Seasonal Affective Disorder (The Winter Blues)

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)– The Winter Blues

Got a flier in the mail from my health clinic this morning about SAD. The short, dark days in January and February can affect all of us with the “winter blues.” Not sure if I get depressed, or just lazy and bored. But some experience a more serious depression — Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The amount of sunlight that reaches our eyes and body can affect the chemicals in our brain which help regulate processes like our mood and sleep cycle. When there is less sunlight, some people can have a slow or sudden onset of depressive symptoms. SAD is more common at the higher latitudes where there is less sunlight in the winter. The symptoms of SAD can be similar to major depression.

• Feelings of depression, hopelessness, helplessness, and excessive guilt that do not go away
• Loss of energy, tiredness, oversleeping, or loss of desire to socialize
• Overeating, craving carbohydrates, and weight gain
• Insomnia, agitation, anxiety, and irritability
• Loss of appetite and weight loss.

Tips for dealing with the Winter Blues:

• Get plenty of sunlight and take walks or participate in outdoor activities
• Eat fewer carbohydrates
• Keep up with daily routines
• Socialize with friends
• Exercise
• Winter in the Bahamas!! 😄

SAD is real and can be serious. If you feel seasonal depression beyond the “winter blues” you should see your physician.

It never used to bother me when my body was whole . Now that from my chest down most of it doesn't work and that I'm bed ridden most days It drives me nut's . Add to that all the snow we have had here and my Doc's got the D.M.V. to take away my driver's license I'm ready to go nut's

Perhaps this should be in another thread about what pisses us off, but one thing that does seriously piss me off is people denying that such a disorder exists.

I hear this so often from many Belgian friends when I complain about the awful, cold, dark, dreary, overcast, rainy days (in winter especially), when it doesn't get light until after 9:00 am. I often hear hints that I am something of a wimp for not being cheerfully resigned to the winter weather and something of a nut for loving the hot, dry, sunny weather in semi-arid Spain.

I was born here in Belgium perhaps, but I have my father's Gulf of Mexico DNA regulating my internal seasonal and climatological physiognomy.

God how I hate winters and I understand why so many Europeans choose to be explorers and settlers in tropical, Equatorial or desert lands in the past.

Oh I have it bad. Bad.

Thank you for your comprehensive report on SAD. I have seen lots of articles about thé third monday of January being the most depression prone day of the year.

A modest proposal : why not add to the means to fight SAD, sex? Sure it works.

And I, on the other hand, love winter. I love the cold, the snow, the clean air, the relative quiet. Give me a foot of fresh snow and I'm a happy camper.

Y'all can shove hot weather, sand, salty air and sweat right up your 🍑. To me, there's nothing more depressing than knowing I'm going to break a sweat walking from my car to my work or from my house to the mail box.

Yeah, I'm affected by S.A.D. but my S.A.D. starts in May and runs through September.

Thank you for your comprehensive report on SAD. I have seen lots of articles about thé third monday of January being the most depression prone day of the year.

A modest proposal : why not add to the means to fight SAD, sex? Sure it works.

Sex should be covered under “exercise”. 😈😈 Actually, sex would be a good way to deal with depression. Endorphins etc.

I think there’s another thread here on using enemas for depression as well. 😊

That pamphlet left a few facts out like research has shown conclusively that people who experience SAD generally have a higher mood state at another change of season , unless your specifically watching and charting discrete changes in mood it can be missed . I don’t have SAD but I do utilize some SAD “counter measures“ to help with my circadian rhythm / sleep disorders such as going out and getting at least 15 minutes direct sunlight to my head and face no hats or glasses , use full spectrum 1000 lunen lights , and this sounds crazy but I have a silent alarm clock , it does a sunrise simulation to wake me up rather than a noise increasing in brightness over a pre set amount of time at the end of this cycle your getting 1000 lumen right in the face .

with that said before my cataract surgery even with that bright a light , there was not enough contrast for me to read a book or newspaper . Cataracts completely screw up depth ,color like at the height of my impairment telling my aide “that car was a hideous shade of blue “ and them saying “probably because the car was silver” .

so science is now beginning to think SAD is in someway more closely related to what today is called bipolar . Because people with SAD also experience mania or hypo mania at another point of seasonal change , frequently the mood elevations aren’t even perceived because to many people it’s going back to “normal “ .

@SAP Excellent amplification on SAD! The article I read mentioned it reoccurs in the spring when the season changes again. Interesting the association with bipolar issues. We put in 5000K full spectrum lightbulbs, use them year round to make the house feel more like being outside on a bright day!

Glad this thread about SAD exists! Many people don’t recognize it and how serious it can be. Broad spectrum lights can make such a difference, especially if you’re not able to be outside much during the day. Just be careful if you get one that has UV capabilities (not typically recommended). I got one when I was living in a much darker region for a while and working afternoons-nights; I immediately felt better.

Generally I don't have an issue. Keeping busy inside and outside on the nicer days keeps my.mind and body busy. Planning for spring time and my garden.

But this winter is different. I can't do much of anything with my injuries, as they are left to heal. So I think too much on what I can't do. What I may not be doing this coming year. Though I will be working very hard to get back to my “normal”.

I have just been to visit my wonderful neighbour Sue. She is struggling with SAD. This is something which is history for me, but I have a special lamp which I have taken her. We also had another lengthy discussion about the gut brain connection. I am convinced that my dramatically improved mental health is thanks to regular enemas and colonics. Sue definitely agrees.

I suffer from SAD to a fairly high degree and always have but more so since puberty. My periods in the winter months seemed to bring on an even more severe reaction to SAD and can be no small cause of frustration at the lack of energy and there always seeming to be ‘drama’. My one saving grace, at least at the shop, is the presence of ‘grow lamps’ in the quarantine area of the shop which help to offset the SAD.

It's during these times that I crave pain and it manifests itself with my heightened sexual activity, occasionally finding myself at my doctor's office for my indulgences. I do have a ‘Happy Lamp’ and it does help and can also reset my circadian rhythm during SAD times and also if my sleep schedule needs adjusting at other times of the year.

I get it in the summer, not winter. I love winter and despise summer. I love “dull” days with no sun. And snow, lots of it. I should have been born into the Addams Family.

I get it in the summer, not winter. I love winter and despise summer. I love “dull” days with no sun. And snow, lots of it. I should have been born into the Addams Family.

How about in some godforsaken place in Siberia? … ha ha

SAD is a very real condition that is often overlooked and minimized. The degree of impairment often varies and when moderate to severe, it can really impeded and impair one's day to day functioning. Get Help!

SAD is a very real condition that is often overlooked and minimized. The degree of impairment often varies and when moderate to severe, it can really impeded and impair one's day to day functioning. Get Help!

Aside from moving to a more southern latitude or perhaps taking vitamin D supplements, what can one do?

Aside from moving to a more southern latitude or perhaps taking vitamin D supplements, what can one do?

We use 5000K Full Spectrum lights to brighten up the house like sunlight. Eating healthy carbs (don‘t know which), exercise (release endorphins?), vitamins D &E, stay active, avoid alcohol (you bet!), socialize. Doctors can prescribe anti-depressants or therapy. Some more info in the following article.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/seasonal-affective-disorder

The vitamin D reference jogs my memory that this was discussed elsewhere on Zity some time ago. Found it in the thread on changing the clock. @DrZ mentioned it and I posted there as well.

https://en.zity.biz/index.php?mx=forum;ox=display;msg=1083723

We use 5000K Full Spectrum lights to brighten up the house like sunlight.

Then I would have to sell my firstborn into bondage to pay for the energy bills … 😢

Then I would have to sell my firstborn into bondage to pay for the energy bills … 😢

They make cost efficient LED 5000K bulbs 60 or 100 watts. Some are dimmable. We replaced a fluorescent overhead light with a programmable LED, and can dial it in to different levels, 2000-5000K.

Yes--I'm already sick & tired of Winter.

They make cost efficient LED 5000K bulbs 60 or 100 watts. Some are dimmable. We replaced a fluorescent overhead light with a programmable LED, and can dial it in to different levels, 2000-5000K.

Oh, I just replaced lights in 2 rooms with such LED overhead lights. They give more light, but still nothing compared to sunshine and haven't done much of anything to make winter a more enjoyable season … 😢

There are several “Happy Lights” on the market. They claim 2,500-10,000 LUX and are “guaranteed” to reduce the winter blues. Grow lights used to help plants also come in full-spectrum. I don't think you get vitamin D from these - you need a UV light to get vitamin D. I find a brighter home to be less dreary in the winter and more of a mood pleaser. Agree sunshine is better - but a downside of winter is the shorter days, lower sun angle, and often overcast conditions.

https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/light-therapy

but a downside of winter is the shorter days, lower sun angle, and often overcast conditions.

Tell me about it. I live at a latitude equal to that of Newfoundland.

Madrid Spain is only at the same latitude as NYC and that is considered the deep south here in Europe. Florida is equal to the Western Sahara and that's even lower than Morocco … ha ha.