Winter's awful.

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I feel like the winter is a malignant force, out to destroy me. I know it's not true, but the dark, the cold, the slippery roads... I always get bad this time of year. Last few days I've not been able to get out of bed.

I'm forcing myself to do some little things every day... if it weren't for my child I'd be non functional completely. But when he's up I've got to put on my party face. Weekend now, so no school ... I'll have to have my cheerful face on all day.

Okay, I always get through this. I've 38 winters behind me, and they don't last. I'll be fine.

That sounded like one of the things that I tried to diagnose myself with: Seasonal Affective Disorder. (I was obsessed with dogs, mental health, and male puberty, since I've studied female puberty, at that time, and I diagnosed myself with SAD because I felt more fatigued during wintertime. Maybe it was because I had to go with my family for a dinner, though.)

I don't like the feeling you're describing, so I hope your 38 years of experience with the condition pays off...good luck!

This is why I moved from the northeast to the south 5 years ago.

I hate the winter. I love being outside, I love not having to wear so much clothing.

I definitely have SAD, I just keep crying and staying in my room in my bed.

I also don't like the winter. Winter hasn't technically started yet, but the winter weather is making me depressed. First it rains, than it snows, than it rains again. I'm making toques for homeless people, so that makes me feel a little better about winter.

I actually enjoy winter, in some perverse sort of way, though (that is, I don't purely enjoy it, like I enjoy a piece of chocolate or a pizza, but I associate winter with something great, greater than summer at least). That may mostly be in contrast to summer, since the unbearable heat there can be sometimes in my opinion much worse than the cold of winter (and heat is also harder to dissipate, whereas with cold one can just wear loads of clothes). Philosophically, I think the cold of winter represents the rest of the universe (as opposed to the hot of summer, which is just the sun's energy) - and so that makes it a sort of supreme element, albeit terrifying (the fact that if the sun happens to move around farther, we might freeze to death, since that's all that remains...).

depending on where one lives, winters can be awful but summers can be even worse. frostbite versus heatstroke.

Heh, very true auntblabby. I live in Houston and the summer heat/humidity combination is hard to tolerate. I might appreciate it if it didn't last most of the year!

Even given my location, I've felt depressed during two winters now. (That is, the actual gray cold periods here.. One day temperatures will be 30-40°F, the next 70.) I've felt unaccountably melancholy and have dissociated a lot, especially when alone. It's better when I can actually go outside, but wintery weather hasn't been as good lately at lifting my mood and giving me a "grounded", real feeling. I feel like the dim sun is targeting me personally. It's odd because I've always felt great during the winter. The cold temperatures and actually tolerable sunlight are exhilarating and make me want to go out, stay up all night, etc. And when it has snowed...

Also, I'm applying to colleges now and have a good chance of leaving Texas and winters with split personalities. I'm not sure if I should be worried or happy..?

when i was stationed down at fort sam houston [san antonio] that was just about the coldest winter [january] that i had experienced up to that point- i had icicles hanging from my moustache and BDU cap! but in may it got so hot and humid that i was soaked with sweat in my saturated uniform.



the north/northeast is even more brutal in the winters, and east coast summers are their own kind of humid hell. to be safer, try san francisco or portland [oregon] or seattle, all of which have their temperatures moderated by proximity to northern coastal water.

Winter has slapped me pretty hard in the face this year. Every year it seems to slow me down into an almost hibernation mode. So far we have gotten about 2 feet of snow and the other day it got down to 8 degrees (Fahrenheit). This kind of weather happens every year but rarely this early. This coupled with my employer going out of business makes me dread another long winter. Luckily I did get another job.
In the past I have survived winter by running. People think I'm crazy but when I get into a routine it gives me a way to relieve stress and I feel a lot better. Also, it strengthens the immune system so you get fewer colds and they are much less severe. So now I just have to find motivation somewhere. That's the hard part.

I hate winter. I struggle to get out of bed each day, and I don't really go out anywhere any more either, because of the weather. I hate rain, I hate snow, and I can't venture outside if it is icy because I'm extremely clumsy. I feel so much more tired in winter and just want to stay in bed and sleep all day, every day. Thankfully I manage to force myself into school most days, but the weekends can be pretty terrible sometimes. I really love summer; I love the warm weather, and the long, bright days, whereas winter just makes me feel tired and low. Oh, yeah, and I have a terrible excuse of an immune system so I spend most of the winter months battling various kinds of illness -.- .

I didn't know it ever got that cold in San Antonio. I guess because it's farther inland..


Ah, but it's too late! I'm either staying here or going to Ohio or Michigan, North Carolina, or Québec. Heheh... I hope I can cope, I'll try a lot of warm caffeinated drinks and midday exercise. I can't afford to hibernate!

I got one of those SAD lamps, arrived a few days ago. Hasn't had a chance to work much yet, but although I fell asleep with it on today, I am feeling just a little better. Could be psychosomatic, of course.

I live in Florida and even here the shorter days and cold weather is affecting me the same way . and it can get cold here in all parts of the state. I've lived up north as a kid and I think I've had worse "winters" here than there. At the moment, I'm sleepy all day, have no interest in anything, am more angry/aggressive than usual, feel dead inside, and feel nothing but dread every time the sun starts to go down (feels like being closer to death for me..). It's unsettling since my life is actually going fairly well for once. For me at least, every winter season gets even worse and I'm only 22 .

The seasonal mood disorder (SAD is it? lol how fitting...) is pretty common and a lot of people become depressed over the winter holiday/DST seasons. I'm not 100% positive but the rates of suicide are higher during this season as well. At first I thought that was just me until I kept hearing about all these people who committed suicide in the season's time period (from schools, news, etc) and had to Google it .

Probably the best thing to do during this time is to go to sleep a reasonable time after the sun sets (8 or 9pm) and wake as it rises and stay active. Activities, exercise, whatever. This way you can busy and tire yourself out in time for you to not really notice that the winter days are short, cold, and depressing... and keep the inside bright and spring/summery.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syDtrOZWIH8[/youtube]

I have had SAD for decades. I live in the American Midwest and each year right before Thanksgiving I would get that "I want to die" kind of depression. I would slog through till April (with February being the worst month) and then start to perk up again until November when it would hit again.

In November 2008 I woke up one morning with that all too familiar "I want to die today" depression. In my family room is a ceiling fan light, where I replaced the bulbs with full spectrum light bulbs. I spend several hours a day under this light, and have not had that awful level of depression since then. The effect was immediate, the deep depression gone within 3 days, and it has not returned since then.

In my reading on light therapy, I found that the light needs to be above eye level to work properly, so that it hits the bottom of the eye (just like the sun is above eye level).

Hope you find something that works for you. Let us know if the SAD light works.

BTW ~ light can penetrate the eyelids, so sometimes I sleep in the family room to get additional light into my brain. I am careful to counterbalance this with sleeping in a completely blacked out dark bedroom with no light at all ~ not even a clock light. Apparently it is the balance of light and complete dark that regulates the moods. Hope this helps