As the sun starts to set a little earlier, the carefree pace of summer starts fading away. This comes with subtle shifts in routines, and it’s normal for many people to feel an unexpected heaviness settle in with these shifts. Maybe it’s the thought of busier schedules, the pressure of getting “back on track” or simply the loss of long warm evenings. The shift from summer to fall can stir up a variety of emotions.
Another big factor for many can be the reduction in exposure to sunlight. A new large-scale study published in Green Health examined how sunshine duration relates to the risk of developing depression. Researchers used data from the UK Biobank and followed over 336,000 participants for a median of 13 years.
They found that longer sunshine duration was linked to a lower risk of incident depression, with the effects particularly strong among older adults, alcohol consumers, those who spent less time outdoors and individuals with lower physical activity.
Biological aspects, especially vitamin D metabolism, calcium regulation, immune and inflammatory markers and sleep rhythms, together explained about 30% of this protective effect.
Simply speaking, this suggests that greater exposure to sunlight may act as a natural antidepressant. This is because of its influence on biological and behavioral processes that underpin mood regulation.
With the coming of fall, many people can experience “summer-end anxiety.” While seasonal changes are inevitable and you cannot stop the days from getting shorter, there are practical ways to support your mood and mental well-being during this seasonal shift.
Here are three ways to deal with summer-end anxiety.
1. Accept What You’re Feeling
When you feel a bit anxious and stressed, it’s natural to try to cope with these changes. And one common strategy is cognitive reappraisal, where you consciously try to reframe a situation in a more positive or manageable light. Undoubtedly, this technique can be effective in many contexts. However, its role during seasonal transitions is a little complex.
A 2024 longitudinal study published in Current Psychology examined how everyday emotion regulation strategies are associated with depressive symptoms across seasonal transitions.
These strategies include rumination, suppression, reappraisal and acceptance. Researchers studied nearly 200 participants through the seasons of summer, autumn, early winter and late winter. They found that depressive symptoms and rumination increased from summer to early winter. On the other hand, acceptance as a coping strategy decreased.
Interestingly, higher engagement in reappraisal, alongside rumination, was also associated with higher depressive symptoms. Both emerged as temporal precursors, which means increases in these strategies predicted later spikes in depressive symptoms.
So, while reappraisal can be helpful in certain contexts, during seasonal transitions it may backfire if overused or applied rigidly. This is possibly because people are reframing their worries without truly processing their emotions.
Instead, what’s likely more helpful is to use reappraisal balanced with acceptance. Participants who were more likely to use acceptance as a coping strategy also displayed lower levels of depressive symptoms.
Acceptance allows you to acknowledge and sit with your emotions rather than constantly trying to “think them away.” This nuanced approach can provide a more resilient emotional buffer during periods of seasonal change.
Instead of trying to immediately “think positively” about a situation, allow yourself to fully experience your emotions and acknowledge them without judgment. Once you’ve recognized your feelings, you can gently reframe the situation in a more manageable way. This prevents your mind from pushing away difficult emotions while still promoting a more adaptive perspective.
2. Bring Nature Indoors To Reduce Rumination
The beginning of fall can come with a reminder of how the year is starting to wind down. There can be a kind of emotional weight attached to this. Thinking of how close the year is to its end can trigger reflection on how the year has been so far and based on how one reflects, it can be a major determining factor in how hopeful or triggered someone feels.
In the case of looking at your year with regret, or not having achieved anything that you thought you would or only some of it, it can bring a certain kind of pressure to “make things happen” before the year actually does come to an end.
A 2025 study published in Environmental Research and Public Health offers a simple suggestion to handle such thoughts. Researchers explored whether interacting with nature in a structured way, specifically tending to an indoor plant, could reduce rumination and improve mental well-being after stressful life events.
With 26 participants randomly assigned to two groups, they found that participants who cared for a plant experienced significant reductions in depressive symptoms, perceived stress, negative affect and rumination. Their resilience increased compared to the other group, who didn’t have this interaction.
Caring for the plant offered a slice of nature indoors, which helped create a connection to the natural world. In a way, it also created a personal sanctuary that helped regulate emotions and reduce rumination, as well as symbolically encouraged self-care and personal growth.
Even the simple, daily act of tending to a plant can help you create a reciprocal relationship between nature and personal well-being. This can strengthen your resilience during stressful periods.
3. Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Your Daily Routine
The very first sign of the end of summer begins with the cooler mornings and a shift in daylight exposure. This shift can often disrupt your daily rhythm. You may find yourself finding it harder to wake up, your energy might dip sooner and habits like exercise, meal times or relaxation practices can easily go for a toss. These disruptions can heighten summer-end anxiety, only making it harder to manage your mood and stress levels.
In fact, a large cohort study explored the link between sleep regularity and mental health outcomes and found that participants with irregular sleep patterns faced a significantly higher risk of developing depression and anxiety, even when they achieved the recommended sleep duration.
Those with both irregular sleep and adverse sleep length had the highest risk. Behind the scenes, irregular sleep disrupts circadian clocks, affects neurotransmitters, impairs emotion regulation in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, dysregulates cortisol and can trigger systemic inflammation.
All of these effects can drastically impact one’s mood. Researchers suggest that younger adults and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals particularly benefit from maintaining consistent sleep-wake patterns.
To stabilize your sleep schedule, aim to go to bed and wake up at roughly the same times each day, even as daylight decreases. Try combining this with morning light exposure, such as spending a few minutes outside or near a bright window. This can help reinforce your natural circadian rhythms.
Maintaining structured daily routines for meals, work, exercise and relaxation provides a predictable framework to support both mood and energy. Additionally, incorporating mindful movement in a way that works for you and your routine, such as short breaks for stretching, yoga or meditation, can be a cherry on top.
Like a well-tuned clock, your routine can help keep your inner world aligned, adding to your resilience when the seasons change.
Let the fading warmth of summer act as an invitation to pause and recalibrate. You are not only managing stress, but also cultivating a deeper awareness of how you move through time and change.
Embrace the opportunity to slow down and savor simple pleasures to reconnect with what truly grounds you. By treating this period as a gentle reset, you can step into the months ahead with clarity and a sense of calm purpose. What might feel like an ending can also be a true beginning for growth and self-discovery in the months that follow.
Is the seasonal transition stirring up your overthinking? Take this science-backed test to find out: Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire
