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Dreading a long, dark and socially distanced Wisconsin winter? Here are 5 tips from mental health experts and a South Pole-based scientist.

Bill Wambeke/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

We may like to act tough, but Wisconsin winters can wear down even the most hearty among us. 

The temperatures plunge. The snow piles up. It's dark when you wake up in the morning, and when you get off work at night. And this year – as if that wasn't enough – the coronavirus pandemic will prevent many of us from indulging in our usual cures for the cold. Packing into a crowded space with friends and family to enjoy a warm beverage is strongly discouraged by health officials right now.

How to take care of your mental health during the Wisconsin winter
We asked mental health providers how best to take care of yourself during this strangest of winters. Here's what they said.
Brooke Eberle and Madeline Heim, Wochit

COVID-19 has already devastated Americans' mental health as the stresses from illness, job loss and an uncertain future pile up. A September investigation from the Journal of the American Medical Association found that depressive symptoms were three times higher among U.S. adults during the pandemic than before. During late June, 40% of adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found

Things are worse for particular demographic groups, the CDC study reported – for example, more than a quarter of respondents ages 18-24 reported having seriously considered suicide in the previous 30 days.

And for some, pandemic trauma is compounded by experiences with racism and social injustice, triggered by police killings of Black people and the chaotic lead-up to the presidential election. Sheng Lee, director of Appleton-based Us 2 Behavioral Health Care, which aims to provide better counseling for people of color, said she's seen an uptick in recent weeks of clients reporting thoughts of suicide, even among those who have not struggled with those thoughts before.   

"Really what we’re looking at here is a complexity of acute stress and traumatic events all wrapped into people’s emotional wellbeing," Lee said.

A harsh winter in the upper Midwest won't help matters. Mental health experts say the confluence of pandemic-related depression and seasonal affective disorder (better known as SAD), a type of depression that arises when days get cold and dark, could be particularly hard on Wisconsinites this year. 

"The winter is coming, people know it's coming, and they usually find coping skills," said Mary Kay Battaglia, executive director of Wisconsin's chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "Some of those coping skills aren't going to be an option this year." 

We've asked mental health providers how best to take care of yourself during this strangest of winters. But we've also enlisted someone who's known the constant dark and bone-chilling cold to a greater degree than we've likely experienced it. 

Physicist John Hardin has spent the last year at the South Pole working for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's IceCube Neutrino Observatory, where scientists from around the world are attempting to map the universe using subatomic particles. He's one of two staff members who "winter over" in Antarctica to maintain the particle detector while the rest of the team heads back north. 

The temperature can drop below minus-100 degrees Fahrenheit, and because the sun only rises and sets once a year, much of the winter is spent in complete darkness. There are 40-some others who stay the winter at the scientific station – so a bigger crowd than what our "bubbles" will be – but it's still isolating at the bottom of the world, he said. 

Hardin's tips for surviving the winter line up with what providers recommend. Here are some you can follow: 

Get creative in your communication 

Get creative in your communication 

Today's tech makes it easier than ever to stay connected even when we're apart, Battaglia said, so to help stave off isolation, recommit to some regular phone calls, FaceTimes or Zoom happy hours this season. Catching up with old friends outside your regular circle can freshen the routine up. 

Battling Zoom fatigue? Lee suggests looking for other ways to connect, like starting a pen pal program with someone in a nursing home or sending letters and postcards through the mail. We're all still trying to support the U.S. Postal Service, right?

Make a new, pandemic-friendly holiday tradition

Make a new, pandemic-friendly holiday tradition

No matter your situation, the holidays will look different this year, and for people who love to get festive with family and friends, the thought of being without that can sting. 

Battaglia suggests putting a virtual spin on something new. Maybe your friends swap Christmas cookie recipes over email, or your family hosts an ornament decorating contest or karaoke night over Zoom. Whatever it is, it won't carry the loss of not being able to do it "as usual," and next year, she said, you can do it together.  

Dress for the weather – then get outside

Dress for the weather – then get outside

Ultra-frigid temps aren't so bad once you've got the right gear, Hardin said. For the South Pole, that's a thick parka, boots and insulated overalls, a balaclava mask, hat and goggles to protect the eyes, and winter gloves under gigantic mittens they call "bear paws."

It makes star-gazing, one of his favorite Antarctic activities, easier. "A few times I just went outside, laid down on the snow and looked straight up," he said. 

We might not even need that many layers. "We're Wisconsinites," Battaglia said. "(We) sit at the Packer game in blizzard snow." She plans to continue setting up chairs 10 feet apart around her firepit for friends to gather throughout the winter, provided they bring their own food and drink. 

We can take our cues from Scandinavian countries that also experience long bouts of cold and darkness. The Norwegian concept of "friluftsliv," for example, celebrates outdoor living no matter the weather.

Someone experiencing depression may not feel like taking a miles-long trek through the snow, though, Battaglia said. Even a walk around the block – preferably while it's light out – would be enough.

Pick up a project

Pick up a project

"Make some progress on something. It's very valuable," Hardin recommended. During the winter he turned to reading, coding, teaching informal classes on quantum mechanics and growing fresh greens, herbs, peppers and even a strawberry in the station's hydroponic greenhouse. 

We can't all teach classes on quantum mechanics – but you might set a goal to read a book series, or something similar. 

Seek mental health help however is best for you

Seek mental health help however is best for you

Telehealth has proved a huge advantage for people needing to start or continue therapy during the pandemic. Us 2 is operating 99% virtually, Lee said, but they also needed to figure out how to serve clients who didn't have an internet connection or a private room to devote to their session.

Some people drive up to their building's parking lot and utilize the Wi-Fi to connect with their therapist in the privacy of their car. It was "a complete stress reliever" for them, she said. 

For all the destruction COVID-19 has wrought, Lee said she hopes it can further destigmatize seeking help for mental health issues. Any time there is collective trauma, she said, there can also be collective healing. 

MADELINE HEIM covers health and science for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. A 2018 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she previously covered education for the Winona Daily News and is happily back in her home state, where she can root unapologetically for the Packers and continue her quest for the finest cheese curds in all the land.

Contact her at 920-996-7266 or; follow her on Twitter at @madeline_heim.