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Normally get bad SAD this time of year, and will often take a trip to the West Coast of Florida where it's not only warmer, but the sunset is later due to being near the SW corner of the time zone.
This year I had some extra vacation days I had to use by Dec 31, so I did an extended Thanksgiving visiting old HS and college friends, and stayed at my parents place in the North Shore suburbs of Boston..which is near the NE corner of the time zone and where the sun sets nearly 40 mins earlier than where I live now in DC.
Strange thing I noticed coming back to Washington was that I felt relieved seeing just twilight at 5pm, and not pitch black at 4:30 as it was in Mass. When I get back from Florida, the SAD often deepens because 5pm twilight bums me out after a week of 5:30 sunsets.
Wondering if I should try this again in future years, seems where you are most of the time is the standard, and spending a little time in a place that's darker actually has made me feel better about where I am.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I kind of know what you mean. When I go on vacation to a place that I have a special affection for, or an area with better weather with R&R, yes I'm having a great time while there, but reality hits hard coming back home and end up with the blues that take a while to wear off. I remember going to Florida one year in March and coming back to the mud, damp, cold, and left over dirty snow on the ground here in Mass and it looked like such a dank and dismal place compared to where I had been within the past 24 hours.
By contrast for me when I go to a city like Las Vegas or New York the intensity of those places ware thin on me after 48 hours or so. They are fun and stimulating but I can only handle a few days and I really want to go back home. It's trips like those that make me glad to live where I live and return home.
Interesting theory, but for me the SAD syndrome was more about having the sun shine on me, not how short the days are.
I am from MA, and remember that even in the winter, it tends to be sunny. On the other hand, I lived 40 years in NE Ohio, where the winter is day after day of grayness.
My point is, now I live in Savannah (not sure whether the time zone is like MA or WA), and the sun shines brightly almost every day. It does not matter to me that its dark in the morning and late afternoon, because the sun blazes on us in between.
Normally get bad SAD this time of year, and will often take a trip to the West Coast of Florida where it's not only warmer, but the sunset is later due to being near the SW corner of the time zone.
This year I had some extra vacation days I had to use by Dec 31, so I did an extended Thanksgiving visiting old HS and college friends, and stayed at my parents place in the North Shore suburbs of Boston..which is near the NE corner of the time zone and where the sun sets nearly 40 mins earlier than where I live now in DC.
Strange thing I noticed coming back to Washington was that I felt relieved seeing just twilight at 5pm, and not pitch black at 4:30 as it was in Mass. When I get back from Florida, the SAD often deepens because 5pm twilight bums me out after a week of 5:30 sunsets.
Wondering if I should try this again in future years, seems where you are most of the time is the standard, and spending a little time in a place that's darker actually has made me feel better about where I am.
I'm in San Diego. My SAD is just as bad here as it was in PA. The sun sets here around the same time. It's 4:30 now, and it's dusk.
I'm in San Diego. My SAD is just as bad here as it was in PA. The sun sets here around the same time. It's 4:30 now, and it's dusk.
That would lead me to think that SAD is fake...
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