SAD - does anyone else suffer from this? What works? (long)
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Try living in Scotland where it gets dark at 3:30 in December! Actually, it never bothered me, but they say that the dark winters are attributable to many of the suicides in Scandinavia.
Hot, humid weather depresses me far more. I love the winter.
Are people more prone to developing SAD if they already have underlying depressive tendencies or have been diagnosed with clinical depression? I've read that the two aren't always directly related, but can also be separate.
Try living in Scotland where it gets dark at 3:30 in December! Actually, it never bothered me, but they say that the dark winters are attributable to many of the suicides in Scandinavia.
Hot, humid weather depresses me far more. I love the winter.
What is likely worse is that Scotland features dark grey damp winters IN ADDITION to the darkness. This winter in northern New England has been painful because the lack of snowcover has led to far more drab days. People underestimate the brightness and high reflectivity that snow has.
What is likely worse is that Scotland features dark grey damp winters IN ADDITION to the darkness. This winter in northern New England has been painful because the lack of snowcover has led to far more drab days. People underestimate the brightness and high reflectivity that snow has.
I live in New England. Although the winters here are colder than back home and aside from this freakish year, snowier, it's a different more dry and tolerable cold. As of now, it's light past 5pm already. The winters are colder here, but not as dingy and not as prolonged, to be expected as Boston is basically on the same latitude as the northern Mediterranean.
OP- i had the same thing you have and no lamps ever worked. I ended up moving to SoCal. Then I got reverse SAD, the nonstop sun was putting me on edge. Now I'm back in a gloomy area and seemed to have snapped out of It. I prefer gloom now. Maybe try moving to AZ, or CA?
I live in New England. Although the winters here are colder than back home and aside from this freakish year, snowier, it's a different more dry and tolerable cold. As of now, it's light past 5pm already. The winters are colder here, but not as dingy and not as prolonged, to be expected as Boston is basically on the same latitude as the northern Mediterranean.
Where are you from the you consider Boston a "dry" cold?
Just curious.
And have you experienced the summers in New England yet? Far from dry ... incredibly humid.
Where are you from the you consider Boston a "dry" cold?
Just curious.
And have you experienced the summers in New England yet? Far from dry ... incredibly humid.
I'm from the UK. Lived near Glasgow and Fort Lauderdale before I came here. The cold here is much drier than the UK in general. It doesn't frost here hardly at all, even when the temperature drops way below freezing point (0C or 32F). In the UK, the dew point is so much higher than you are virtually guaranteed a coating of frost on your car if it drops to zero or below. It's hard to explain, but the cold here is more tolerable and doesn't penetrate your bones as much. It has a lot to do with dampness.
I was terrified of New England winters, but 10F here feels like 32F back home.
LOL, I'll b*tch and moan right along with you if you'll invite me to your vacation home.
I think getting outside, even if the skies are overcast, helps a lot. So does even a short walk outdoors, even when it's cold. My threshold for outdoor exercise seems to be about 20 degrees F; I try to get outside for at least 20 minutes a day, unless it's raining (even more depressing than snow!) or horrifically windy.
You are more than welcome to join me! I am hoping to have something by the end of this winter. Perhaps we could have a SAD CD Happy Va-CA.
Anyway, I agree. Rain really bums me out. I love snow (from the inside) and it could be the brightness, and how it coats everything grey brown and dismal with a fantastic crystalline glaze.
I need to get out more and to get a proper light. That's for sure.
I know what you mean about England's bone chilling damp weather. Here I am from Wisconsin where it gets really cold but when my daughter and I went to England in April, it was around 40 degrees and I was chilled to the bone. Different type of cold then what I was used to.
In general one thing works for me consistently: do NOT sleep in! I don't know what it is, but if I get up early, I am fine, not depressed. If I sleep in, I am depressed. (This is generally true any time of year).
I tried a light box, but can't say that it worked or didn't work.
One winter in Boston I was using a tanning salon and was in high spirits, but not 100% sure if that was the reason.
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