reverse SAD -- love of cloudy days and dislike sunny days (anxious, weather)
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Thanks for your reply, Alaska certainly appeals to me but the cost of living there concerns me. How is the humidity factor in Washington (coastal area)? I am super sensitive to the humidity. Never visited so don't know.
Yeah, I wanted to comment on your last sentence. WHY IS IT that the people who love the sun/warmth/beach why are they just so readily "the normal ones"? Why do we have to be "abnormal". To each their own...that's what is so frustrating. People are so judgmental. That's what I meant by "hard to find support".
Anyway, I came across this thread when doing some research on Seattle. I can find some comfort here and have a place to "vent".
My mother lives in Florida...it kills me to visit her (once a year in February)! That state would come in dead last as to where I would want to live.
i don't mind the heat and humidity, but i hate the sun. being out in the sun gives me migraines and makes me tired (always has, ever since i was a kid). i love stormy/rainy days, and i've always been a bit nocturnal (getting my energy spikes between sunset and sunrise).
i've just moved back to ohio from california, and i couldn't be happier - lots of rain in the summer, and it's warm enough to go outside and play in.
That is how I feel as well. I am a meteorologist no less....and got lucky to move almost as far north as you can in the lower 48. But yes..anytime it is cloudy out or cold and cloudy out everyone complains about the misery...then I feel the need to come in and say how wonderful it is. I grew up in the south and got so tired of the endless heat and humidity and I just hated being outside and would need to pull the blinds and turn on the A/C in my room as a teenager and then when winter came I could emerge and be outside. I am from Kentucky by the way where at least it did snow some....thus my love of winter cold and snow.
But I do understand completely the traditional SAD as it is pretty common up here. We are not talking about preferences, but actual people who get depressed and really almost shut down. Most people do that in the winter I do it in the summer. Same thing but for some reason our bodies are a bit tuned to be different. I can live for weeks without any sun and it doesnt bother me at all....I can be somewhere with it below zero F for weeks and no bother. Here is it where I live today....at 11 am it is 28 degrees cloudy with a north wind of 20 mph and I can go out in a T-shirt and feel great!
Thanks for sharing...
Dan
I hope you are still posting on this thread lol.....you'd be like the first meteorologist reporting warm sunny days ahead....without acting all happy about it!!!! You'd be a breath of fresh air to me.
I am tired of people thinking there is something wrong with me for hating sunshiny weather and warm days. Nothing makes me happier than a grey, blustery, crisp Fall day! Or Snow!
Oh, and like several others here....I grew up in the stifling heat/smog...but in my case it was Southern California. My whole family still live there and think I'm odd for hating sunny weather lol.
Funny thing is people on this thread seem to think the PNW is some sort of cloudy paradise in the summer.....I WISH. I live here and our summers are sucking more than ever before.....too much sun and not enough clouds or cool temps
Alaska is where it's at
Last edited by rhiannon67; 08-29-2014 at 06:11 AM..
I always say I have reverse SAD without knowing if it was recognized clinically. Yes, I can relate I detest the sun. I too get very irritable in sunny, hot weather and get very depressed in the summer. I grew up in Florida and have very horrible feelings associated with my childhood for what appears to others as no good reason. I was very depressed throughout my childhood and although I had other issues, my physical environment added an enormous strain. I've since moved to the northeast, but unfortunately I haven't escaped the sunshine completely. It's summer now, I was just fired and I think it has a lot to do with my mood in the summer. I was extremely lethargic at work and very cranky. Now I'm unemployed and have no motivation to look for work.
Are you an introvert? I think that has a great deal to do with it. Introverts like myself are very sensitive to light and heat and extroverts seem to thrive on it. Being that we live in a society that is very catered to extroverts, many people don't understand this need we have for dim light and cool air.
Nailed it.
My husband is an extrovert, while I am an introvert. He likes sun and warm weather....so he can be out and about doing things. He likes warm weather activities.
Me? I much prefer to physically exercise when it is cold outside....whether just plain cloudy/cold, blustery, or outright snowing. The warm days of summer make me feel like hiding indoors with all shades down, lights off, fans/AC blowing full speed.....anything BUT exercising lol.
I am sick of people assuming those like us are weird or in need of "treatment"
There is a webpage I read about why people like cold weather and it was one of the most insulting, condescending pieces of crap I've ever read!!!
My husband is an extrovert, while I am an introvert. He likes sun and warm weather....so he can be out and about doing things. He likes warm weather activities.
Me? I much prefer to physically exercise when it is cold outside....whether just plain cloudy/cold, blustery, or outright snowing. The warm days of summer make me feel like hiding indoors with all shades down, lights off, fans/AC blowing full speed.....anything BUT exercising lol.
I am sick of people assuming those like us are weird or in need of "treatment"
There is a webpage I read about why people like cold weather and it was one of the most insulting, condescending pieces of crap I've ever read!!!
I grew up in socal too, and lived for twenty years in most smog of any area Riverside. The air in summer was literally grey and you could smell it. In summer I stayed in from that and the heat. I saw no reason to go out and feel wasted from heat and goop to be 'normal'.
When I moved I loved our first winter here. Is snowed and it was my first snow. I found what was warm in California winter wasn't here, but have fixed that problem. I do a lot of shopping at night (24 hr walmart) and sleep during the day during summer. I have other health issues and though its usually less than 110 here in summer the humidity makes up for it.
I love spring and fall. Its not so hot and sometimes gloomy to some but I feel good about that. I could do without the tornados, but something bad happens everywhere. But I love winter. People aren't in a hurry. I bundle up and don't feel compelled to 'go out' for the sake of 'going out'. Its really quiet without powered lawn mowers (mine is the reel type). The first few snows I stood by the door and just watched in wonder.
I'm a storng introvert, and nothing is going to change that. When I was in this county program we had to 'socialize'. I was making a very large crocheted blanket, and hauled it and some yarn to the 'center' when I had to go. I'd take over a couch so nobody could sit there, crochet for a couple of hours, and then leave. But I'd much rather have been at home since I had no interest in 'chatting' with people unintereted in what I was.
And I refuse to believe that there is something wrong with me since I was born this way (so was mom) and can entertain myself without the noise and fuss and if your not like me, good for both of us. We don't come with a standard model.
I grew up in socal too, and lived for twenty years in most smog of any area Riverside. The air in summer was literally grey and you could smell it. In summer I stayed in from that and the heat. I saw no reason to go out and feel wasted from heat and goop to be 'normal'.
When I moved I loved our first winter here. Is snowed and it was my first snow. I found what was warm in California winter wasn't here, but have fixed that problem. I do a lot of shopping at night (24 hr walmart) and sleep during the day during summer. I have other health issues and though its usually less than 110 here in summer the humidity makes up for it.
I love spring and fall. Its not so hot and sometimes gloomy to some but I feel good about that. I could do without the tornados, but something bad happens everywhere. But I love winter. People aren't in a hurry. I bundle up and don't feel compelled to 'go out' for the sake of 'going out'. Its really quiet without powered lawn mowers (mine is the reel type). The first few snows I stood by the door and just watched in wonder.
I'm a storng introvert, and nothing is going to change that. When I was in this county program we had to 'socialize'. I was making a very large crocheted blanket, and hauled it and some yarn to the 'center' when I had to go. I'd take over a couch so nobody could sit there, crochet for a couple of hours, and then leave. But I'd much rather have been at home since I had no interest in 'chatting' with people unintereted in what I was.
And I refuse to believe that there is something wrong with me since I was born this way (so was mom) and can entertain myself without the noise and fuss and if your not like me, good for both of us. We don't come with a standard model.
Riverside's smog was even worse than LA's.....especially during the time I was growing up down there....1970s-80s. I remember as a kid when we'd be starting school in mid September.....it would hit 110 degrees by 11 am and we'd have a Third Stage Smog Alert on top of it! Going outside was akin to having all the wind taken out of you. Just horrible
I escaped LA for the beauty of the Pacific Northwest in my very early 20s. Have never for one second regretted it.....but now, some 25 years later, I am finding the summers here keep growing increasingly hotter and hotter. Last year we had a record setting period of 89 days without rain or cloudy skies Temps hovered in the mid 80s or higher. This summer has been much the same....day after day of 80+ degree temps. It's enough to make me feel like dying
I have now come to the realization that the place I find myself feeling at my happiest is Alaska. The highest temperature ever recorded in Anchorage was 86 degrees, for example.....as temps in the 80s are nearly unheard of up there. Alaska has all seasons, but their winter is the longest season, which is exactly suited for me. Plus, Anchorage gets lots more cloud cover in the summer months than we do here so even if the days are longer, they're cloudy days at least. Finally, because I have never lived in a place that regularly gets snow in the wintertime (the snow here is a total joke and people flip out when it happens because they can't deal with it), Anchorage will be our perfect fit.
My husband likes warmer days than I do, but he is also a huge outdoor enthusiast who can find enjoyment in snow sports as well. He loves Alaska almost as much as I do, so I am fortunate that he is on board with the move. It helps that we both have occupations that are perfectly suited to the Alaskan economy
There is not one thing wrong with any of us. We are not abnormal or weird....we are just cut from slightly different cloths.
I tell you....every stinking time I hear a meteorologist or any other person start carrying on about what beautiful, warm sunny weather we are having...., I just want to scream at them in rage Then when my retort mentions my preference for cold, cloudy days and wintery skies......they look at me like I have just grown three heads.
I don't know if any of y'all are still talking about this, but I suffer from reverse SAD as well. The drought to California has brought on endless days of hot to mild temps, and SUN SUN SUN. God, I'm so damn sick of sunny days. I'm actually experiencing symptoms of depression because of the never ending mild weather. It's dry, dusty, warm and intolerable!
I happened upon this forum when I was searching for an article that someone claims was written about Californian's experiencing more and more fatigue from the incessant sunlight courtesy of the drought.
The only relief I feel is when the time change goes back to what nature intended....I wish they would leave it alone and stop listening to the sun worshipers and understand that this is how it is SUPPOSED to be!
I want to scream at the weather announcers too. If we get ONE day of rain, all they can do is carry on about how things will "improve" and go back to "beautiful" within a day or two giving us a "break" from the rain. People should be on their knees praying or rain dancing or whatever it takes for this state to get rain and relieve us from this awful drought. Not celebrating sunny days and whining about ONE rainy day in the last 8 months!
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