I'm in the minority I think because not only does the light change not affect my mood, but I love the Pacific Northwest rainforest gloom all winter! If you want to know my secretly held stereotypes, I would be a bit of a goth and more than a bit a treehugger! I love the aesthetic and it feels (and smells) like the earth is regenerating around me and preparing to EXPLODE in spring as the Pacific Northwest does.

That being said, the time change itself is terrible for 3-7 days and can cause noticeable ripples in my mood. I keep it more toward the 3 days end of that spectrum by being very strict about my light exposure and melatonin timing for a week before and after.

What the winter low light does affect is my energy level. Oddly enough I don't get any more depressed than any other time of year, I'm just more tired and want to stay in a lot. Also more likely to lose my sleep cycle due to the lack of sun sync.

SAD-type lighting helps SO MUCH. I am absolutely fanatical about it, it's on a timer 7am to 5pm whether I'm awake or not - my reasoning is the sun doesn't stay down if I decide to oversleep and neither should my circadian lighting. I actually just moved one light a lot closer to my face where I sleep due to unrelated reasons and I'm waking up faster now.

Whether or not you make your work/living area BRIGHT all day or just use a box in the morning, folks... it can help so much if you use it very consistently and it is bright enough. Go dig it out and put it on a timer! PM me if you want tips on setting up artificial daylight with inexpensive lamps and bulbs. I am so glad to help.