No in the strictest definition of SAD, where the winter and fall depress you. I have reverse seasonal affective disorder, where the same happens to me but in the spring and summer. The sun saps all my energy away and I thrive in the cold and the dark. All of my positive emotions dull from April until around mid-October every single year. Give me snow and clouds any day over shorts and sunlight
I moved from Tampa to Portland and I gotta tell you, I feel so much better most of the time. I'm just not a sunny person. I need my overcast.
Moving to Portland was when I realized it was actually S.A.D. and not just being miserable from the harsh winter weather I grew up with.
My first winter in P-town was amazing - there wasn't any snow or sub-freezing temps! My 2nd winter there I was cripplingly depressed from the lack of sun...
We moved from Houston to Seattle and we adore all the seasons here. Spring comes just as the winter feels like its dragging on. First the daffodils, then the tulips, then cherry blossoms explode! Then its summer and camping every weekend and Rainier and North Cascades and just go go go the entire time. Then fall comes and I fall over from exhaustion. Its time to put in the order for tea for the winter and catch up on all the shows we missed and all the board games we haven't been playing and just relaxing. Just when I'm tiring of the cold and the wet, the first daffodils pop up and we do it all over again.
Similar here except I just have depression. I think I just like winter more because it makes some of the outward symptoms more socially acceptable which causes less stress.
Winter- Someone else: Any plans for the weekend? Me: Staying at home under several heavy blankets, watching old TV shows, and eating like I'm surviving the apocalypse. Someone else: Goals! That sounds so cozy!
Summer- Someone else: Any plans for the weekend? Me: Staying at home under several heavy blankets, watching old TV shows, and eating like I'm surviving the apocalypse. Someone else: Are you ok? Do I need to call someone?
Yes, take some vitamin D if you get this too. I’m more active outside now in the winter so I don’t need as much, but the vitamin D does help.
I have to agree, it bothers me every year, but I take a high dose vitamin d supplement, make sure I get out for an hour at least at lunchtime, also bought a wake up light alarm which helps in the mornings
Basically every westerner has a vitamin D deficiency, as we don't spend all day long outside anymore.
So go get some D prescribed, because deficiency accelerates dementia and a whole slew of mental disorders.
You could spend lots of time in the sun to alleviate the D vitamine deficiency but that'll get you skin cancer instead.
What's the benefit of a prescription over just buying a bottle at a pharmacy? Would it be covered under insurance if prescribed?
In Europe you can't just buy any medication like that over the counter (not in France anyway), and yes I guess it's also about cost.
Yup. I have a SAD lamp. (Just a Verilux one from Amazon.) I have it mounted to my desk above my work machine's monitor so that it's only about 1.5 feet (or 0.46 meters for people not used to clown units) from my face. I use it year-round, but I still have some SAD during the winter months. It's not as bad with the SAD lamp, though.
Another thing I do is take a walk multiple times a day. And I try to make the first one an early morning walk.
As qooqie said, vitamin D can also help.
If I take the above steps, my SAD isn't terrible. Noticeable, still. Everything's just a little shittier than normal. But it's not terrible. (Not that I wouldn't eliminate it entirely if I could, but it's manageable. For me, at least.)
IME there is an additional mental fog during the fall and winter seasons. I think there are a handful of reasons that are mostly a byproduct of shorter days and colder temps. More barriers to going outside when it’s cold (more layers, jackets), less social gatherings during the season, it being dark so early limits outdoor activities. Being able to do more helps my mental health for sure, which is much easier in the summer months.
Edit after seeing other comments: I was able to reach a “toxic” level of vitamin D last time I tried it, daily headaches, even just following the recommended amount. It took me a while to realize what was going on. I might have to try again with a smaller dose though.
I get the opposite lol. Or the opposite of the norm I guess. I thrive in the cold months. When it's hot as shit and humid in the summer I'm grumpy all the time.
Like clockwork, every year. Usually happens 2 or 3 weeks both before and after the winter solstice.
I try to make sure I'm getting plenty of vitamin D. And I try to make sure I'm getting outside for a bit everyday. Exercise helps a lot too - anything that'll get your blood flowing and heart pumping.
I also make a rule for myself that I'm not allowed to make any big decisions or big commitments during that time of year because the depression can cloud my judgement. Not making commitments is hard with the holidays tho, so if I have to I also leave myself a way out of them if needed. I've become an expert at giving a "definite maybe" in response to commitments lol
No, but I do feel like it's therapeutic when it's colder. Sometimes I'll wake up early in the morning, see that the sky is like this, and be like "ah I can sleep some more to that" and go back to sleep.
I definitely notice that my mood is significantly affected when it's gray and dark out, but it'd be a bit much to call it a disorder. When the sun is out, it's (reasonably) warm outside, and the sun doesn't set at 17:00, the world just feels like a happier place. In the winter I feel locked inside due to the cold and darkness. The bright light just lifts my mood it seems.
I did when I lived in Ohio. Fuck that place. Now I'm in the Southwest where it's sunny like 90% of the time, so no.
I have regular ole bipolar disorder but I find that I tend to have depressive mood episodes more often in the depths of winter, when it's darkest and coldest. Before I was medicated, I routinely blanked out basically from December to February.
Yes, big time. I prefer living in very warm climates because of it, where there's lots of sun to soak up.
It is pretty much unheard of in Australia, and I had no idea it was a thing until I went to Tassie for a couple of years for one of my degrees. I see how it could happen, down there, but it is too sunny here in NSW year round for it to have a kick-in time. Perhaps you need to move to the Lucky Country?
There's definately places in NSW where you could experience SAD. Places in the Central West for example; Orange and Bathurst get quite gloomy during the winter.
Make sure you get light from the sun immediately when you wake up and when there's no sun, get a lightbox or any other kind of bright light therapy.
There are technically medications for it but your best bet is to get lots of light early, limit bright light at night and use things that make the screens orange/amber colored and ensure that all light in the house is nothing past warm yellow (no green/blue/purple) like 6hrs before bed and try to use dimmer lamps rather than harsh overhead lights.
I'm pretty sure SAD is more of a circadian rhthym issue rather than the big D necessarily. It means you need to get your cycle back in order and once you do, you will likely feel much better.
Also be sure to get your Vitamin D3 and K2 as well. They are all related and healthful in isolation but very useful as a combined plan of attack.
