Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
ASKED by GauguinFan on February 29, 2008 - 3:05pm
Has anyone any experience with this?
For us more northern folks, SAD (also known as Winter Depression) can be a battle we face every year. Those of us who go through 6 months of severe winter weather can become depressed due to the cold, darkness, lack of outdoor activity and human connection that this weather causes.
Much of the cause is related to light (or lack of) and sufferers use light therapy to cope.
But some people are actually hospitalized for this or even commit suicide. And it can lead to worsening depression like bi-polar disorder.
What do we do? It's hard to just pick up and move to sunnier climes...so how do people cope with the lack of light and sun and the isolation that this weather brings?
Comments
I know that people in Seattle also suffer from SAD-ness because the weather is usually so dreary. My sisters complained about it, constantly, for months after moving there. Then, they finally got used to it. I think the fact that they live near the water helps; at least the scenery is great.
I used to live in snow country and felt a bit melancholy after days on end of white stuff falling on my head. I think that's when I took up needlepoint.
A friend of mine who lives in Alaska, where they have sun for such a short period of time, teaches martial arts. That's how she copes.
Much of our cell phone technology comes largely out of Scandinavia. There's a joke in the IT industry that the Scandinavians have nothing better to do than write code or hold air guitar contests.
People have different ways of coping, I supposed depending upon their personal makeup and their culture.
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