January is when we set intentions.
February is when many people quietly decide they’ve failed.
As winter progresses, the initial motivation of a “fresh start” has faded. The holidays are over. The days are still short. Energy hasn’t returned. And the goals that felt hopeful a few weeks earlier now feel like a reminder of the best life you could be living, but aren’t.
That’s often when the self-talk shifts:
What’s wrong with me?
Why is everyone else so perky?
Everyone else seems to be succeeding.
I hear this every winter—especially from women with [attention](https://www.psychologytod…
January is when we set intentions.
February is when many people quietly decide they’ve failed.
As winter progresses, the initial motivation of a “fresh start” has faded. The holidays are over. The days are still short. Energy hasn’t returned. And the goals that felt hopeful a few weeks earlier now feel like a reminder of the best life you could be living, but aren’t.
That’s often when the self-talk shifts:
What’s wrong with me?
Why is everyone else so perky?
Everyone else seems to be succeeding.
I hear this every winter—especially from women with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Seasonal Affective Disorder and ADHD
Adults with ADHD are much more likely to experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD)—a type of clinical depression tied to seasonal shifts in light and circadian rhythms.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, approximately 5 percent of adults experience SAD, and it lasts for approximately 40 percent of the year, with the worst months being January and February. It’s more common for women and for those who live farther from the equator, with symptoms often peaking in January and February.
It’s also significantly more common among people with ADHD. Research suggests individuals with ADHD are three to four times more likely than others to exhibit SAD symptoms. Even more commonly, they experience sub-syndromal seasonal symptoms—noticeable winter-linked changes in mood, energy, and motivation that don’t meet full diagnostic criteria but still meaningfully affect daily life.
In other words, while as many adults with ADHD experience clinical depression in winter, many more are functional but depleted.
Given how often ADHD already affects motivation, emotional regulation, and energy, I wanted to understand what winter looks like, specifically for women with ADHD.
For Women With ADHD, Winter Blues Are the Norm
A recent survey of 2,090 women conducted by the Harris Poll, in partnership with Understood.org, suggests that for women who identify as having ADHD, winter blues aren’t the exception. They’re the norm.
“Winter blues” refers to noticeable seasonal changes in mood, energy, and drive that fall short of a formal diagnosis but still shape how people function.
According to the survey, 79 percent of women with ADHD report experiencing the winter blues, 81 percent say they feel mentally overwhelmed this time of year, and 77 percent find it especially hard to motivate themselves in winter.
This is not a fringe experience. It’s the dominant one.
And though impactful to daily life, winter blues are easy to minimize, especially when you’re still managing to show up. You may be keeping up with work, maintaining relationships, and handling responsibilities. From the outside, everything may look just fine.
But internally, you feel the weight of everything taking more effort.
New Year’s Goals, and the Winter Mismatch
This is one of the more under-discussed reasons New Year’s goals run into trouble for women with ADHD. There are plenty of other pitfalls with New Year’s goals: Are they specific? Measurable? Attainable? Realistic? Time-bound? Often, the answer is no. We put a lot of pressure on our future selves. But beyond these more commonly recognized issues, we don’t talk enough about how our bodies can respond to winter.
New Year’s goals are built on assumptions that don’t hold in winter: Motivation will be consistent, and the burst of energy that comes from a "fresh start" will sustain.
But our bodies don’t work that way. Even without the winter blues, winter tends to be a time when our bodies feel more tired and crave comfort and rest. Reduced sun exposure can mean less vitamin D. More darkness can activate more melatonin. Regular exercise can help with energy, but winter activity tends to also be more sedentary.
ADHD Essential Reads
And honestly, that can all feel rather cozy. Except that modern life doesn’t allow most adults to slow down and snuggle in. So even without significant dips, it’s an odd time to strive for our best selves.
January Is Terrible Timing for Reinvention
While some benefit from New Year’s motivation, January may be the worst possible time for the pressure of reinvention. The Understood.org survey found that 58 percent of women—and 81 percent of women with ADHD—end up quitting or failing to meet their New Year’s goals. What begins as a joyful season often turns to exhaustion, with 75 percent of women with ADHD reporting frequent burnout.
One of the painful realities I see in practice is that women misinterpret their sluggishness or fatigue as laziness. I just need to try harder.
More often, the issue is perfectionism—a common pattern among those with ADHD, especially women. They’re not failing because they don’t care. They’re failing, in part, because they care too much. The survey found that 86 percent tend to procrastinate if they don’t have the time or energy to do tasks perfectly, and 85 percent often get mad at themselves for falling short of their own standards.
This is the cruel irony of the January reset. We ask ourselves to perform at our peak during our biological low point. Leaving no room for imperfection. Then blaming ourselves when we fall short.
An Alternate Path Forward
If you’re among the millions with abandoned New Year’s goals, consider a different approach.
One of my personal favorites, especially when perfectionism teams up with its best friend, procrastination: Lower the bar.
Another: Practice self-compassion. This is hard when your mind is in the habit of beating yourself up. The easiest inroad may be recognizing your common humanity. According to the survey, quitting your New Year’s goals puts you in the company of 81 percent of women with ADHD. And while you may judge yourself harshly, I suspect you wouldn’t extend that same judgment to the rest of us.
Finally, start small. When you feel stuck, just do something. Anything aligned with your goals, values, or simply what you find fun. But make it small. The ADHD brain struggles with what clinicians call "activation"—the ability to get started. So lower the barrier to entry. Set the tiniest of goals. If you fail, that’s not actually failure—it’s data. Try something else. Action is what gets you unstuck.
References
Jo, Y., Takagi, S., Shimizu, M., Takahashi, H., & Sugihara, G. (2025). Seasonal changes in mood and behaviors in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder trait. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 182, 462–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.01.044
Understood.org. (2025). Women, ADHD, and Winter Blues Survey. Conducted by The Harris Poll.
Wynchank, D. S., Bijlenga, D., Lamers, F., Bron, T. I., Winthorst, W. H., Vogel, S. W., Penninx, B. W., Beekman, A. T., & Kooij, J. S. (2016). ADHD, circadian rhythms and seasonality. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 81, 87–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2016.06.018