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The winter solstice was Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While sunlight increases daily after that, winter won’t be over for a while yet.

The Associated Press spoke to experts in Norway, Sweden and Finland about how they cope with the winter blues. Here’s how they suggest looking for light, literally and figuratively, during the darkest months of the year:

Maintain sleep and social habits

The dark winter affects our circadian rhythm. With limited daylight, our internal body clocks cannot reset or synchronize properly, and it throws off our sleep. We may sleep longer in the winter, but we don’t wake up refreshed and can remain tired the rest of the day.

Try a dawn simulator, sometimes known as a sunrise alarm clock, to gradually light up your bedroom and ease you awake, suggested Dr. Timo Partonen, a research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

In addition to being more tired, we’re more likely to withdraw from others in the wintertime. We’re more irritable, Partonen said, and more prone to arguments.

It’s important to maintain our relationships, he said, because symptoms rarely improve in isolation.

And since keeping up with exercise is also key to combating the winter blues, consider inviting a friend along for a workout.

It could also help keep off the wintertime weight gain — typically 4 to 11 pounds a year, Partonen said — that’s fed by cravings for carbohydrates, especially in the evenings.

Light therapy

Millions of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from seasonal depression. Also known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, patients typically have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer.

Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness. Sunlight is loaded with blue light, so when the cells absorb it, our brains’ alertness centers are activated, and we feel more awake and possibly even happier.

Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months. That suggests a cause for wintertime depression.

In severe cases, people need clinical support and antidepressant medications.

Christian Benedict, a pharmacology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, suggests light therapy for people with SAD as well as those who have a milder case of the winter blues.

“It’s not like it’s a fate, an annual or a seasonal fate, and you cannot do anything about it,” Benedict said.

A routine of morning light therapy, using devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light, can be beneficial for both people with and without SAD.

Research supports using a light that’s about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness, for 30 minutes every morning. Special lights run from $20 to $400, though some products marketed for SAD are not bright enough to be useful. Your insurance company might cover at least part of the cost if you’ve been diagnosed with SAD.

Partonen recommended using both a dawn simulator and a light therapy device each day before noon.

Yale has tested products and has a list of recommendations, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has a consumer guide to selecting a light.

Prioritize a positive outlook

And don’t forget to, well, look on the bright side. It’s crucial to embrace winter instead of dreading it, according to Ida Solhaug, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Tromsø, also known as the Arctic University of Norway — the world’s northernmost university.

Prioritize a positive outlook as a survival strategy and learn to appreciate the seasons. It’s a typical Norwegian way of thinking, she said, that can make all the difference when there’s very little daylight for months.

“It’s part of the culture,” Solhaug said.

And don’t forget to take advantage of both outdoor and indoor hobbies, she said. Inside, channel hygge — the Danish obsession with getting cozy — and snuggle up on the couch with blankets and a movie.

But don’t hibernate all winter. After the film finishes, head outside. Even during cloudy days, a quick walk in the fresh air will help, she said. And if you’re brave enough, do a cold plunge.

“Challenge yourself to look for light in the darkness,” she said.

After all, as many Nordic people say, there’s no such thing as bad weather — only bad clothing.

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