For many neurodivergent people, including those with ADHD, autism, or both, winter brings noticeable shifts in mood, energy, and overall wellbeing. While seasonal changes affect everyone to some degree, they tend to hit neurodivergent nervous systems much harder. Add the pressures of Christmas, and what’s meant to be a joyful season can become overwhelming, exhausting, or even distressing. Understanding why this happens can help reduce shame and make space for strategies that genuinely support you.
Why Winter Hits Harder
One major factor is dopamine. ADHD is closely linked to differences in dopamine regulation, and winter naturally reduces dopamine availability because daylight drops. Sunlight helps regulate our circadian rhythms and supports dopamine production; when days shorten, motivation, focus, and energy often decline. Many people with ADHD describe a sense of heaviness, dread, or “I just can’t start” paralysis that becomes stronger in winter.
Cortisol, the body’s stress hormone, also shifts seasonally. With less morning light, cortisol rises later and more slowly, making it harder to wake up and gather energy. For people whose cortisol rhythms are already irregular (common in ADHD and autism), this can create low-energy mornings followed by rising anxiety later in the day.
When autism coexists with ADHD, these seasonal effects intensify. Autistic people often have heightened sensory sensitivity, stronger stress responses, difficulty switching tasks, and intolerance of uncertainty. Combined with dopamine drops and seasonal exhaustion, winter can feel like an “energetic shutdown.” Tasks feel overwhelming not because they’re big, but because the nervous system is depleted.
Christmas: A Perfect Storm of Social, Sensory, and Financial Pressure
The festive season adds additional layers of challenge. Christmas often means:
· work parties
· social expectations
· disrupted routines
· bright lights, loud music, and crowded environments
· complicated family dynamics
· financial stress and pressure to buy gifts
· impulsive spending driven by dopamine-seeking
For neurodivergent people, this combination can easily lead to overwhelm, burnout, or shutdown.
Strategies to Support Yourself Through Winter and Christmas
1. Boost light exposure intentionally
· Use a daylight lamp for 15–30 minutes in the morning.
· Open curtains immediately after waking.
· Try short outdoor walks whenever possible.
Light stabilises dopamine and cortisol, improving mood and motivation.
2. Create predictable routines, but keep them gentle
Winter often disrupts rhythms, so aim for “anchors” rather than perfect schedules: set wake-up times, morning rituals, or specific wind-down cues.
3. Reduce Christmas overwhelm by setting boundaries
· Attend fewer events.
· Leave early if you need to.
· Choose quieter or smaller gatherings.
· Give yourself permission to say no, or to participate differently (e.g., arriving late, stepping outside for breaks).
4. Manage sensory input proactively
· Use earplugs or noise-dampening headphones.
· Wear tinted glasses in bright or twinkling environments.
· Plan sensory-friendly shopping times or shop online.
5. Simplify gift expectations
· Set budgets early.
· Use lists to avoid impulsive spending.
· Consider low-cost or non-traditional gifts (handmade items, acts of service, baked goods).
6. Build in recovery time
After social events, shopping trips, or stressful days, schedule rest as an intentional part of your plans, not an afterthought.
You’re Not Failing, Your Nervous System Is Working Hard
If winter and Christmas feel heavier, more stressful, or more draining for you, there’s a biological and sensory reason. You’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone. With awareness and supportive strategies, it’s possible to navigate the season with more ease, compassion, and stability.