the winter blues!!!

[rollermatic]

i don't know if anyone else here suffers from a seasonal winter type depression like i do but i always get really down from the period of around thanksgiving thru the end of the year. to the point where i hardly want to deal with anyone at all! there have been christmas days when i have just slept the entire day away!

but a couple things here. one, the winter soltice is already over so now each day is getting longer for us! that means more sunshine in a state and city that hardly sees sunshine during the winter! cincinnati has lousy weather all year long!
cold and gloomy too many days! if i didn't have a house full of washers and dishwashers i would seriously consider moving to a warm sunny place like florida (where i once lived) or out west somewhere.

and secondly i have noticed that this year i have not been nearly as down due to this appliance collecting hobby! i have been busy working on my rollermatics and didhwashers at a steady pace.

so thanks to automaticwasher.org and it's members for helping me fight my "winter blues" as i call them! i've still been in a slump but not nearly as bad as in previous years! and once we get thru one more week of this "christmas insanity" things will really start looking up!!!

thanks again!!!

 

[qsd-dan]

Not really a problem here in sunny ca. The shorter days of sunlight get me down as I can't accomplish the many outside projects I enjoy working on. I can't begin to fathom how the majority of the nation survives the bitter cold and snow of winter. No thanks, life is too damn short!

Gonna go for a hike out on the ridge in an hour or so. 58F and not a cloud in sight

 

[rollermatic]

yes, i'm sure i know

what the song "california dreamin" by the mamas and papas was all about! sounds wonderful!

 

[danemodsandy]

This May Help:

As most of you know, I recently relocated from Atlanta, Georgia (actually Marietta, a suburb on Atlanta's northern side) to Waterloo, Iowa.

My new next-door neighbour here, a really nice guy named Ron, was asking me what in hell possessed me to move from the South to a place where it's snow and ice for so much of the year. To be fair to him, we'd just gotten a foot and a half of snow all at once, and we were digging out our respective front walkways as we talked.

I told him, "Ron, six months ago I was mowing half an acre of lawn that was steeply sloped, in ninety-five-degree heat and one hundred percent humidity."

Ron said, "Ooh. Wouldn't like that!"

So, I think the moral of the story is that there's different misery for different people.

 

[rollermatic]

i suppose that's true

but "sunny" misery sounds so much better than this ohio gloomy crap!

 

[norgeway]

ILL TAKE- - - - -

COLD over HEAT A N Y D A Y , I hate summer.

 

[bellalaundry]

SAD seasonal affective disorder

My partner is affected to a much greater degree than me. He uses one of those light boxes. These really do work well, and if you expose yourself too much, you can start to get hypomanic (irritable, less sleep needed). Only 5 or 10 minutes a day seems to do the trick for him.

Guy

 

[westingman123]

I'll take cold over hot...

My Aunt Mildred was often heard to say "You can always ADD clothes, but there are only so many you can remove and remain decent." 'Bout sums up my perspective. Besides, what could be better than a fresh pot of tea, a roaring fire on the grate, and a good book?

 

[ptcruiser51]

Peter, you're not alone

I have S.A.D. too, in spite of antidepressants. I have slept through Christmas (AND New Year's). Other than religious reasons, I would gladly dispense with the entire holiday season (Deck the halls with poison ivy...)! I get forced into participating by family and well-meaning friends; but at the end of the day I'd just rather stay home. I look through my photo albums of my adult years; every Christmas picture since I was in my 30s shows me with dark circles under my swollen eyes from weeping (or wearing sunglasses). I've learned to expect it and try to cope for the 2-3 months it lasts. For me, it's actually like turning on a switch somewhere around Veteran's Day - that's the only way I can describe it. I take a vacation to visit FL friends at the end of January when I've reached the point when I can't stand it anymore; that helps a lot. My dr. suggested trying to spend as much time outdoors when it's sunny and that does temporarily improve my mood, as does being at work (the Home Depot store where I work is unusually an bright one).

Remember my motto: "Hurry Spring!"

 

[rollermatic]

i agree

christmas is not a big one for me either! and being outside does help a lot! today it's actually sunny here in cincinnati! i usually snap back into my good mode by the first of feb. but i can relate to the sleeping away the holidays. i find working on my appliances has def helped me this winter.

i work at home depot also and my boss also has the seasonal depression, we were joking about it the other day. we both admitted that this year hasn't been that bad. our home depot is pretty upbeat too which does help.

speaking of antidepressants i too have been taking one since i got sober and drug free 12 years ago. i was advised by my psychologist at the time that i might need to take one the rest of my life due to the long term affects of alcoholism on the brain. that i'm not sure but i still take it and outside of the winter blues i do fine.

being an alcoholic in recovery going to aa meetings is prob the best thing for me personally when it comes to my winter depression. i was told by my first sponsor (who was also a drug and alcohol counseler) that the best thing for depression was to do something good for someone else and to work the 12 steps of alcohol anonymous.

i figure we have about 5 more weeks till feb gets here and the weather is warmer and i will be out on the front porch working on some washer or dishwasher. thanks for sharing, there are a lot of people out there like us that are effected. it's def not something to be ashamed of. just like being an alcoholic is nothing to be ashamed of.

take care