Feeling SAD as the Days Grow Shorter?
Have you ever noticed how a gray, rainy day makes you feel gloomy and tired, but a sunny day can leave you feeling cheerful and energized? Well, there's a scientific reason for this. Insufficient exposure to sunlight has been associated with low levels of melatonin and serotonin, carbohydrate craving, weight gain, and sleep disturbance.
Some of you may have also noticed that you find a seasonal fluctuation in your moods, feeling depressed only in the winter months. Take a look at your calendar and you'll soon see why. Each year on June 21 we experience the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. With our longest hours of sunlight in the middle of summer it's no wonder we're happier this time of year. After this date, however, the days progressively get shorter until the winter solstice on December 21, the shortest day.
Is it any accident then that so many of us run for the hills when the holidays roll around? With our serotonin in such short supply, the added stresses of living up to our images of the picture-perfect holiday are just too much. The medical term for the season-long malaise that we fall into is Winter Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.
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I have never understood why people get depressed from a lack of sunshine. I am just the opposite. I HATE sunshine. I LOVE gray, cloudy, rainy days. Not everyone reacts the same way to sunshine and I am very tired of being made to feel like a freak because I like cloudy days.
Hi Nancy,
Is there an email address i can reach you at?
Thank you,
Phoenix resident
being in the poverty level doesn’t do mush for self esteem. being rejected by those whom you would to be accepted by doesn’t do much for me either.
Christmas?
i am gonig fishing.
Abraham Lincoln once said “A man is as happy as he wants to be”, so why was he so chronically depressed all the time?
Hi Nancy, I always feel very depressed and sad at this time of year. I am on pills at the moment but even that does not seem to help. Any advice.
Hi – I’m Bipolar I with Depressive disorder. I am usually more cheerful during the fall and winter months and tend to be less enthusiastic during the summer months. I usually like the day to go by quickly because I just don’t want to be awake to face another day. During the summer months, I will tend to work a lot to keep myself busy and to make the day seem shorter. But in the cooler months, I am not too compelled to work as much. I’m just happy the days are shorter.
Alex
What the hell is a lightbox? I’m not lookin’ forward to this winter season. I’m seeing a therapist and am on Klonopin for anxiety and panic attacks. Throw a little depression in there and you got one good “Fruitcake”
I used to get depressed through Fall and Winter when I was in grade school. When I became an adult and started working,(especially at a place that I hated)the depression came back. Now, with the type of work that I do, I actually welcome the darkness, the gray clouds and the rainy days. I just curl up with a good book, surf the internet or find a good program to watch.(blanket and snacks included). It works for me.
Where can one find a light box? Typically, what is the cost?
i agree halfway. I am extremely depressed during fall (which is right now) because that is when kids go back to school. That makes me feel like a loser and very depressed because i don’t go to school and thats one of the main causes of my depression. On the other hand, i am the LEAST depressed during winter. That is because its my favorite season. I love Christmas, the cold weather, etc. If anything, i thrive during the winter months.
yes.i felt it too actually i feel sad in every winter evening