Are you successfully living here with SAD? Or is it just better to move (seriously). (Seattle: sublease, leases)

[NaleyRocks]

zunshine I have never wintered in a warm place. Does it significantly alleviate SAD symptoms? A few years back I was talking with a woman who moved to Florida and she said it did, but I haven't been able to find much more to support it and I can't find my conversation with her from like 3 or 4 years ago. I fear making that big switch and still being depressed, and this time far from home and family.

[DP79]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Hey if you're mentally ill, I sympathize. I'm just wondering how many threads your support group needs. It's like Evergraystate is back. I supposed I should be glad considering it feels like too many people are moving here. I'm not depressed by clouds and mist that make everything more intensely green but you guys are depressing and should probably leave soon so you can learn to laugh again. Good luck to you.

Seacove, what you possibly expect to find in a forum titled "Are you living here with SAD?" Why did you even choose to enter it?

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by DP79

Seacove, what you possibly expect to find in a forum titled "Are you living here with SAD?" Why did you even choose to enter it?

Let's see - last night it was positioned next to a suicide thread and a "can't find women" thread that had once again devolved into a "freeze" thread. I simply said I look forward to your finding your happy place. And I received comments strongly agreeing with that sentiment.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by DP79

Seacove, what you possibly expect to find in a forum titled "Are you living here with SAD?" Why did you even choose to enter it?

Some people, particularly up in these parts, cannot resist the insatiable urge to state their opinion, rather than keep it to themselves; even when it's just to swoop in to the defense of Seattle. I find the natives are very defensive and have a "then you don't deserve" to live here-type attitude. Odd. Oh well.

Some of us are leaving, very soon, but in the meantime we need to vent, and it helps others get a feel for moving to Seattle from a transplant's perspective who didn't enjoy it here at all.

[burgerbun]

I am just about to finish surviving my second winter here. It is so hard not to see the sun much during the shortest days of winter. I cope by indulging in lazy activities when I'm feeling down. It really seems to help. And then when the sun comes out again, I feel energized and ready to go tackle the outdoors again. I think it help me that I suffer chronically from depression and I've developed a lot of coping mechanisms over the years. I know that even when I feel horrible, that it won't be forever. I think SAD would be a lot harder on someone who has never dealt with depression before.

[GMonkey]

Maybe if the OP were actually working he/she would feel better? I love having time off, but when I have too much time off, I start to get a little off-kilter and depressed.

Also, I'm someone who is currently in the FL panhandle considering a move to Seattle when my husband retires from the Air Force in about 2.5 years.

Surprisingly, I don't get to be exposed to all that much sunshine here. For one thing, we need to keep the curtains and blinds shut most of the time due to the AC costs. Also the beaches are really crowded during peak times and traffic is nuts to get there. I work 3rd shift...so there's that.

[new_to_town]

Originally Posted by GMonkey

Maybe if the OP were actually working he/she would feel better? I love having time off, but when I have too much time off, I start to get a little off-kilter and depressed.

LOL. I haven't worked since June of 2011 to be perfectly honest. Well, I've not worked a "traditional" job. I finished remodeling a 100 year old house that is now a profitable rental. In addition, I was traveling around the world with and helping out my Dad, before he passed away last fall from cancer. I was co-executor of his estate, which was a huge job so then I was doing that. Then, I finished things up for renting the house and relocated to Seattle, and have been spending time there with my Mom who was visiting, and my sister and her husband. I've also been doing remodeling projects they've needed done on their house - among other things I fully remodeled one of their bathrooms and put up about 90 feet of custom fencing and gates. In addition, I'm a pretty serious athlete and train in many sports. As you can see, my personality is definitely not couch potato and doesn't gel, AT ALL, with SAD.

So I am OK with not "traditionally" working for now. Both of my parents, including my father before he died, told me I have the rest of my life to work. If I don't have to right now, then why do it? Honestly would you rather be in the mountains skiing or going into an office, let's get real. I am not a slacker, I saved money because I worked for a newspaper and knew the ball was going to drop eventually - my car is paid off, I have no credit card debt, and have two profitable rentals one of which is fully paid off as well.

On that note the main time I have anxiety about not working is when I have SAD. I get worried about that, esp at night, get depressed about my Dad's passing - something he did NOT want me to be, and think so negatively as I said.

Well, I've been driving across country outside the past two days in full sun all day from sunrise to sunset. I feel so amazingly better right now. (So a big YES to the people who wonder if getting away and into the sun does help.) Even though we drove all day yesterday and I didn't sleep that long, I got up this morning and ran in 23 degrees and didn't even care because I loved the sun (well I never minded running in the cold, I don't like running on ice) and I had ENERGY. I've been thinking about moving and now know I am going to as well. The decision is easy now that I can THINK. Instead of thinking about all the problems with moving to other places like I do when I have the SAD, I focus on what could be good about living there and it starts to seem exciting.

I am also sleeping better, I didn't take any of the herbs/supplements for sleep last night, and I just SLEPT, it was like having the sun gave me a clear signal of when to get up and go to sleep. And, I was up at the break of dawn, which is normal for me, outside of Seattle.

I don't consider Seattle a mistake, I am glad I came and tried it out so at least I know. That was a large part of why I came out there in the winter. If most of my things were not already moved there, I wouldn't even come back. But since they are, and I've got a temp office area set up where I can work, and don't have to pay rent there, etc, I'm going to come back (after traveling) and work on things I need to do anyway before finding a job - updating my portfolio, etc. And just enjoy spending time with my sister in nice weather that this summer will hopefully have.

I am leaning toward moving to Denver now (or Colo Springs as some suggested but I've heard that's even more conservative, but I have an old college roommate that lives there). Yes I'll have to live with snow but heck that means I can cross country ski 5-10 minutes from my house versus 45 minutes away LOL. Yes the city is not that attractive IMO but I don't go into Seattle proper that often either, I am in the mountains or outdoors and Colorado would be the same to me.

What Seacove posted originally irritated me but now I don't care, hell I know I am depressing when I have SAD, I can see it (even more clearly now), but at least I know I don't want to be that way. I am not the type that just sits around and complains without doing anything about it, I feel like I've given it a fair shot and tried a lot of things, it is not worth the suffering and taking all sorts of supplements and sitting by a bright light several times a day and still feeling off, and so, I am moving, but will come back to visit in the summers and for my sister's birthday as I have for the past 10 years. I feel blessed actually I have a lot of options, as I know many don't.

[zunshine]

Originally Posted by NaleyRocks

zunshine I have never wintered in a warm place. Does it significantly alleviate SAD symptoms? A few years back I was talking with a woman who moved to Florida and she said it did, but I haven't been able to find much more to support it and I can't find my conversation with her from like 3 or 4 years ago. I fear making that big switch and still being depressed, and this time far from home and family.

I think for me the difference in my mood was very pronounced, I only needed a week in a sunny place to realize what I was missing, specially since I went in March, I felt like a completely different person like those sneakers commercials but in reverse That is why I am moving, I am miserable and making everyone around me miserable, people don't deserve that. You can notice when it is sunny how people flock all the parks and streets. You have to examine yourself when we have a sunny day after several cloudy days in a row, how do you feel? Of course if I am indoors I don't feel the full effect of the sun, but just looking at it makes me feel better. Unfortunately here in America we have states with every extreme weather there is, I would not recommend switching to a radically different place like FL or AZ, because you will probably get tired of that too. But to be honest, I lived in Houston which is like hell but I just felt annoyed, disgusted by the bugs but I didn't feel as depressed and hopeless as I felt here. I wouldn't go back there but there are milder places. I will move to CA, but would also consider CO, even NM. I lived in ABQ and even though it felt very hot during the summer, and very cold during winters, I think it is quite bearable compared to the winters here... and fall and spring hehehe

[zunshine]

Bravo!!! I love that attitude.

New_to_town
I am not the type that just sits around and complains without doing anything about it, I feel like I've given it a fair shot and tried a lot of things, it is not worth the suffering and taking all sorts of supplements and sitting by a bright light several times a day and still feeling off, and so, I am moving, but will come back to visit in the summers and for my sister's birthday as I have for the past 10 years. I feel blessed actually I have a lot of options, as I know many don't.

Let me know if you are moving to CA, maybe we could share the UHaul

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Let's see - last night it was positioned next to a suicide thread and a "can't find women" thread that had once again devolved into a "freeze" thread. I simply said I look forward to your finding your happy place. And I received comments strongly agreeing with that sentiment.

You were obviously not in your own happy place last night, consorting with miserable folks and all.

Now to address the OP...the cloudy grey overcast sky gets to me. It just does. I wish that it didn't, for in almost every other way this place is an ideal home (ie. the cost of housing is the other major problem). For some people, that funky depressing feeling due to grey skies is inescapable. I drink a lot of coffee in attempts to escape that lethargy and blahness, but then I'm left with insomnia all night and find myself posting to citydata.

The full spectrum lights made my interior feel kind of bluish in color and uninviting. Maybe lots of different kinds of lighting in each room would work? And cheerful interior colors with skylights? I have a SAD lamp, but it makes me feel agitated.

Personally, I have decided to move to a sunnier state next year.