Seasonal Affective Disorder

[flowperson]

I used to really suffer from this. Now that I've moved to a place which has sunny days even in the winter months, I don't have much of a problem with it in the "darker" months.

I still take several vitamins and herbs which likely saved my life when I lived in colder and darker places, and it's pretty much all good now. However I do find that I sleep more hours after about the middle of November until the middle of February.

Anyone else with stories about SAD out there ? Here's an excellent overview article that applies to the subject:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/he...S0mheb7sNetP9w

flow....

[greymare]

you should move to the great land of Oz flow, for your winter anyway. I find I dont get nearly enough sleep nowadays. Its too hot to sleep but quite reasonable i suppose with the air con on. I never really gavve it much thought before but I presume that in some places up there(usa) in winter is it darker for longer? tell me more.

[flowperson]

I suppose that your daylight hours shorten there from March to September as ours do from September to March. It's the relative lack of daylight hours that triggers this stuff. As I said it's all relative.

And since I've moved to the Southwest, the winter days are still shorter here and have more non-daylight hours. But there are many more sunny days here in the winter than back east. I used to get some very nasty asthma attacks because of all this also.

Move to Oz in the winter months here ? T'would be a pleasure if the finances were there, but sadly they're not. You've got lots of venomous serpents also don'tcha? But I'll bet you've also got some powerful snakebite medicines, eh? Bushmills, Ussher Green Stripe, etc. Wouldn't mind hanging out a bit near the great barrier reef regions.

cheers....flow....

[greymare]

yeah we got snakes and spiders. but you guys have got bears, coyotes wolves and cougars. you might get bitten here but you wont get eaten. LOL. except of course for the drop bears. oh and the yowies. I live just near the southern part of the reef. Its lovely but im not a big fan of those sharkys so I dont venture out in the ocean all that often. thats why I have a pool.

[Faithfulservant]

I used to get SAD when I lived in Washington State... I know a lot of people that suffer through depression and they dont even know why. Now that I live in Texas I dont have the problem anymore.. I also make sure I get at least ten minutes of direct sunlight.. just for the nutritional value.

[Tao_Equus]

Perhaps you should increase it a bit! Might cure you of Stupid Armageddon Delusions

[greymare]

sooooooo good to have y;ou back Tao. we have missed you

[17th Angel]

I prefer the "darker" months as you state.... The "light" months are what get to me....

--edit--
"I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes, I have to turn my head until my darkness goes...." lol...

[seattlegal]

Hmm, do you think that all of the traditions of the 'festival of lights,' family gatherings, and 'spreading good cheer' just might have been an effort to help combat Seasonal Affective Disorder?

[flowperson]

Hi Seattle...

I believe you've got a point there. If one goes back far enough in cultural anthropology studies of the ancient humans, one finds that superstition, mythology, religious practices, and medicine seem to all blur into each other as far as their origins.

Like Huston Smith, I tend to believe that this is all an accumulated reflection upon observations of the physical environments that a culture has existed in for the centuries of its history. And until quite recently that history was always taught to the future generations through orally related stories and chants, and not through written materials. Artistic depictions are another category of sacred information transferrance altogether as they are automatically more open to interpretation by observers.

Happy Christmas....flow....

[greymare]

I had to work xmas eve and boxing day. No big deal but some people are soooo rude around this time of year. honestly if you venture down to the shops for anything on xmas eve be prepared to wait. Its not just here is it???

[Francis king]

I am not someone who likes labels, and I think SAD is just a label...

yes, ppl feel different in the winter, but that's because it is cold and dark, we are encouraged to change our diets and eat more stodge, we fill our houses with central heating, we use lots of lights, we yearn for the spring, and later summer, so we can wear less, go out more... we are not in touch with winter- we try our best to avoid it, see it as something to survive beyond, but...

in the old days, BCh (before central heating), winter killed off the old, the sick, young babies, and this is why we all have a collective dislike of winter, I feel, and yes, it is probably why we all have our festivals- something to keep us psychologically warm in the bleak midwinter...

If you get seasonal effective disorder then food supplements such as
tryptophan or 5-HTP, or herbs such as ginseng or St Johns Wort could be utilised, depending on your predominant syptoms and previous medical history- all of which can be purchased in any health food store, and all of which are cheaper than swanky light boxes...

I am the type of person who does not work in winter- as soon as it gets too cold to get out of bed I remain inside my cat hair ridden duvet, rising at a sensible hour, such as noon, and trying my best to stay indoors until spring...this usually results in me being sacked, should I be employed.... I find that even in the UK it is simply too cold for me to go outside- I shiver so much my teeth chatter, and I cannot get warm... this though, is not related to depression- I simply don't like the cold...

in the old days, when ppl worked on the land, winter was a time to down tools, stop work, and sit at home eating pickled vegetables and salted beef... it was a time to stay indoors and get the house in order- cleaning, making clothes, preparing for spring, etc... you go outside you get wet, you get sick, you might die... why leave the house at all? but no!

The Man had changed all that.... now ur lucky if u get Xmas day and boxing day off... you are encouraged to buy decongestants and pain killers and struggle on working when u should be at home in bed, u eat food which wouldn't have been available to ur ancestors at this time, and u artifically try to control the temperature so we can collectively ignore winter...

then, because we are ignoring winter, and rationality, we get a bit miserable, and then we create a new condition, another suffering, and look for cures, when really, all we need to do is work less, eat better, wake up when its light, and go to bed when its dark... it's not rocket science...

[path_of_one]

I love winter. I love snow, rain, and the cold. I get cold easily, but I still love it. Everything smells so clean, and it is a time that sparks my imagination and creativity, draws me indoors to draw and write.

I have noticed since I moved to Washington state (from California), I want to sleep more, but I know this is because it has only been daylight for about 8 hours a day. Overall, though, I really prefer it. In southern Cali, I was very allergic to the smog and prone to heat exhaustion and spent all summer indoors. I couldn't go out until 7 or 8 at night, and even then the heat was often oppressive. Now *that* I found really depressing. This is so much better by comparison!

Maybe for those who are not so sensitive to heat and whose eyes are not sensitive to sunlight, sunny hot days are great. But I prefer the darkness and cold to the heat and bright sunlight.

[Faithfulservant]

Originally Posted by Tao_Equus

Perhaps you should increase it a bit! Might cure you of Stupid Armageddon Delusions

That was actually funny!

[ar.]

I miss winter, actually. Australia really has a bonkers weather system. It's October, and it's sweltering, and my fiancé, Jon, says it will only get worse.

Ugh, and I am so susceptible to sunburn.

It's actually funny, because I did used to get SAD really badly in the winter, because I used to live in Oregon, where we have Spring for three months, Hot Summer for three months and RAIN RAIN RAIN for six months.

But now that it's October and there hasn't been a drip of rain........


I miss it a lot. :C

Ar.