# trouble with depression in winter



## kriminalmisfit (Jan 18, 2016)

man I feel like I am struggling. I am wondering if anyone else has this problem in the winter. i'm not sure how much the weather can affect your mood but the depression seem to follow a schedule.. also holidays, unpleasant anniversaries etc... just a bummer in general. anyone else relate/


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## landpirate (Jan 18, 2016)

Moved this over to the "staying healthy" section.

Yes, I'm with you on this one. I feel the need to hibernate from about November till march. Seasonal affective disorder is a thing and its horrible. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

It's annoying because I actually love the cold weather, but I find I'm pretty nocturnal at the best of times and in the winter I struggle to get any daylight because it gets dark so early. I don't know what the answer is, perhaps I need to move hemispheres every six months and never live through a winter


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## KootenayRambler (Jan 18, 2016)

Im from Canada, and most people I know will end up getting Seasonal depression in the winters, due to cooping themselves up for months on end and never seeing the sun. I believe its a lack of Vitamin D that stimulates it. Breaking out of the depression is hard, but not impossible. Usually I just try to spend as much time outdoors as I possibly can, but when its -40 and the winds blowing 60 miles and hour it becomes a a hard task to accomplish. Landpirate's got it right though. If we could all just chase the summer the world would be a joyful place indeed.


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## Belle Amie (Jan 18, 2016)

I have struggled with this my whole life, i keep it under control with homeopathic treatments, like St. John's Wort, Zinc, and Fish Oil. But i know even thinking about beating the blues is a good start! 
Right now im stuck between a cold place and a cold place. so im hitting the road - one sure fix for my blues.
Feel better! (if your an artist… i suggest working on some things. productivity really will help)


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## warlo (Jan 18, 2016)

I come from a place where there isn't such thing as a serious winter, so being in northern Europe, specially in Scandinavia for whole winters made me think that I got some serious physical and mental disease or something like that. I had it really hard the first winters, but this one is the first I can say im absolutely allright. The way to be ok is a combination of what some people mentioned above. First: medicine. St johns worth plus vitamin D and enough water seem to have fixed me up this time. Second: attitude. Understand that, unless you are very special about it, there's not much to do during long, cold and dark winters. if sunrise is at 11pm and sunset at 3pm, forget about "Daytime". try to get in the life you wish you had when you have some hard work or something that keeps you from sleeping a lot and resting. I managed to organize myself all sort of inside activities and prepare myself to eat lots of warm nice things and read lots of books (watch movies, series, etc also applies). this sort of preparation has worked out wonders for me, also the fact that I spent the last bit of summer and the nice parts of autumn stashing firewood, food and things that make winter life cozier while living the way I do. 

Anyways, unless you have to be where the winter is (say you have possibilities of earning lots of money while working so that you can retire for a good amount of years or some other obligations) I seriously recommend you to get the fuck out of there and get somewhere warm, there is not a better way to deal with winter depression than that.


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## Kim Chee (Jan 18, 2016)

My seasonal depression is hardly noteworthy, especially when I go to a place which doesn't matter which season it is.

Staring at this picture for 5 minutes each day might help

Or, you can go to a tanning salon regularly to get your fix and burn the bugs off at the same time.


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## Dmac (Jan 18, 2016)

Quit bragging, @7xMichael.


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## THE REAL SCAVENGER (Jan 18, 2016)

St John's wort certainly helps me. I've been feeling the blues too


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## creature (Jan 18, 2016)

ok... imma gonna pipe in..

i fucking *love* the grey..

i fucking *love* the desolation of seeing life sleep so deep that it knows nothing but waiting

& a wait so distant that every moment of waiting forgets it has waited for any other moment than that
which it is.. 

& sometimes? rain..
rain that is all any breath ever knows..

or the bitter wind so hard in an air so merciless that all there is to remind one of life

is pain..

but a pain, sweet, because only life can tell what it is for...

& sunlight, glaring on things so frozen that sunlight can be little more than the brilliant penetration that only desolation can share with it...

One Earth

& One Star

& One Sky..

crying with all, everywhere..

Deserts burning with heat that even Salt must Change

Against...

and you

are

Alive..

Go...

Sleep against wind, when all we wish is to avoid it

is Failure..

Breath..

let your skin sing, when things not so hard as Mars dream of Desiccation...

look to the overwhelming Mist, & drink Her when you Sigh...

Dream, & if your dreams are of Sorrow, then know that they are of Truth, also..

& do not Abandon them..

Rejoice, because sadness is the greatest truth that can bind you,
when there is no other truth that you may know..

the Grey comes like what it is..
the very Power of every Storm that reminds us that

We

May be

Destroyed..


& love your mortality...

if you cannot find Joy where there is no joy,

then all you shall ever find from embracing Her is not the wholeness

of what

She Is..


----

but then again.. i hate fucking bugs & swarms of mosquitoes, so i may just be
Full Of Shit..

; )


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## Mankini (Jan 18, 2016)

go to hydroponix or natural food store and get a sunlite bulb.


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## Odin (Jan 18, 2016)

My Depression is My Precious... My precious... stay away! Kaaahhhhhhhhhh! ::stinkyfeet::

I aspire to be the equal of Marvin from HHGTTG.

I get it every year since I came back to Gotham City. I think my more active social life in the service kept me in a better state but I also had isolationist tendencies even back then. 

I find getting baked and cracking wise helps... ::meh::

A bulb? Voodoo I think the french speedo method with about a gallon of sunscreen would work better. Now just where on the equator could I find a place to beach my ass on and get a never ending flow of _piña coladas_...


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## MarsOrScars (Jan 18, 2016)

Yea, I become nocturnal mostly during the winter. I like the cold, but after a while it gets old. I like warm weather and windows down.


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## creature (Jan 18, 2016)

the thing is that i doubt it's *winter* that actually causes it..

i think it has more to do with not being able to *do* shit..

so.. embrace where you are, & if yer not a city person by nature, do yer best to get out of the city..

we're supposed to be travelers & adventures, right??

well..

do it.

i hitched about 150 miles in -18 degrees with 25 mph winds in fucking north dakota maybe a year or so ago..
let me tell you.. that was a fucking *bitch*..
it wasn't long, & i was trying for 300, but was lucky enough to not die when i figured out i wasn't going to make it the way i was going..

but goddamn.. *embrace* where you fucking are..

i'm not saying this is going to cure anything, but..

if you have to be where there is little sunlight, then don't fixate on the sunlight..

British Columbia, Jan 2013.. every fucking day for 2 fucking months..






& a warm & sunny (&painfull) day, in fucking hell...






i suspect i am as depressed as just about anyone *not* pathologically disabled (which is a different thing), but the point is that if you can't *change* where you are, then get what you can from it..

i am NOT saying "don't bitch.."

i am saying if something is that fucking hard for you, then fucking go for it's fucking throat, since it is already going for yours, right?

peace..


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## landpirate (Jan 19, 2016)

creature said:


> i am saying if something is that fucking hard for you, then fucking go for it's fucking throat, since it is already going for yours, right?
> 
> peace..



The wisest words I've ever heard. Thank you creature.


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## creature (Jan 19, 2016)

not sure what the weather & evening skies are at the moment, but this is going to last for a bit..
should be a bit pretty, if you have the time to meditate on it..

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astr...t-up-early-see-five-planets-at-once-01182015/

the earth is beautifull all the way around.. 
see if you can feel the trees, or what the ground beneath the snows says..

i have a hard time in the city, but if you're there, definitely head out & about.. 

i'm not making light of yer SAD, but.. man.. if you can do anything to keep the circulation going, do it..

cabin fever *sucks*.. if there's a farm around, or a 4H, & you're not working, maybe you could help out with the livestock.. or an animal shelter.. be near things that are alive & give you feedback..

maybe even get some flowers for yourself.. 

but whatever you do, *don't* stare at the fucking walls..

everyone has a right to try & be where they want to be, & if you hate where yer at, for whatever reason, then get somewhere else, if you can..

but if you *have* to be where you are, try to look at it as *waiting*, not as being restrained..

spring isn't very far away, & after the 21st, the days will start getting longer..
but be as active as you can..

anyways.. sorry you feel shitty.. 

hope you find something that gets you feeling a little better..


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## Fanatical Steward (Jan 19, 2016)

The meditation idea appears to coincide with some of the recommendations that I have heard about to help with depression. The other idea of physical activity also coincides with the advice I have heard to help with this problem.


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## warlo (Jan 19, 2016)

The catch is that once it hits you, both things are impossible to do. You can get in the habit of making exercise and meditate, but I guess it will get very difficult to do some sport as it goes colder and darker, maybe meditation can still be done if you got the habit of doing so.


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## Mankini (Jan 19, 2016)

@ Odin Question me NOT, Malachi ! 

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...nal-affective-disorder-treatment/art-20048298

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/seasonal-affective-disorder-bring-on-the-light-201212215663

http://psycheducation.org/treatment...-and-darkness/light-therapies-for-depression/


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## Fanatical Steward (Jan 19, 2016)

I find even simply activities, like walking, help to cheer me up. I understand that each person remains different, and the actions that work for one person may not help another person. I imagine it requires each person that suffers from this problem, or related issues, to find a personal combination that works for them.


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## Odin (Jan 19, 2016)

voodoochile76 said:


> @ Odin Question me NOT, Malachi !



.... sigh


You are the wind beneath my wings...


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## Dmac (Jan 19, 2016)

Hospitals use a light box to help treat SAD, (seasonal affective disorder) but a tanning salon will work just as well.


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## Kim Chee (Jan 20, 2016)

landpirate said:


> The wisest words I've ever heard. Thank you creature.



That was actually the best post of @creature's mighty fine contributions imo.


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## Kim Chee (Jan 20, 2016)

dmac66 said:


> Hospitals use a light box to help treat SAD, (seasonal affective disorder) but a tanning salon will work just as well.




A light box is for the eyes, the tanning salon which I mentioned earlier is for the skin. 

People can purchase light boxes, some hospitals may use them, but lightbox therapy is definitely within the DIY realm.


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