “for at least 2 consecutive years.”

If your answers are “weeks,” “yes,” or “every winter,” that is the point to be evaluated. The rest of this page gives the detail, with New Jersey’s daylight numbers.

Winter blues vs. holiday blues vs. seasonal affective disorder

People use three terms for a low December. The sources treat them as three different things. Each cell below is what the named source says, read on November 10, 2026.

Sources for the table: NIH News in Health, NIMH, the American Psychiatric Association and Kasper 1989.

Two of these have their own guides on this site. If the low mood follows a death, read grief during the holidays. If the season brings more drinking, read holiday drinking and your mental health. If it already looks like SAD, our seasonal depression guide covers the treatments: light therapy, CBT-SAD and medication.

Signs of the winter blues, and where they stop being “just” the blues

NIMH describes the ordinary version first: “Many people go through short periods when they feel sad or unlike their usual selves. Sometimes, these mood changes begin and end when the seasons change.” Many people “feel ‘down’ or have the ‘winter blues’ when the days get shorter in the fall and winter and feel better in the spring when longer daylight hours return.”

Then it marks the turn: “Sometimes, these mood changes are more serious and can affect how a person feels, thinks, and behaves.” That is where SAD begins. NIMH lists three signs that go with the winter pattern, on top of the symptoms of depression:

• Oversleeping (hypersomnia).
• Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates, leading to weight gain.
• Social withdrawal, which NIMH describes as feeling like “hibernating.”

Seasonal change in mood runs along a scale. NIMH researchers surveyed randomly selected households in Montgomery County, Maryland, by telephone and published the results in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 1989. They found that 92% of people “noticed seasonal changes of mood and behavior to varying degrees.” For 27% the changes “were a problem.” Between 4.3% and 10%, depending on the definition used, rated their seasonal impairment as equal to that of patients with seasonal affective disorder. People who felt worst in winter outnumbered those who felt worst in summer by 4.5 to 1. The authors’ conclusion: SAD “represents the extreme end of the spectrum of seasonality that affects a large percentage of the general population.”

So the question is not whether you have “it” or not. The question is how far along that scale this winter has put you.

How dark New Jersey gets, by the numbers

Both conditions follow daylight. The table below uses the U.S. Naval Observatory’s sunrise and sunset times for three points in the state: the north end, our office in Cranford, and the south end.

Three things stand out. Each of the three places loses between 5 hours 29 minutes and 5 hours 57 minutes of daylight from June 21 to December 21. On the shortest day the three are within 14 minutes of each other, so the whole state is in much the same position. And in Cranford on December 21 the sun is up from 7:18 a.m. to 4:33 p.m. Someone who is indoors from nine to five sees daylight on the way in and at lunch, and nothing after work.

Latitude matters for SAD. In the NIH article, Dr. Rudorfer says “in Florida only about 1% of the population is likely to suffer from SAD,” while “about 10% of people in Alaska may be affected.” A 1990 study in Psychiatry Research mailed the same questionnaire to people in Nashua, New Hampshire; New York, New York; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Sarasota, Florida. Rates of winter SAD and of the milder, subsyndromal form “were found to be significantly higher at the more northern latitudes.” New York City, one of the four sites, is the nearest of them to Cranford.

These times come from the Naval Observatory. Our seasonal depression guide used a different sunrise calculator, so its Cranford times differ from these by a few minutes.

When do the winter blues end? When the light comes back to Cranford

NIMH says people with the winter blues “feel better in the spring when longer daylight hours return.” The light starts to return well before spring. Here is the Naval Observatory’s schedule for Cranford.

• The evenings turn first. Sunset is 4:30 p.m. on December 7 and 4:33 p.m. on December 21. It is already later on the shortest day than it was two weeks before.
• The mornings lag. Sunrise is 7:18 a.m. on December 21 and 7:21 a.m. on January 4. The morning is darker two weeks after the shortest day than on it.
• January 20: sunset reaches 5:00 p.m.
• January 31: the day is 10 hours 6 minutes long, the same as on November 10.
• February 28: 11 hours 14 minutes, one minute short of two hours more than on December 21.

The light and the mood do not move on the same schedule. The American Psychiatric Association says the most difficult months for people with SAD in the United States “tend to be January and February,” after the days have begun to lengthen. If you are still low in late February, with nearly two more hours of daylight than in December, tell a clinician.

How to beat the winter blues: what the NIH suggests

The NIH article ends with a short list. It says these self-care tips “might help with seasonal depression.” They are quoted here as written:

• “Go to a movie, take a walk, go ice-skating or do other activities you normally enjoy.”
• “Get out in the sunlight or brightly lit spaces, especially early in the day.”
• “Try to spend time with other people and confide in a trusted friend or relative.”
• “Eat nutritious foods, and avoid overloading on carbohydrates like cookies and candies.”
• “Be patient. You won’t suddenly ‘snap out of’ depression. Your mood will improve gradually.”

The second tip has a New Jersey schedule. On December 21 the sun rises in Cranford at 7:18 a.m. and sets at 4:33 p.m. On January 4 it rises at 7:21 a.m. and sets at 4:43 p.m. “Early in the day” means the walk to the train, the school drop-off, or the first half of a lunch break. After work it is dark.

Three things people ask about, and what the sources say:

• Light boxes. NIMH describes light therapy as a treatment for winter-pattern SAD: a 10,000-lux box, “about 20 times brighter than ordinary indoor light,” used for about 30 to 45 minutes, usually first thing in the morning. It adds that people with certain eye diseases or on certain medications may need to use it under medical supervision. Our seasonal depression guide covers how it is used.
• Vitamin D. NIMH says studies of vitamin D for SAD “have produced mixed results,” and that it can interact with some medications.
• Tanning beds. The light box used for SAD “filters out the potentially damaging UV light” (NIMH). The Food and Drug Administration says evidence suggests that tanning “greatly increases your risk of developing skin cancer.”

The NIH list carries its own limit: “See a mental health professional if sadness doesn’t go away or interferes with your daily life.”

When it is time to be evaluated

None of these signs is a diagnosis. Each one is a reason the sources give for talking to a professional instead of waiting for spring.

• It has lasted weeks. NIH: “If you’re feeling blue this winter, and if the feelings last for several weeks, talk to a health care provider.” NIMH’s line for depression is symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks.
• It is getting in the way. Work, school, parenting or relationships are slipping. That is the difference Dr. Rudorfer draws: SAD “interferes with daily functioning.”
• It is the same story as last winter. NIMH’s criterion for SAD is episodes in the same season for at least 2 consecutive years.
• The winter-pattern signs are there. Oversleeping, overeating with carbohydrate cravings and weight gain, and pulling away from people (NIMH).
• You have had depression or bipolar disorder before. NIMH says SAD “is more common in people with depression or bipolar disorder, especially bipolar II disorder.”
• You feel hopeless or worthless, or have thoughts of death or suicide. These are on NIMH’s list of depression symptoms. Do not wait for an appointment: call or text 988 now, or call 911 if someone is in immediate danger.

Waiting has a cost. Dr. Rudorfer in the NIH article: “It’s true that SAD goes away on its own, but that could take 5 months or more. Five months of every year is a long time to be impaired and suffering.”

What an evaluation looks like at Labyrinth

Labyrinth Psychiatry Group is an adult psychiatry practice at 11 Commerce Drive, Lobby Floor, in Cranford, with telehealth visits. The first visit is an evaluation, not a treatment decision. As our what to expect page describes it, the clinician “reviews symptoms, history, prior response, safety, health factors, preferences, and goals.” NIMH adds that a provider may have you fill out a questionnaire to see whether your symptoms meet the criteria for SAD.

It helps to bring three things: when the low mood started this year, what the last two winters were like, and a list of every medication and supplement you take. The depression and anxiety evaluation page explains what the practice treats. If you are new to the practice, the new-patients page covers how to start. Call 908-336-1187 or use the appointment request form.

Get help now

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline answers calls and texts to 988 and offers online chat. Its site says: “The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential.”

Questions people ask about the winter blues