Posted on 11/06/2022 6:35:18 AM PST by EVO X
I have a friend who does but she makes a conscious effort to get more light into her days. And I know of people, not close friends, who struggle with it but probably aren’t diagnosed. It is difficult for my dear friend. And the older we get the more difficult winter is for many reasons.
Anybody on FR have this disorder?
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Yup - I used to. When I worked at a bank, in an office with no windows and on weekends, I was pretty much house bound, I had it BAD. The depression really gets you down - no energy, puts a little dark cloud over your day that just hovers & won’t go away, hard to find joy in anything much ... best I can describe it. The tendency is also to eat/drink (alcohol) more which certainly does not help matters at all.
I started hiking as an activity and with some die-hard friends, we hiked in the winter, too. The sunlight is at a different angle, but when you’re out all day, often in sunshine, you do get a dose. Once I started hiking (pretty much every weekend, sometimes both days), no more SAD and also, no more winter colds ... it was like the fresh air/cold just blasted the germs away. I’m no longer hiking, but I make sure to get out & do something outside (work on garden for next spring, walk an hour, pick up tree branches on our 10 acres+ after storms, etc) & I also keep my Vit D levels way up.
Big benefits to get your D up if it’s low. Above 50 ng/ml, your chance of being a COVID mortality is almost nil, for one thing. Vit D is a pre-hormone & ‘science’ is finding out it’s implicated in lots of bodily functions in a good & necessary way.
Thanks for the reply and personal experience..
Moved from GA to FL and then back again. When In Florida I did notice during the winter my mood was better. I think there is something to it.
I am getting up there in age. It is a struggle to want to go out for a walk when it is 40 or below.
We turned the clocks back last night and it will take days to get back to normal. Wish they would end that.
I have had terrible problems with it. When I lived in upstate NY, it was quite debilitating. In the south I get by just fine, though I am still affected if we have too many days of rain in a row.
I actually think a LOT of people are affected by this, if not damn near everyone. They just don’t realize it. Unless it’s a very serious case, a lot of people just don’t seem to realize that they’re a little more down or anxious or just quicker to snap during those grey months.
I can’t believe the number of people, even here, who defend that BS with the clocks. It’s insanity. And it is literally DESIGNED to screw with all of us and keep us off kilter.
There are several people who have SAD. Try getting the Verilux light. It really helps!
But what about the cows that the farmer has to milk? That use to be the excuse.
Life can suck when the weather is shitty
Remedy here is to prepare with visual images. The lack of
color, the cold, sunless days. More heat and nature’s blooming landscape help overcome to some degree. Strange
thing that... Seldom actually in the sun (easily sunburned)
but when unseen, it is greatly missed.
How folks in the north survive is remarkable. Don’t believe
this could possibly be tolerated. Look forward to springtime.
Walking nearly daily or hiking occasionally helps me through the winter months, too. I pretty much need to go outdoors for a bit every day. Like you said, there’s something to the fresh air. My husband used to have a vitamin D deficiency when he worked in our windowless basement office at our old house. In this house, we converted one of the bedrooms to an office, so that he gets sunlight while he’s working. Plus, we take 5000 IU of D every day (among other vitamins and supplements).
I still get the SAD, but it’s a lot better with my “happy” light, and the daily outdoor exercise is crucial. Wish I had 10 acres! We are just under 2. Even these 2 acres keep me busy with so many trees. Always picking up something, but being outside is good for the soul, as well as the body!
That what I use. It stays on my kitchen counter throughout the winter. It’s not out yet, but will be very soon, especially now that dark will come at 5 or so.
Yep. I hate February, period.
That was always a really stupid excuse. Maybe urban people actually thought they were helping farmers. The problem with that idea is that cows cant read a clock but they know what time it is regardless of the clock. Cows get uncooperative and difficult when things like feeding and milking dont happen on schedule. Uncooperative irritated cattle can easily injure a human which could be a real problem on a family farm especially before modern transportation and hospitals.
*** How folks in the north survive is remarkable. Don’t believe
this could possibly be tolerated.***
I have family in Florida that romanticizes living in the Midwest. They want to come see snow every year, but sometimes when they come it’s not snowy, just gray and muddy. They talk about moving up here, but I know quite well that they wouldn’t make it for a whole month, much less a year.
I try to tell them that it’s hard to handle the temps sometimes, and the lack of sunshine would be an additional factor. I don’t mind the snowy days because the light reflects off of it, and that’s helpful. They know, even if they won’t admit it, that living up here isn’t the bees knees until the summer months, and then that’s pretty short.
Braver than me. I stop at below 70*. Windy here and past 70 years, my bones shout at me a lot more when the weather changes!
Believe it’s safe to assume we are where we are being that
it is the best possible place to be. Frankly, have no desire
to live in N.Dakota, Minn.; nor do I dream of living in Fla.
Born in Texas, will be buried in Texas. A/C for the heated
times in summer, a snowfall every now and then. No hurricanes and only an occasional very miner earthquake. Praying our Republican governors will last as long as I.
All from lack of sunshine on the skin. Vitamin D3 supplements through the cover-up months will sub nicely and SADS is gone. Vitamin D/sunshine is the only effective medication for depression and it is a powerful one. I have positive experience with myself and a dozen other people. Sunshine/D3 banishes depression and flu and colds.
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