The Winter blues

[NSNO2021]

Every year when the clocks change in October my mood nose dives. I have what is known as seasonally affected disorder, appropriately called SAD for short. Yeah, it's just one of them modern terms for things that have always happened like depression. Anyway, just because it has a fancy name now doesn't mean it does not happen.

"Pull yourself together" "get a grip" has often been the advice and that by the click of your fingers everything is ok now. Well no. I named this thread winter blues but SAD is much more than that. It can have much greater severity than the average persons view that "isn't the weather crap / cold".

It came to a head for me one year when slowly I began to take more and more of a dim view about all things in my life. Paperwork didn't get done, stopped going out to meet friends, work started to suffer, stopped bothering about my appearance, didn't do anything much at all and finally my relationship with my wife started to suffer. It culminated with me scared to even answer the door to the post man. Scary sh*t.

I get it every year (even though I work outdoors a lot of the time) but I finally did something about it by getting some happy pills. All they do is level you off somewhere between crap and not so crap (takes the edge off). This year i bought something that people had mentioned to me over the years but I dismissed as not been likely to work. How wrong could I have been.

I bought a light box. Been using it for a little while now. Half an hour first thing in the morning whilst I have my two mugs of tea and watch the latest government incompetence on the news. It is really bright and sits about 40cm from my face just to the side so I can still see the telly (just). My outlook has changed and I mean a significant amount for the better. I feel awake and fully stimulated, my head is not full of dark thoughts and it turns out my existence is not for nothing after all.

Can't tell you all how over the moon I am with the improvement in my mood, energy levels, happiness and productivity. If you are feeling low this time of year why not give one a go.

This is the one I bought (worth every penny).

https://www.lumie.com/products/brazil

[valvesRus]

Brilliant (scuse the pun) Stu, I'm so pleased you have found a solution.

[NSNO2021]

Good post Stu, my mood suffers a dip because the majority of my many interests are outdoor orientated, mountain biking, running, walking, wild camping, fly fishing and others. When the weather becomes very wet and/or very cold I am left with running and walking for my endorphin hit and my vitamin D top up. Without a lot of focus I find it's all too easy to slip back in to a sedentary life style and then I start to become grumpy and grumpy often has an irritable edge to it. Anything that breaks that cycle is to be welcomed and whether that's a short 3 or 4 mile run or 30 mins of light box doesn't matter. Being aware of SAD and proactive in dealing with it is the key

[Andy-831]

Interesting post Stu. Glad you have it sorted.

[Daniel Quinn]

Before they would let me leave hospital they had to assess how I would be at home. As I could not move on my own, I think they just made sure I wouldn't be in any harm sat still.

Part of the assessment was with a psychologist, who was supposed to evaluate me as a suicide risk. She asked me how was life now I was no longer a successful lawyer and I couldn't move any of my right side.

As I could hardly speak, my right leg was violently agitated. I hav'nt a clue why, but it was.

At such times I always say to myself. This to will pass.

[karatestu]

It's a game changer for me and is merely a simple high output lightbox. Wish I had tried it years ago instead of suffering.

[CN211276]

It's a game changer for me and is merely a simple high output lightbox. Wish I had tried it years ago instead of suffering.

Glad you have found a solution. I am with you on this one and hate it when we lose an hour of day light when we need it most. Alway long for March to come round.
Since retiering I have taken drastic action spending a large chunk of the winter in Malta on two occasions. It is not particulary warm but the hours of daylight are a lot longer, the surroundings are very nice, there is a lot to see, it is not gloomy and there is a good beer. It shortens our winter and lifts the spirits. Not an option this winter and doubtful in the future thanks to the lunacy of Brexshite.