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Thread: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

  1. #1

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    Default SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    I know there is a long thread on depression already, so sorry if I should have just added to that!
    Does anyone else get SAD, I have had it mildly before and coped ok, but this year it is really hard.
    I am waking up in the middle of the night and the morning just feeling soo miserable and not wanting to get up and deal with the day.
    Am feeling really pathetic about it too cos I know there isn't anything actually wrong, I just am reacting to the lack of daylight.
    I know those light boxes are probably worth a try, but I can't justify spending that much money on one at the moment.

    Anyone else have ways they deal with it?

  2. #2
    perfect RedWellies's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sad

    You could maybe try daylight light bulbs instead of normal ones in the rooms you spend most of your time in. Also try and get outside as much as you can so you get as much natural light/sun as possible.
    "Do what you can with what you have where you are."
    - Theodore Roosevelt

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Sad

    Anna, a friend of mine suffers from SAD, she has one of those lightboxes and swears by it. Perhaps it would be a worthwhile investment if it makes you feel better. Maybe you could try one out before you buy. Sounds like a remote, crazy possibility but you never know. Other than that, what Red said I guess. Lots of exposure to natural light, and physical exercise which always helps.

  4. #4
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sad

    ebay seems to have quite a few at substantially less than rrp

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Sad

    I agree with the other posts, but try to get up early enough so you can benefit from the whole daylight period
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=3263
    will tell you exactly when the sun rises each day in Sheffield so make sure you get the benefit of all the natural light there is.
    See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/

  6. #6
    Good sperm
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    Default Re: Sad

    I get SAD quite badly and have done ever since bouts of depression in my mid teens. Sam bought a Phillips light box for me off eBay for about half the price it should have been last year just as the clocks changed. Once the clocks go back I sit in front of it for half an hour in the morning as I'm eating my brekkie and then any other time I feel down. It's fabulous, really really helped me last year I wholeheartedly recommended it.

    Just a warning though, try not to use it after about 6pm as it will mess your body clock about a bit and stop you getting to sleep.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Sad

    Is that really you posing nude?

  8. #8
    ♥♥♥ Tigerlily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sad

    Yes it is, Apple_Blossem. If you click on the her ~Naked Veganism~ link in her signature, you'll get more pics.
    Peace, love, and happiness.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Sad

    Thanks very much.
    I had not thought of trying ebay but it is an excellent idea

  10. #10
    cvC
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    Default Re: Sad

    This is an article I saw on the issue in The Times the other day and in which the writer has a positive experience of something called a Litebook that retails at £125:

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...3-2414755.html

  11. #11
    prilly-pie
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    Default Re: Sad

    I have SAD - i wake up at night, i get down during theday but i have a strict plan i stick to. My diet - i keep it light, natural and no sugar. i can have caffeine in the morning, but none at night. After 5pm usually. as soon as its gets darker - try not to do energetic things 3 hours b4 bed.. u really have to try and stick to a time for your body to relax - otherwise it gets tougher to stay asleep at night.
    I have a light - i use it everyday - have it on whenever im in my room - whether this works, i dont know - makes me breathe deeply though - so i suppose it has some effect! - oxygen to the brain.
    I get out everyday for a walk - a couple of christmas's ago, my parents would have to drag me out of the room, bed, house, even if i was crying, so i got out to walk - as soon as i got bak in, i had a little more energy and had released happy hormones enough to smile and have a chat and laugh to family and friends - so, no matter how hard it is, and how grey it is outside - make sure someone gets u up and out. this is ALOT harder than just syaing it - we come up with many many excuses but just try to accept it will help. Try and do it as early in the day as you can so the feeling maintains throughout the day.
    Do your hair, makeup, clothes nicely everyday-as if u were going out to meet new people - it may take an hour longer, but afterwards, again u feel brighter.

    ERMMM - keep a diary - if u like writing, write. if u like drawing, draw. i think it is 5 consecutive winters u have to have to be diagnosed with SAD - sometimes, people mistake it for winter blues, and general depression, blaming it on the bad weather -- if it continues past april 2007, it probably isnt SAD. Come april, ifu have SAD - youre buzzing, hyper and eating the sun.

    Most of all be kind to yourself. Its amazing how much ur body depends on the sun. . alot of processes are slow and completely impossible. Get support and do everything u can not to let it get u down.

    Good luck - msg me if u want any advice

    P.S - anyone with PCOS - sometimes the advice is contradictory for each of the conditions.. Ive found the PCOS diet is alot more helpful with symptoms..high protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, low carb diet. Essential fats are ESSENTIAL!! Exercise. LOVE LIFE AND HAPPINESS XXX

  12. #12

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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    That sounds like good advice, thankyou.
    I feel like my main problem is at the moment that I am waking up feeling completly miserable, but I have to get up and carry on,there isn't any other option at the moment, which is a good thing as it stops me staying in bed, but I feel like because I am just relentlessly busy, the feelings I am having are coming out as being really irritable and snappy, especially with my husband, in the summer and spring,everything is great, but autumn comes and i feel like i get a bit possessed by my evil alter ego

  13. #13
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    I don't suffer from SAD. I do however have an interest in changing my sleep patterns to make me more of a morning person. Has anyone tried using bodyclocks? Basically they simulate sunrise and sunset and try to trick your body into believing the days are of different length.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  14. #14

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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Thanks for that link Mr F - I remember reading about the company Lumie years ago and meant to get more info. I have a terrible time getting up in winter, which is not great when you're seplf-employed like me.

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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    I had to get up at 6 am this morning, which was easier as we just put the clocks back 1 hour at the weekend to go back to GMT, but that meant it was still dark when I got up. I set the central heating to come on at 6 am.
    Its on a theremostat so it only comes on when the room falls below a certain temperature.
    If you live in a cold place, have central heating and can afford to, set it to come on when you plan on getting up, or even a little earlier. When it is dark and cold in the mornings its hard to get out of bed, but if the tip of your nose is not freezing it makes it easier to get out of bed!
    See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/

  16. #16
    mango woman
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    i think i have sad. its never this bad in the summer.. but now that its cold and dark way earlier i just feel like crap all the time. im on the verge of tears a lot and it literally seems like everything goes the opposite way as i'd like it to.

  17. #17
    Good sperm
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    That sounds about right, as soon as the clocks go back I start to feel like that, so every morning I eat my brekkie and watch the news sitting in front of my SAD lamp. Try and get a cheap Philips one off eBay. Around 20-30 mins in the morning does it for me, if I'm feeling truly awful I'll top that up during the day. I try not to use it after 6pm though as it can mess up sleeping patterns.

  18. #18

    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    I have SAD, and have a pure-light light bulb (which can be energy efficient) in the rooms I use most- it helps during the winter. I got mine off the internet.

  19. #19
    Eating Wildflower's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Does anyone know the difference between using a light box and getting those sunlight type lightbulbs for their lamps?

    My boyfriends doctor suggested we use a lightbox in the winter, but i was thinking changing to those lightbulbs may be better...

  20. #20
    Yogini
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    I read once about a sort-of reverse seasonal affective disorder. Some people don't react well to the increase in sunlight in spring and tend to get depressed then, rather than during the winter.

    I think I have that. I loathe spring, am not fond of summer, like winter a lot and adore autumn.

  21. #21
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    interesting. do you loathe it because it is so hot and rainy or do you not really know?

    personally, i love the hot summer. I also like spring/fall as long as it isn't too cold. the cold bothers me more than the darkness, allthough i do hate getting up when it is dark out.

    I have before in the past become depressed during the summer, but i think it was more because i had too much time on my hands to think about things rather than too much sunlight.

  22. #22
    Yogini
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Quote Wildflower View Post
    interesting. do you loathe it because it is so hot and rainy or do you not really know?
    I loathe it because I feel like cr*p the whole season. Tired, run-down, blah, and completely unmotivated to do anything. I hate the heat, but what's odd is that I hate the warning of the hot summer to come more than I actually hate the summer when it arrives. Not that I like it much, mind you, I just hate it less than I hate spring. Late-winter isn't exactly my favorite time of year, but I love when the it's frigid and frozen and snowy (my gods, I hate global warming - it's totally screwing up my good time.) But when the leaves are changing and it cools down and you start to feel the bite in the air is when I never feel more vibrant, happy, and alive.

  23. #23
    snaffler's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Myself and my partner have realised this is affecting us, it's only this year it has really hit home, I am a real sun lover and hate gloomy weather.

    Here are some good links I have found and we
    http://www.sada.org.uk/

    Although not the cheapest box, the advice he gives is great
    http://www.britebox.co.uk/?gclid=CJv...FRFSZwod3yI7BA
    Go confidently in the direction of your dreams

  24. #24

    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Quote Wildflower View Post
    Does anyone know the difference between using a light box and getting those sunlight type lightbulbs for their lamps?

    My boyfriends doctor suggested we use a lightbox in the winter, but i was thinking changing to those lightbulbs may be better...
    The light box basically just contains the light bulb. So no difference really apart from the light box being more concentrated I suppose. But as it is a light bulb you are likely to have it on more anyway.
    Hope this helps!

  25. #25
    Eating Wildflower's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Quote Yogini View Post
    (my gods, I hate global warming - it's totally screwing up my good time.)
    funny!


    Quote musicalveg
    The light box basically just contains the light bulb. So no difference really apart from the light box being more concentrated I suppose. But as it is a light bulb you are likely to have it on more anyway.
    Hope this helps!
    thanks musicalveg! i wasn't sure if you needed to run them at different times, or otherwise you would go all nocturnal or something...uh...because, we generally just run our lights when it is nighttime and it is supposed to be dark out. it looks like lightboxes are supposed to be used in the morning, and we don't turn many lights on at that time other than in the bathroom and kitchen (no windows).

    It still is quite dark inside in the morning though, i just try and keep the blinds open for a little sun, so then if i turn the lights on people can see in.

  26. #26
    perfect RedWellies's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Wildflower, I used daylight bulbs in my living room a couple of winters ago. It was really nice to put them on just before dark and have the feeling of daylight still (although a little strange to start with!). It didn't upset my body clock... after all, you can sleep OK in the summer and there's more daylight then.

    At the moment I have an energy saving daylight bulb hanging over my orange tree and it is enjoying the extra light!

    I assume, as Musicalveg says, that the light box gives you a more concentrated effect as you sit with it directly on you. That would probably have more effect if you suffer badly with SAD but the daylight bulbs will help lift your mood I think.
    "Do what you can with what you have where you are."
    - Theodore Roosevelt

  27. #27
    Eating Wildflower's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    thanks red wellies! I think i will try them out. They would be expecially nice in my bathroom, which has all of those lightbulbs around the mirror...there are no windows in there for light either, so it makes it hard getting up in the dark and showering.

  28. #28

    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Quote annabanana View Post
    Anyone else have ways they deal with it?
    Something helpful may be in your username!

    Banana!

    Bananas are good for when you feel low as they help in releasing seretonin

  29. #29
    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Hi zorbed, do you have to eat a lot of them or just one?

  30. #30

    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Eating one releases seretonin. I don't really know full details, but i guess eating a banana a day would help a little bit with feeling down.

    This is interesting http://www.mrbreakfast.com/article.asp

  31. #31
    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
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    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    I must try that, although somedays I might need to eat quite a lot of them!

  32. #32

    Default Re: SAD - Seasonal Effective Disorder

    Have a cup of tea!

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