Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD)

[ColinJ]

i dont suffer from s.a.d but i work outside all year and on those wet and cold winter days i really look forward to getting home sitting in front of a open fire with a glass of wine and snuggle up next to the wife , if my jack russel lets me . do feel sorry for you guys out there cant be a nice thing to have .

Well, you are in one of the best places in the UK for the winter! I spent Christmas in Cornwall once and was walking round St Ives in shorts on Christmas Eve, under blue skies - super!

 

[surfdude]

Well, you are in one of the best places in the UK for the winter! I spent Christmas in Cornwall once and was walking round St Ives in shorts on Christmas Eve, under blue skies - super!

best light in the country thats why we have all the artist down here and St Ives is a great place . mind you its bloody hilly

 

[ColinJ]

best light in the country thats why we have all the artist down here and St Ives is a great place . mind you its bloody hilly

You want to try cycling up here!

 

[the_mikey]

I have in the past been addicted to the summer and the long summer days, and felt sad as the nights become noticeably shorter after july, but this year I haven't felt that, although this years summer has been particularly good, so maybe that has made it less upsetting to see it pass?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I do indeed suffer. I used to wonder why I hated Xmas so much until I understood it wasn't Xmas as such but the time of year (darkest days). I have a light box which I have used as a wake up thing - connect to a timer and on it comes in the morning. Also I take an SSRI to maintain my mood all year. But winter is always a difficult time. Cycling is a life saver.

 

[ColinJ]

I have in the past been addicted to the summer and the long summer days, and felt sad as the nights become noticeably shorter after july, but this year I haven't felt that, although this years summer has been particularly good, so maybe that has made it less upsetting to see it pass?

Did you mean to write 'hasn't been particularly good'? We had some good weather up here, but overall the summer was another disappointing one, though nowhere near as as bad as 2007-9.

I actually find the opposite to what you seem to be saying. A good summer sets me up for the winter. I hate the contrast, but at least I feel that I've got something out of the year. This time, I feel that the long winter was briefly interrupted by a half-hearted summer and now we are about to be plunged back into the gloom again! I feel as though 2010 hasn't started and yet it is about to finish. It's like a year has been plucked from my life. I've done a fraction of the walking and cycling that I did last year. I haven't had a proper holiday. 2010 = bad news! 

 

[Arch]

I don't think I suffer from it properly, but this last week I felt rather dispirited and a bit doom laden - and it's in the last couple of weeks that the difference in darkness times has become more noticeable, especially at going home time. Still, I work outdoors, so I get plenty of light. And I quite like winter - Christmas, and snow and all that.

It makes sense that so many suffer from it. We evolved near the Equator, where day length doesn't really vary, and biology involving hormones is probably pretty slow to evolve. Especially as we managed to cope with the cold and so on with clothes and fire - our bodies didn't really need to change so much.

Anyway, just think. Just a couple of months and a little bit, and the days do start to get longer again.

 

[ComedyPilot]

I don't mind this time of year - and as long as it is not totally heshing it down, then I'll go out on my bike.

 

[J.Y.Kelly]

I don't know whether I suffer from the S.A.D. condition, but my depressive moods become deeper during the shorter daylight days.
I was diagnosed as bi-polar 14 years ago, and have taken medication ever since. This seems to work for the most part, but I still get really bad days/weeks on occasion. These are more prevailant than they used to be; perhaps the medication is less effective the longer I'm on it.
Winston Churchill, who was also a sufferer, ( as is Robin Williams would you believe), called these episodes his "black dog days".

 

[Lurker]

In case anyone's wondering why psychiatrists call this condition 'seasonal Affective disorder', it's a disorder of the Affect (= mood), the other two parts of the human mind being conation ('will' or 'impulse' or 'drive') and cognition (intelligence). There's a useful summary on wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conation

 

[ColinJ]

In case anyone's wondering why psychiatrists call this condition 'seasonal Affective disorder', it's a disorder of the Affect (= mood), the other two parts of the human mind being conation ('will' or 'impulse' or 'drive') and cognition (intelligence).  There's a useful summary on wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conation

The term conation is no longer widely known—it is in "The 1,000 Most Obscure Words in the English Language," defined as "the area of one's active mentality that has to do with desire, volition, and striving"

Certainly a new one to me! Something to read more about at a later date, I reckon.