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Mental Health Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) Support and Advice

neversickanymore

neversickanymore

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Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are getting into the nitty gritty of the dark times. This part of the year messes with allot of people. Anyone struggling with Seasonal effective disorder. This is a thread fort support and advice for those who struggle with SAD. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)




Personally the real dark time of the year really messes with me.. its kinda like I just want to go into hibernation.
 
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Thanks for making this :)

I'm right there with you - this time of year sucks. Does anyone know if vitamin D really works?
 
I got seasonal disorder in more ways than one, plus I'm manic depressive and probably other shit, plus I'm a night owl, plus where I live it rains for AT LEAST half the year anyways so you can't even really tell much of a difference, so yeah... Does that answer any questions?
 
^ Raining for half the year sounds terribly depressing :( I don't even like it when it rains for a week straight.

As I was telling a close friend here on BL, this time of year is hard for me for several reasons. Everything about it. The smell of leaves/wet leaves reminds me of opiates, because autumn is when I first started using opiates. Also, my "life" consisted of me going to work, coming home, using and then sleeping. It was no way to live.

So being reminded of my use by all the scents, events, etc of autumn coupled with the lack of sunlight is prime time for depression to set in in my life.
 
Well, I actually like the other things about autumn/winter like the leaves changing color and such. Just don't care for the 24/7 rain and lack daylight, although it hasn't rained that much YET lol. I actually like the rain too, just not over half a year of it.
 
vitamine D.. I guess this will be the second year that I am on a decent dose of vitamin D. right now I am just increasing my exercise and making myself aware that I am more susceptible to addictive pushes this time of year.
 
Has anyone had luck with light therapy? I've been thinking about purchasing a lamp for SAD for several years now, but they're kind of pricy. :(
 
They are kinda pricy but I have been told to give it a try by a few different people.. if you do go for it I would love to hear how it works for you. I do know that when i worked in a field that caused me to be in a good artificial UV spectrum for long periods of time I did better.
 
Shit's hitting me hard right now. It's been overcast for probably 2 weeks now, like as in no sunlight. This is really not good for my depression... I just feel like sleeping all day and staying up all night. The thought actually crossed my mind about possibly going back on Prozac even tho I didn't particularly care for the sexual side effects. IDK, I need to do something cuz this shit sucks and I don't particularly want to start drinking heavily again. If I had access this would be a time I would give Provigil a try.
 
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I live in the pacific northwest where not only does it get dark around 4pm but it rains. All. The. Fucking. Time. Living at sea level means low atmospheric pressure anytime the clouds are here, so on top of no light there's also no physical energy. Stagnation happens easily. I really hate this time of year, it's one of the reasons I'm getting the fuck out of here. I visited the interior of this province in September and as soon as I left the coast, all my physical pain went away, along with my migraines.

Vitamin D, rhodiola, regular exercise (especially cardio), stretching, and trying to eat as well as possible are the only way to keep me baseline. If I slip at all and don't do upkeep, I get such fatigue that I can't go to the gym, and then it's a downward spiral. This weather makes everyone here anti-social so on top of everything, it's harder to connect to people at this time of year.

Honestly I think it's lack of light and low atmospheric pressure that causes the insane dolldrums. Vitamin D will never replace sun. Sometimes I go to the tanning salon and it helps, even if I just do the stand-up tanning for 6 minutes or so.

I don't believe humans were meant to live in these conditions. We need warmth, light, and clearer skies. Anytime the clouds roll in it feels totally oppressive. I try to explain this to people but some don't believe me. Everytime the barometer goes down, I get way more calls from people to come for therapy. All their health issues act up... arthritis, fatigue, depression, insomnia, etc. The only people, and I mean ONLY people who seem to enjoy this time of year here are people with high blood pressure. Once the rains come, they sink to baseline and feel great about life. Everyone else wants to off themselves.

I really need to GTFO of here.
 
nuttynutskin said:
Shit's hitting me hard right now. It's been overcast for probably 2 weeks now, like as in no sunlight. This is really not good for my depression... I just feel like sleeping all day and staying up all night. The thought actually crossed my mind about possibly going back on Prozac even tho I didn't particularly care for the sexual side effects. IDK, I need to do something cuz this shit sucks and I don't particularly want to start drinking heavily again. If I had access this would be a time I would give Provigil a try.
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I feel you on that one. During the summer i am often up and about not much longer after dawn but once it starts getting dark here at like 4:30 in the afternoon i will often sleep until it's nearly dark out and just stay up all night. I tend to sleep way more during the winter months anyway. I have bipolar disorder and winter really triggers off my depression bad like. I have felt fatigued and more depressed and just a general lack of interest in everything ever since it started getting dark earlier. I have started taking Wellbutrin again as it's the only anti-depressant that helps my SAD. I don't want to do what i did last winter which was abuse the living fuck out of opiates and end up shooting up 54mg's of dilaudid in one shot or whatever ridiculous dose a few times a day just to make the day pass faster. Years ago i used to drink like a fish the winter and just get by on Whiskey, Rum and beer. I would often have a shot or 2 of Rum or Whiskey in my coffee on my way to work or whenever just to keep me warm. Any excuse to drink was fine by me then 8) It doesn't help that winters here can be pretty miserable because it's usually just warm enough for it to rain and we get a fuck ton of rain, drizzle and fog all fucking year :X .It's been raining here for the better part of 2 weeks so we haven't had much sunlight and it looks nearly dark around noon ffs

We do get a fuckload of snow some winters which atleast let's you get out on the skidoo for a run but that doesn't happen very often these days. Fucking climate change :p . Also we don't really have springtime here everyone just calls it the miserable season lol. Spring here consists of rain, wind, drizzle and more rain and near freezing temperatures right up until June some years. I swear i jump for fucking joy once it starts to warm up lol. I am far more likely to get hypomania or full blown Mania shortly before or shortly after summer starts then any other time of he year because my mood just naturally lifts.

If you haven't tried Wellbutrin for SAD i would recommend giving it a go. Not only does it not cause any sexual dysfunction like SSRI's and SNRI's but it often increases your sex drive. So that is not a bad side effect :) . It also tends not to cause as many side effects as other anti-depressants as it does not effect serotonin. It also does not cause any real withdrawal symptoms either much unlike most SSRI's or SNRI's. Beyond being abit fatigued for a little bit there's no withdrawal for most. Bupropion is also the only anti-depressant that is approved to treat SAD.

Exercise also helps me alot. My SAD does not bother me nearly as much if i am working out regularly.
 
Unfortunately wellbutrin made me irritable to the point of yelling at people over really stupid shit. It didn't really do much else as far as I can remember other than improve my concentration and maybe give me more energy. I can't even really remember if it helped my depression much but I wasn't on it very long. Thanks for the advice tho.
 
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I think it really interesting that allot seem to turn nocturnal around this time of the year and allot of us have or have had Bi Polar symptoms. :(<3
 
This year is particularly difficult for me for some reason :(
 
Im pretty sure this does have something to do with it nutty.. also a times where there would traditionally have been allot of resources are times when I need little to no sleep and have vast amounts of energy.
 
Got a doctors appointment Monday. Not expecting a whole lot but I think I will see if he will make Prozac available. I'm not sure but I've got to find something to fight this depression and fatigue.
 
^ Doctors usually love prescribing SSRI's (at least in my state), so it'll probably go well. Regardless, keep us updated :)

I'm thinking of starting a SSRI again, but the last time i did it induced what I perceived to be mania. Maybe it'll be different this time around.
 
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