seasonal affective disorder

[skinny love]

this winter has been brutal and i've felt so burdened and sleepy lately. i've felt lethargic and tired no matter how well rested i've been the past couple months. but today it was sunny and 60 degrees and i felt so much better. anyone else feel this intense connection with the earth? :p

[AtrainV]

Does this happen to you often? If this is just something that has happened to you once, or it has just happened this year, then don't be too quick to diagnose yourself. However, if you've noticed this pattern your whole life (or at least for a substantial amount of time), then you might be on to something.

[AdamSmokesCrack]

I never did too good in school, and did far more drugs and drank way too much alcohol, in the winter months. Winter in NH means you're inside all fucking day with nothing to do. Coupled with intense boredom and depression, yeah, it becomes quite a problem.
In the spring and summer months I did better in school, my depression was easier to maintain (I often cut back my medication in the summer, only to up the dose when I feel the need in the fall and winter) and I just generally felt better.
But as AtrainV said, you might just be experiencing a bad season/time/year. Shit happens, and it just might be more harsh than usual on you.

[rustyshackleford420]

Pretty recently I've realized that I hate the winter, cause it's cold out and I'm always bored. You can't enjoy even a nice winter day like a nice summer day. Although I do enjoy being far out in the woods if its snowy out, that is a nice feeling.

[Cytosine]

If you're worried about it, try taking vitamin D. You should be able to find it at any pharmacy near your house.

It helped me for a few months. I'm usually pretty depressed, but I reach nearly suicidal levels in January/February likely due to my vitamin D levels being too low.

[skinny love]

i haven't really diagnosed myself yet. i can't remember how i felt last year at this time because i was depressed on and off fairly often. but i do know this winter has been the most intense so far. i'm hoping it's just a bad season. i just thought it was strange how relieved and content i felt because of the weather today. but maybe everyone else feels that way too? and will regular daily vitamins have enough vitamin d to make a difference?

adam i lived in new hampshire for awhile and i agree the winters are TERRIBLE. and the spring is bad too cuz of the black flies. illinois isn't any better though.

[Marijuanasaurus]

this winter has been brutal and i've felt so burdened and sleepy lately. i've felt lethargic and tired no matter how well rested i've been the past couple months. but today it was sunny and 60 degrees and i felt so much better. anyone else feel this intense connection with the earth? :p

Let me know if you get more info on the subject. same thing happens to me. im more prone to depression during fall/winter.

i noticed it my freshman year of highschool.

[Cytosine]

will regular daily vitamins have enough vitamin d to make a difference?

You'll need to read the label. I know mine have 400 IU of D in them, but I take an extra 600 IU in the winter. I think the max dosage recommended is 1000 IU.

And like I said, it only worked for a couple of months.

Marijuana helps, too.

[AdamSmokesCrack]

Marijuana helps, too.

This.
And yeah, keeping healthy will improve your mood a bit.

[Minority Deport]

If you have any sort of anxiety problem smoking will just make you dwell and feel worse. It really depends on the type of person.

I don't really get when people say smoking makes you feel better.

I have minor social anxiety and i feel like a piece of shit if im by myself and smoke.

[*ivy]

I am of the firm belief that SAD is just a tag that gets bandied around willy nilly to explain why people are a bit down in Winter. It's cold, it's pissing it down, it's dark at 4 o'clock. No-one goes outside, no-one eats healthily and because there's no sun, no-one has any Vitamin D. Of course everyone's going to be a bit sad.

[AtrainV]

To a certain extent, you're right, *ivy. People do throw it around a lot when they don't actually have the disorder. However, people do that with EVERY psychological disorder. The ambiguous nature of many of these disorders (i.e. not having specific medically diagnosable features, but rather a collection of symptoms) makes them easy scapegoats.

However, they are very real disorders. Many people do suffer from SAD.

[*ivy]

To a certain extent, you're right, *ivy. People do throw it around a lot when they don't actually have the disorder. However, people do that with EVERY psychological disorder. The ambiguous nature of many of these disorders (i.e. not having specific medically diagnosable features, but rather a collection of symptoms) makes them easy scapegoats.

However, they are very real disorders. Many people do suffer from SAD.

No I agree totally. Sorry, maybe my last post was ambiguous. I know that in serious cases it is an actual disorder, I myself have been advised to buy one of those lights that mimicks daylight. However, before I shell out 50 quid, I'm going to try regular exercise and a better diet.

I agree with you that the symptoms of mental disorders are too readily applied to people who are only slightly nuts. I think that's the problem with the psychological branch of medical treatment. Particularly in the Western world, we look at mental illness according to how it makes us feel, as opposed to the physical cause. For example, there's a big difference between someone whose brain cannot regulate their dopamine and seratonin levels correctly, and a moody teenager on her period.

[RDProgrammer]

I am a Full Out S.A.D. Sufferer (and fuck that acronym). I grew up on the beach in California in a middle income household as a very normal kid. When I was 14 I was up and moved to Portland, OR, which is cloudy, rainy, and gray as fuck. I ended up moving to Oklahoma to get away from there, but in the 30 months I was there I gained 60 lbs and went from competing on 4 sports teams a year to none as well as being diagnosed with depression which magically disappeared after my move to OK.

I spent this winter break in OR and spent the entire 4 weeks on the couch. The only relief was when my little 4 year old brother was around because he's entertaining no matter what and thinks I'm God.

Some people suggest getting full-spectrum halogen lights as they come close to replicating sun light. On another note, I have no evidence for this, nor have I tried it, but maybe Vitamin D has something to do with it all as is produces in the presence of sunlight (I believe, could be totally wrong)

RDP