Summer Feels Weird: What to Do with the In-Between

The school year ends, and suddenly your calendar is wide open. No more classes. No more homework. No more daily routine. Friends you used to see every day are now traveling, working, or just not around. And even though summer is supposed to feel like a break, something about it feels strangely off, like you are floating around in space with nothing to keep you tethered to the ground.

You may not feel sad, exactly, but you’re not happy either. You wake up later than usual. You scroll more than you’d like. Your energy is low and your motivation feels even lower. It’s not quite depression, but when asked how you feel the first answer that comes to mind is “meh.”

That feeling is more common than you think.

The Unexpected Weight of Unstructured Time

During the school year, there’s a built-in rhythm. Schedules are packed, expectations are clear, and even your downtime is often planned. Once that structure disappears, it can be disorienting. You might find yourself unsure of what you’re supposed to be doing, or how you’re supposed to feel.

While freedom sounds great in theory, too much unstructured time can leave you feeling anxious, disconnected, or stuck. And that’s a completely normal response!

Why This “Weird” Feeling Happens

Transitions, even the positive ones, may stir up discomfort. As humans, we’re wired to crave rhythm, connection, and purpose. When those things fall away, your mood may shift in ways you didn’t expect. So what gives?

As it turns out, we all do best with some amount of structure and routine (how much depends on the person). Too little structure and we feel lost and drained of energy. Despite having nothing to do, we can’t seem to figure out how to get anything done. Conversely, too much on our calendar leaves us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. The key is finding the “sweet spot,” where you have enough on your calendar to create a sense of structure and motivation, but not so much that your body is in a constant state of stress.

Another factor that can contribute to the post-school year dip in mood is that our bodies tend to go into a bit of a “slump” after months of being constantly on the go. Ask anyone who does theatre how they feel after a show wraps up, and they will confirm that there is almost always a period of “post-show blues” or “post-performance depression.” A similar phenomenon can happen after the school year ends, and for some of the same reasons: you’ve been spending time with friends every day, engaged in activities like sports, arts and clubs, running on adrenaline to accomplish everything on your to-do list, and all of a sudden it’s just…over. Some of that is likely your body recovering from everything you just put it through, and with time you may notice yourself feeling better as your body gets the rest it needs.

So… What Can You Do?

You don’t need to overhaul your whole summer. Start small. A little bit of structure can go a long way in helping you feel more grounded and steady.

Here are a few low-stress ways to shift out of the summer haze:

Create a light routine.
How much routine may depend on what your body needs, so consider starting small and working your way up. Try waking up around the same time each day, eating regular meals, and getting outside at least once. If that feels doable, consider adding a few regularly scheduled activities from there. Simple rhythms can help anchor your day.
Stay connected.
Even if your closest people are unavailable, try reaching out. Text a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Attend a local class. Join a group or club. Try to avoid isolating for too long, as that can turn a slump into a depression.
Explore purpose.
Finding purpose doesn’t have to mean trying to save the world. But doing something that feels meaningful, like volunteering, trying a new hobby, learning a skill, or getting a summer job, can give your days a sense of direction.
Be kind to yourself.
You’re allowed to feel off. You’re allowed to take time to figure things out. The in-between isn’t wasted time. It can be a space for rest, reflection, and quiet growth.

Therapy Can Help You Navigate the In-Between

If you’re feeling stuck or emotionally all over the place this summer, talking to someone can help. At LynLake Centers for WellBeing, we offer therapy for teens, college students, and young adults navigating seasonal funks, big life shifts, or the general in-between.

Therapy isn’t just for when things fall apart. It’s also a space to build emotional awareness, explore your identity, and learn tools to feel more grounded, not just in the summer, but throughout the year.

You don’t have to fix the summer. But you can make it feel more like your own.

Reach out to LynLake Centers for WellBeing to connect with someone who understands, and who can help you find clarity in the middle of the mess.

Saying No This Summer: Giving Yourself Permission to Opt Out

Summer often comes with an unspoken pressure to say “yes.” Yes to rooftop parties, weekend trips, spontaneous outings, barbecues, and happy hours. It’s the “good time” season, so why wouldn’t you want to fill every calendar square with fun?

But behind all those “yeses,” many people are quietly feeling something they’re afraid to say out loud: overwhelmed, overextended, and craving a little space to breathe.

Whether you’re navigating a packed social calendar or juggling family schedules and commitments, the pressure to keep up – even with the fun stuff – can leave you feeling drained. If canceling plans brings up guilt, or you find yourself saying yes when you’re really craving rest, here’s your reminder: it’s okay to say no.
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When Fun Stops Feeling Fun

We often assume that if something is enjoyable, it shouldn’t be stressful. But a full calendar – even if it’s filled with good things – can still lead to fatigue and burnout. Constantly showing up, matching the energy in the room, or trying to stay “on” can take a toll, especially when you’re already stretched thin. Not to mention the impact a busy social schedule can have on your bank account!

Saying ‘yes’ to everything can mean saying ‘no’ to your own needs. And just because you could technically attend something doesn’t mean you should or have to.

Boundaries Aren’t Just for Conflict

We usually think of boundaries in the context of difficult people or high-stress situations. But learning to set limits with social events and “fun” obligations is almost just as important. Of course, everyone’s limits are unique and depend on a variety of factors, including job and family demands, disposable income, and health concerns, to name a few.

Establishing the best balance of going-out time vs. staying-in time might look like:

Choosing one event a weekend instead of three
Leaving a gathering early, even if no one else is
Skipping a party to rest and relax, not because of drama
Saying no to drinking alcohol when you’re just not feeling it

Boundaries help you stay in touch with how you actually feel… not how you think you’re supposed to feel.

Alcohol and Summer Social Pressure

Summer often brings more opportunities to drink. Beers at the lake, cocktails at happy hour, wine at backyard get-togethers—it’s woven into the rhythm of socializing in our society. But over time, even casual drinking can affect your mood, sleep, and anxiety.

If alcohol has become your go-to for relaxing or connecting with others, it might be helpful to pause and ask whether it’s still supporting your wellbeing, or whether it is quietly adding to your stress and exhaustion.

It’s okay to step back. It’s okay to say no to a drink, or to suggest a different kind of plan, something that feels more in line with what you actually need. Choosing not to drink doesn’t mean you’re missing out. It means you’re listening to your body and honoring what it needs (or doesn’t need).

Saying No Is an Act of Self-Respect

There’s a difference between isolation and intentional rest. There’s a difference between flaking out on your friends and choosing your own wellbeing. You don’t owe anyone your energy if you’re running on empty.

If summer is supposed to be about joy and freedom, you get to define what that looks like. Maybe it’s a quiet evening, a solo hike, or a slow morning without plans. Maybe this is the summer you experiment with doing less, and notice how it feels.

Therapy Can Help You Build These Skills

Saying no sounds simple, but it isn’t always easy, especially if you’ve been taught to prioritize others, avoid conflict, or say yes to keep the peace.

At LynLake Centers for WellBeing, therapy can help you practice setting boundaries without guilt, listening to your own needs, and feeling confident in your choices. Whether you’re navigating social pressure, burnout, or the emotional exhaustion of always trying to be available, support is here.

Boundaries aren’t about cutting people out. They’re about showing up with intention, care, and honesty, starting with yourself.

Reach out to LynLake Centers for WellBeing to start therapy and build the tools to protect your energy, honor your limits, and care for your mental health on your terms.
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Letting Go of the ‘Instagram-Worthy’ Summer

You scroll through your feed: friends on beach vacations, holding colorful drinks, catching golden hour light. Every photo looks easy, spontaneous, and perfectly timed. And before you even realize it, your own summer, working a job, staying home, or just trying to keep your head above water, starts to feel like it’s falling short.

That subtle pressure to make your summer look good is more common than it seems. In a world shaped by curated content and filtered moments, it’s easy to believe everyone else is living some ideal version of summer, while you’re stuck questioning your own.

But what you’re seeing is just one part of the story. A few edited seconds, not the full picture. Not the stress, the downtime, the awkwardness, or the uncertainty that lives in between.

When Summer Feels Like a Performance

For many teens and young adults, summer has come to feel like something to perform. Whether it’s a picnic, a hike, or just what you’re wearing that day, there can be an underlying pressure to turn everyday experiences into content (case in point: “Hot Girl Summer”).

That kind of constant evaluation can wear you down. It can make you second-guess how you spend your time, or feel like a day didn’t “count” if it wasn’t shared.

But slower days have value too. A summer spent resting, recovering, or just getting through the week is still a real summer, whether or not you have photos to show for it.

Reclaiming Your Time and Energy

You don’t need to capture the perfect moment. You don’t need to meet someone else’s version of what a good summer looks like. And you don’t need to turn everything into a post.

If it feels helpful, try stepping back from the feed. Go outside without your phone. Spend time with people you care about without needing to document it. Let some moments just exist for you.

The more space you create for yourself offline, the more presence and ease you may start to feel in your actual life, not just the one on your screen.

Therapy Can Help You Unpack the Pressure

If you’ve been feeling stuck in comparison, low self-worth, or pressure to always look like you’re doing okay, it makes sense. These patterns are real, and they’re often shaped by systems that encourage constant visibility, performance, and perfection.

At LynLake Centers for WellBeing, therapy offers a space to slow down, reflect, and untangle the expectations that social media, and our culture, can place on your life. Together, we can help you reconnect with what feels meaningful on your terms, not anyone else’s.

You don’t have to make your summer look good for it to be enough.

If you’re feeling the pressure to keep up or keep curating, reach out. Our team at LynLake Centers for WellBeing is here to help you come back to yourself.

When Summer Doesn’t Feel Safe: Body Image, Dysphoria, and Mental Health

As summer settles in and temperatures rise, there’s often an unspoken expectation to embrace the season with ease: wearing sleeveless clothes, going on endless beach outings, poolside gatherings, and an overall carefree sense of freedom. But for many people, especially those navigating body image concerns, gender identity discomfort, or other mental health challenges, summer can bring more distress than delight.

From the discomfort of revealing clothing to unwanted attention and the internal pressure to look a certain way, summer can amplify the emotions we carry about our bodies. And when you add in extreme heat, disrupted routines, and relentless social media messaging, it’s no wonder this season can feel both emotionally and physically exhausting.

But it’s not just about body image. Summer can also take a toll on our mental health in quieter, more physiological ways.

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The Potential Downsides of Warm Weather

While winter often takes the spotlight in conversations about seasonal mental health, summer presents its own unique challenges. Rising temperatures, increased sun exposure, and changes in routine can all contribute to mental and emotional strain.

For those experiencing gender dysphoria, defined as a disconnect between one’s gender identity and one’s physical body, summer can intensify discomfort. Clothing designed for heat often reveals parts of the body that may feel misaligned with one’s identity. Swimsuits, shorts, and tank tops may not offer the affirmation or safety someone needs. For many, those choices aren’t just about comfort: they’re about survival.

Even shopping for warm-weather clothes can become a source of distress, especially for those with sensory processing challenges. Add the overwhelm of sweat, sticky fabrics, and overheating, and summer can feel like a season spent managing both physical symptoms and emotional pain.

When Social Expectations Feel Heavy

Beyond heat, summer brings an added pressure: the expectation to look good, feel good, and show up in ways that reflect cultural ideals. Beauty standards are everywhere – thinness, tan skin, toned bodies, effortless confidence. The message is clear: you’re supposed to love your body loudly and look good doing it (think Hot Girl Summer).

But that message can feel suffocating if you don’t fit those ideals, or simply don’t want to perform for them.

If you’ve ever:

Avoided outings because of how you felt in shorts
Felt anxious in a swimsuit at a public pool
Canceled plans due to overwhelm or heat
Worried about unwanted attention or judgment

Know that these feelings are understandable responses to a culture that places far too much value on appearance. Therapy can be a supportive space to explore where these beliefs come from, how they’ve shaped your relationship with your body, and what healing can look like on your own terms.

Body Image, Gender Identity, and Dysphoria in the Summer

For individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, the rising temperatures can bring rising stress. When it’s too hot to layer or bind, some may feel forced to choose between physical comfort and gender expression. Navigating the world in a body that feels disconnected from identity is hard enough, and doing so under the scrutiny of summer clothing makes it even harder.

For trans and nonbinary individuals, that might mean bracing for stares, comments, or questions. For others, it means silently weighing every outfit against questions of safety, dysphoria, and visibility. Even without a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, many people across gender identities struggle with the desire to feel at ease in their own skin.

When you’re constantly comparing yourself to curated images online or battling intrusive thoughts about your body, that desire can turn into deep emotional distress.

The Impact of Social Media and Comparison

Summer brings a flood of content centered around fitness, dieting, and so-called “body goals.” Before-and-after photos, beach-ready checklists, and influencer promotions make it easy to question your worth, your appearance, or your progress.

Even well-meaning body positivity content can create pressure giving you an expectation to feel good about your body all the time.

When Emotional Discomfort Affects Physical Health

It’s also important not to overlook the physical impact of summer. When body discomfort leads someone to avoid water, skip meals, wear layers in the heat, or overexercise, they may be at increased risk for dehydration, heat exhaustion, and other serious health issues.

Emotional pain can lead to physical neglect. This is especially true for individuals with eating disorders, sensory sensitivities, chronic stress, or a history of trauma. Summer isn’t just emotionally demanding, it can be physically dangerous without care and support.

Gentle Ways to Stay Grounded This Summer

You don’t have to love summer to move through it with care. You can approach this season gently, in a way that supports your body and mind. A few supportive practices might include:

Wear what feels good to you.
Choose clothing based on comfort, not expectations. You deserve to feel safe in your own skin, even if that means longer sleeves or looser fits.
Set boundaries with social media.
Unfollow accounts that promote unrealistic beauty ideals or trigger body comparison. Fill your feed with voices that affirm your identity and your experience.
Give yourself some grace.
If you’re struggling with how you feel in your body or how others perceive you, name it. You’re not being “too much.” You’re being human.
Care for your body without punishment.
Hydrate often. Eat consistently. Rest when you need to. Respond to your body with kindness, not with restriction or shame.
Find community and support.
Whether it’s a trusted friend, an online space, or a therapist, sharing your experience can help ease the pressure and reduce isolation.

Therapy and Nutrition Counseling Can Help

Navigating the complexity of body image, gender identity, and mental health, especially in the heat of summer, can be exhausting. Therapy offers a safe, compassionate space to explore those feelings and start healing.

At LynLake Centers for WellBeing, we support clients of all identities and body experiences. Our therapists help unpack internalized messages, work through dysphoria or shame, and build tools for emotional resilience. We also offer nutrition therapy: a non-diet, weight-inclusive approach to rebuilding trust with food and caring for your body in sustainable ways.

You Deserve to Feel Safe in Summer

Summer isn’t always light and freeing. For many, it brings a heavy emotional load, and that deserves to be acknowledged, not dismissed. You don’t have to change your body to enjoy your life. You don’t have to silence your discomfort to fit in. And you don’t have to go through this season alone. If the heat, the clothes, the pressure, or your own inner critic are making this time harder than it should be, we’re here.

Reach out to LynLake Centers for WellBeing to start therapy or nutrition counseling with someone who sees you, hears you, and supports the whole you.
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The Invisible Weight of Summer: Parenting, Social Pressure, and Mental Load

For many, summer brings to mind images of beach days, backyard barbecues, and carefree afternoons. But for parents and caregivers, the season can carry a different kind of weight: one that’s often invisible to others but deeply felt. With shifting routines, childcare logistics, limited opportunities for personal self-care, and the quiet pressure to create magical memories, summer can feel more overwhelming than relaxing.
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The Myth of the “Magical” Summer

Social media feeds overflow with curated snapshots of summer bliss: sun-drenched vacations, themed crafts, smiling kids in sprinklers. It’s easy to feel like you’re falling short if your summer doesn’t look that way. Behind those photos, many caregivers are navigating disrupted routines, financial stress, emotional exhaustion, and the challenge of simply making it through the day.

Trying to generate constant joy, while managing everyday needs like meals, sunscreen, and screen time, can lead to anxiety, guilt, and burnout. These emotional weights might not be visible, but they’re real.

When Summer Doesn’t Feel Light

While winter often takes center stage in conversations about seasonal mental health, summer brings its own set of challenges. Longer days and warmer weather don’t always lead to better moods. In fact, some people experience increased irritability, fatigue, or a sense of being overwhelmed during the summer months.

For caregivers, these struggles often show up as inconsistent sleep, overstimulating days with no built-in breaks, and the pressure to organize affordable activities for kids. Some even put their own therapy or wellness practices on hold, simply because there’s no time left for themselves.

The Mental Load That Lingers

There’s a kind of work that doesn’t show up on a calendar but still takes a toll: the mental load. It’s the never-ending stream of internal planning, tracking appointments, managing emotions (your child’s and your own), coordinating logistics, remembering sunscreen and snacks, and being the emotional glue that holds everything together.

This load often falls disproportionately on mothers and primary caregivers, and during the summer, it only grows heavier. Without time or space to process this ongoing strain, it’s easy to feel depleted without understanding why.

What Helps

Here’s the truth: it’s okay if your child is bored sometimes. In fact, boredom is good for your children (caveat: as long as there are limits set on screen time – we’re talking true boredom with no distractions), as research shows boredom is the very state that fuels creativity. It’s also okay if your kids’ summer doesn’t resemble a Pinterest board. And it’s more than okay to admit that this season feels hard.

Parenting was never meant to happen in isolation. Your well-being is not a luxury… it’s a necessity.

Coping might look like setting firmer boundaries, creating a flexible routine, connecting with other caregivers, or carving out a few quiet minutes for yourself. Rather than feeling like it’s on you to come up with something when your kids complain about boredom, make it clear that working through boredom is their responsibility, not yours. In other words, ditch the magical summer pressure. It doesn’t benefit your children, and it is detrimental to your own health.

Returning to therapy can also be helpful, even if it’s just to talk through the mounting emotional noise and feelings of guilt when your kids are complaining about your refusal to be their 24/7 event coordinator and party planner. Many caregivers pause their support in summer, but this season may be when it’s needed most. Therapy isn’t just for when things fall apart, it’s also for sorting through the everyday weight of trying to hold it all together.

Let Yourself Matter, Too

This summer, we invite you to gently shift the focus. Instead of striving for nonstop activities or idealized plans, ask yourself: What would support me right now? Again, keep in mind that your children will not only be ok if you don’t have a full slate of activities lined up: they will actually benefit from it!

If you’re feeling stretched thin, anxious, resentful, or just not like yourself, you deserve care. You don’t need to wait for things to get worse to seek support.

At LynLake Centers for WellBeing, our therapists are here to help you explore the invisible load you’ve been carrying and find ways to lighten it. Whether you’re facing burnout, loneliness, or the pressure to do it all, you don’t have to go it alone.

Let this be the summer you remember that your mental health matters, too.