We associate joy and anticipation with the holidays, but realistically, the many disruptions can also take a toll. For many it means breaks from healthy dietary, exercise and sleep routines. Others are plagued with time and finance concerns or experience physical and mental fatigue from family and holiday chaos.

Winter months can be a mixed bag: Even as we mingle with friends and family, some also struggle with financial stress or mixed emotions about a recent loss or change in family dynamics. But there’s another silent winter impostor that can cast a cloud over the holidays, and linger long after: Seasonal Affective Disorder, or appropriately, SAD.

Right now, we could all use a strategy to help us achieve better mental health and keep our minds focused on better times ahead. Start by practicing habits that build resiliency.

Nothing could be more important than your health—and that includes your mental health. May is National Mental Health Awareness month, it’s a good time to think about ways you can prioritize your mental well-being, especially given the challenges the pandemic has created for many over the past year or so.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and National Adolescent Health Month, giving us the perfect opportunity to normalize conversations about adolescent mental health. Navigating emotions is often difficult for everyone, regardless of age. Children and adolescents, in particular, have less experience getting through new situations and handling the emotions that can accompany them. Young people may view sad thoughts as permanent instead of temporary, for example, and find it difficult to find a path forward.

You may have heard about this month’s “Movember” movement—the month-long period in which men grow a mustache—but how much do you really know about this cause? This November promotion is simply an attention-getting approach to raise awareness around health challenges men face.

The Thanksgiving holiday offers a special opportunity to adopt an attitude of gratitude for all the good things we’ve received during the current year, as well as for our families and friends. And some research shows that incorporating a more frequent practice of expressing gratitude may provide year-round benefits.

It’s National Garden Month, which “celebrates the great American tradition of gardening at home, at school and in the community,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A vegetable garden is a great way to have some control over your food supply, eat healthier, and save time and money by reducing trips to the grocery store. It may surprise you, however, that the benefits of your garden – or gardens – extend far beyond your household.

April also happens to be the American Heart Association’s “Move More Month” to motivate and encourage people to incorporate more movement and less sitting into their days, enhancing both physical and mental health. They also offer on-demand videos of varying lengths on their website so you can easily fit some movement (and meditation) into your day on breaks, over your lunch hour, or before or after work.

Long-standing stigmas surrounding mental health and mental health illnesses have slowly eroded, thanks in part to recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, which began in 1946. The month’s focus helps people recognize that mental health is about more than just mental disorders.

June is Employee Wellness Month, and Transocean is committed to providing you with the tools and resources for managing your physical, financial, social, and emotional wellness.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month – a time, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, to raise awareness and discuss this highly stigmatized topic. According to the latest published statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2021 suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.