Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD)

[longers]

You would end up posting crap on CycleChat all week!

Which would differ how?

A friend recommended a couple of sunbed sessions over winter to help with excema and I've done that for a couple of years and they seem to have a positive side effect.

 

[Aperitif]

Truesay. Funnily enough, I have ramped up the lighting where I work - possibly because of the impending closing in of the nights...coupled with a few long days nights

 

[ColinJ]

Those CC members who have been out on my forum rides know that I'm overweight and therefore a bit slow on the hills, but they also know that I can normally tackle the worst ones that West Yorkshire can chuck at me. I'm basically a fairly big sturdy bloke.

What a surprise, therefore, when I started suffering from S.A.D. in my late 20s to discover that I was being reduced to a sleepy, weak wimp every October. I got so bad that I couldn't even walk back from the shops carrying 2 bags of shopping without stopping for a rest every 100 metres or so!

A number of years ago, Cycling Weekly did a feature on S.A.D. and it was a revelation to me. The symptoms described were exactly those that I suffered from. I made myself a home-made light box and it helped a lot. Then my sister bought me the one in the photograph above and that was even better. In fact, for a while, I used both at the same time. Here's the photo before I cropped it...    

If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend the 'S.A.D. bible' - Winter Blues by Norman E. Rosenthal MD.

 

[Vikeonabike]

Not affected at all, but then again I work outside (most of the time)!

 

[Archie_tect]

gbb, you'll just have to take up winter sports so that you look forward to something through the winter months.

 

[ufkacbln]

My profession as a Radiographer has involved working in windowless imaging rooms, darkrooms (in the old days) and we often pass an entire day with no natural light.

I suppose that as the actual amount of sunlight is the same in both seasons.......it explains why this is a low incidence in our profession.

 

[jimboalee]

Most of the people who I work alongside have their holiday piccies as their PC wallpaper.

Mine is a piccie of my Son standing at Infinite Loop. Its January 9th but the sun is shining like a British summer.

Why does he have to talk when I'm taking a photo?

 

[Jaguar]

There's logic in that...sunlight creates Melatonin (sp) in your body, which helps wake you up.

It's the other way round: melatonin causes drowsiness, and is used to correct the sleep-wake cycle, eg with jet lag. Bright blue light suppresses melatonin, perking you up.

Much has been written about Melatonin, Seasonal Affective Disorder and Endogenous Depression.Webb and Puig-Domingo have reviewed the literature and I quote from their article.(1)

"Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) a depression occurring in the Winter months and associated with hypersomnia,weight gain and craving for carbohydrate has been found to improve with bright light treatment (Rosenthal et al., 1984) The benefit appeared to be related to light rather than Melatonin inhibition as these workers found that pharmacological suppression of Melatonin did not improve their depression."







I suffer from S.A.D too, mine kicks in at the end of July, when the gardening season is pretty much over. I line up winter hobbies for myself: painting the house, sewing, wine-making, posting on here ...

I hate the winter. I get some exercise every day, but being damp & cold just isn't the same. I also suffer from the cold, I seem to have a lower body temp than most people. Winter is just miserable

​

 

[ColinJ]

I suffer from S.A.D too, mine kicks in at the end of July

End of July - blimey, that's bad! At least I can usually get to October before I really start to notice the change.

Hebden Bridge sits in steep-sided valleys so it can get very gloomy in the winter. Sometimes low cloud seems to blot out the sun for weeks at a time, especially since it barely climbs above the hill-tops when it is late in the year.

My S.A.D. isn't helped by the fact that I work from home in an attic room with one west-facing window which looks straight out at the nearby hillside. Bare trees, shadows and mud are all I see in the winter if I don't make the effort to go out during the day!

I hate the winter.  I get some exercise every day, but being damp & cold just isn't the same.  I also suffer from the cold, I seem to have a lower body temp than most people.  Winter is just miserable 

I'm not too bad with the cold. I haven't had to put any heating on since about April this year. I actually prefer it when we have a cold winter like last year because that often means clear blue skies, and snow on the ground reflects what light we get. 

The ideal answer to our problems would be to spend winters in the southern hemisphere, or at least somewhere much nearer the equator! If I could afford to, I'd have at least a week off every month in the winter and take my bike somewhere sunnier like Tenerife.

 

[gbb]

It's the other way round: melatonin causes drowsiness, and is used to correct the sleep-wake cycle, eg with jet lag. Bright blue light suppresses melatonin, perking you up.

Much has been written about Melatonin, Seasonal Affective Disorder and Endogenous Depression.Webb and Puig-Domingo have reviewed the literature and I quote from their article.(1)

"Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) a depression occurring in the Winter months and associated with hypersomnia,weight gain and craving for carbohydrate has been found to improve with bright light treatment (Rosenthal et al., 1984) The benefit appeared to be related to light rather than Melatonin inhibition as these workers found that pharmacological suppression of Melatonin did not improve their depression."







I suffer from S.A.D too, mine kicks in at the end of July, when the gardening season is pretty much over. I line up winter hobbies for myself: painting the house, sewing, wine-making, posting on here ...

I hate the winter. I get some exercise every day, but being damp & cold just isn't the same. I also suffer from the cold, I seem to have a lower body temp than most people. Winter is just miserable

​

I stand corrected Jaguar, thanks for clarifying

Winter sports Archie...phhhh, i hate the cold...couldnt imagine anything worse (although you're right)
Ironically, i dont have the heating on till maybe November at the earliest..can't stand a hot house either.

My ace in the pack was i travelled in the winter a bit for work, usually Cyprus and / or Egypt,...none of them hot at that time, but a welcome release from the winter here. But that's unlikely to happen again. Can't see my company surviving the next couple of weeks...no matter, i've got some pokers in the fire, but i can say goodbye to those trips.

 

[numbnuts]

I don't suffer from S.A.D, but I hate the winter, cold dark evenings

 

[ColinJ]

I don't suffer from S.A.D, but I hate the winter, cold dark evenings

I think it's natural to dislike cold, dark evenings but S.A.D. is in a whole new league! I don't suffer as badly as some people, but there are entire winters that I can't remember. It's almost as though my brain used to switch off from late October until about March.

I didn't really realise how long winters are in the UK until I started using my light box. That perked me up enough to take notice. Winter 2009/2010 was agonisingly long, especially because there wasn't much gritting done round here so cycling and even walking were too dangerous for long periods of time. I think I should have got some strap-on chains for my walking boots. I'll do that if we have another bad winter. I need to get out!

I spoke to someone whose wife went to university in Norway. He said that the winter there sent her into a serious depression. Perma-night - aaaaaaaaaargh! Must be nice in the summer though...

 

[stavros]

The hormone we're really concerned with here though is serotonin, which is implicated in mood and a sense of well-being. Low serotonin levels will lower mood and motivation. The new antidepressant drugs SSRIs are effectively aimed at boosting serotonin, and they work in an entirely different way to the tricyclics.

There are ways of boosting serotonin levels naturally, and exercise is one proven method. Changes in diet can also help - avoiding caffeine pardoxically is supposed to help. Try lowering alcohol intake, and taking high levels of phenol-containing foods (i.e. chocolate and green tea). Cheese and white meat like turkey are supposed to be particularly good. Light boxes and warm environs are known to increase serotonin although I haven't tried one yet - I will certainly get one this year or go mad!!.

The problem is that as winter draws in you're more likely to reach for a dram and turn on the telly which are possibly the two worst things you can do. Alternatively one could move to Greece!

 

[surfdude]

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 .

 

[ColinJ]

There are ways of boosting serotonin levels naturally, and exercise is one proven method. Changes in diet can also help - avoiding caffeine pardoxically is supposed to help. Try lowering alcohol intake, and taking high levels of phenol-containing foods (i.e. chocolate and green tea). Cheese and white meat like turkey are supposed to be particularly good. Light boxes are known to help boost melatonin and consequently serotonin. 

The problem is that as winter draws in you're more likely to reach for a dram and turn on the telly which are possibly the two worst things you can do. Alternatively one could move to Greece!

That's my problem! I don't get enough exercise, and eat and drink a lot more in the winter so I pile weight on, and lose my summer fitness. That makes me even more sluggish and depressed so I end up eating and drinking even more... I come out of winter fat and unfit and then spend the rest of the year trying to get back to where I was in the autumn.

I was fairly slim in 2006 (see my avatar photo). I got pretty fit and was able to do hilly 200km audax rides in 10 hours that autumn. I had a particularly good winter, I walked and cycled much more than usual at that time of year. I felt good, lost weight and started the next year fitter than I'd ever been before. But then... we had a succession of crappy wet, dreary summers. It was almost like having winter in the summer time! I've put well over 2 stone on since then. I really need a good winter this time, followed by a nice sunny spring and summer. If we don't get the good weather here, I need to earn enough money to jet off to somewhere that does!