Winter can be a particularly challenging time for emotional wellbeing. Shorter days, colder weather, and disrupted routines can all make it harder to stay regulated. For individuals using Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills, this seasonal shift can increase vulnerability to emotional dysregulation. In this blog for DBT-UK, we explore winter regulation tips that can help you stay grounded, balanced, and emotionally supported throughout the colder months.

Why Winter Can Affect Emotional Regulation

From a DBT perspective, emotional regulation is influenced by both internal and external factors. During winter, reduced sunlight can affect sleep patterns and energy levels, while cold weather often limits outdoor activity and social contact. These changes may increase emotional sensitivity and reduce access to positive experiences—both of which can make regulating emotions more difficult.

Understanding this seasonal impact is an important first step. Winter regulation tips are not about “pushing through” or ignoring how you feel, but about responding skilfully to seasonal challenges with compassion and intention.

Winter Regulation Tips Using DBT Skills

1. Prioritise PLEASE Skills in Winter

DBT’s PLEASE skills focus on reducing vulnerability to emotional dysregulation by taking care of your physical health. In winter, this becomes especially important.

• Treat Physical Illness: Colds and flu are more common, and being unwell can lower emotional resilience. Rest and seek medical advice when needed.

• Balanced Eating: Comfort foods are tempting, but aim for regular, nourishing meals to stabilise mood and energy.

• Avoid Mood-Altering Substances: Alcohol use can increase during winter but may worsen low mood and emotional instability.

• Sleep: Dark mornings and long nights can disrupt sleep. Establish a consistent bedtime routine and use light exposure in the morning if needed.

• Exercise: Gentle movement, even indoors, can support both physical and emotional regulation.

These winter regulation tips help create a stable foundation for managing emotions more effectively.

2. Self-soothe by Building Warmth Into Your Routine

Warmth is not just physical—it can be emotional too. Cold weather can heighten feelings of withdrawal, so intentionally creating warmth can be regulating.

Consider warm showers, cosy blankets, hot drinks, or soft lighting as part of your daily routine. From a DBT lens, these are forms of self-soothing using the senses. Small, regular moments of comfort can significantly reduce emotional intensity during winter.

3. Increase Pleasant Events (Especially When Motivation Is Low)

Winter often reduces access to enjoyable activities, which can impact mood. DBT encourages scheduling pleasant events to counteract this.

Your winter regulation tips might include:

• Watching a favourite series under a blanket

• Doing a creative indoor hobby

• Listening to uplifting music or podcasts

• Connecting with others online or in person

Motivation often follows action, not the other way around. Even small pleasant activities can support emotional regulation over time.

4. Use Opposite Action for Winter Withdrawal

It is common to feel the urge to withdraw socially during winter. While rest is important, complete isolation can increase low mood and emotional dysregulation.

If you notice urges to avoid everything, opposite action may help. This could mean sending one message, attending a short social interaction, or stepping outside briefly during daylight hours. These winter regulation tips are about finding a balance between rest and engagement.

5. Practise Mindfulness of the Season

Rather than fighting winter, mindfulness encourages noticing it as it is. Observe the quieter pace, the darker evenings, and your emotional responses without judgement.

Mindfulness can help reduce secondary emotions such as shame or frustration about feeling low. Accepting that winter is harder for many people can, in itself, be regulating.

Compassion Is Key

Perhaps the most important of all winter regulation tips is self-compassion. Emotional regulation does not mean feeling good all the time. It means responding to emotions skilfully, especially during more difficult seasons.

Winter can ask more of us emotionally. Adjusting expectations, using DBT skills flexibly, and offering yourself kindness are not signs of weakness—they are signs of effective regulation.

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