What is it with winter and depression? Does darkness bring you down?

I just don't get it - suicides soaring in the dark Winter months, depressed people feeling even darker because of the darkness, why are so many people like this? Me, I'd surely pick Winter north of the polar circle if I had to choose between 6 months of night or 6 months of daylight, but apparently I'd be pretty lonely up there since most people would choose Summer over Winter...

What say you?

(apologies for the Northern Hemisphere-centric post, Southern Hemisphere ILXors)

Google S.A.D, it'll explain everything.

coz its cold

I think it's might be partly physiological, and partly related to how free you are when you can run around outside and not worry about it being too cold or unsafe. I was in Iceland over the summer, and I was really surprised by how happy it made me when sunset and sunrise had no separation and how sad and nervous I was when night started to exist noticeably. I'm not sure if it was because I thought, "darkness means summer's almost over, which means the field season's almost over, which means we'll all have to leave, and then I'll have to get a job, and why can't it just be summer forever...." or something more instinctive and less rational than that.

Also, a lot of people hate winter holidays.

summer = opportunity for new
winter = hunkering down with what you have

I think I just don't like Summer because I used to have hay fever when growing up (late Spring to early Autumn = hell) and I got used to liking Winter/darkness better. I have anti-S.A.D., I guess.

http://k43.pbase.com/o6/30/52730/1/80418832.THZGnlew.IMG_6413.jpg

anti-SAD here. Summer's all about being beaten-down by oppressive heat/humidity. Autumn/winter seems a bit freeing. It always seems new to me when it cools off, like I've never smelt the briskness in the air before. See also: old year fading, new one full of opportunities on the way.

But I'm a wimp about heat so could be just me.

19th century French people OTM

that article rules

anti-SAD here. Summer's all about being beaten-down by oppressive heat/humidity. Autumn/winter seems a bit freeing. It always seems new to me when it cools off, like I've never smelt the briskness in the air before. See also: old year fading, new one full of opportunities on the way.

But I'm a wimp about heat so could be just me.

― La Push It (Susan), Monday, December 8, 2008 1:49 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark

what the hell don't you live like in texas or something??? plz try having this opinion in MN, say, this past weekend

I wouldn't be able to survive there either. I really need to live in Hawaii.

I also hate the heat. I almost wonder if it has something to do with clothing. I love coats, boots, scarves etc. (and grew up in Ohio) so I love fall and winter. Summer = sweating and just general uncomfortableness, especially here in sweat-central Washington, DC.

When I was younger I much preferred autumn and winter. I really disliked the heat of summer because it seemed oppressive and made me sweat. Now I'm much older I seem to feel the cold a lot more. I find both the cold and the lack of light in winter really, really depressing - not in themselves, but they reinforce and multiply any underlying depression or gloom. I much prefer summer, although it can very occasionally still get too hot for me.

My problem with the British climate is that summer is too brief and frequently a disappointment (especially true of this year); also that it's too windy and wet, throughout the year. In fact the wind is more depressing than the cold. I've said this before but my mother sometimes remarks that her father always used to say to her (complaining of the British climate) that 'there's always that wind'. Very true.

From when I was much young person, I obtain much hard one from this

I notice it every year after the clocks switch--the "earlier" sunset effects me quite a bit. Especially since I don't get up early, some days I'm only getting 3-4 hours of indirect sunlight, once you factor in time spent underground or in windowless rooms. Some days less, like when I sleep in until 3. It's a downer, for sure, and the lack of sunlight is worse than the cold. At least with the cold you can bundle up or take a hot shower. I think ILX should, collectively, look into those full spectrum sun lamps.

Stet: please to install full-spectrum-light-emitting widget on ILX.

caek already hung one of those in the sky

plz to move to San Francisco. the garden is lush, the sun is shining, it is approximately 60 degrees. i am dreading going to Philly and New York for the holidays-- what the fuck is going to happen to me?

godzilla will attack you with his sad flames of darkness

Wednesday the low will be 25 here! I'm worried for the poor stray kitty we feed. . .

I had to turn the driveway light on the other night to finish blowing the leaves to the curb. I was that guy.

totally better than the dude doing it at 6am saturday morning though.

December/January/February in the northern midwest = doubling up on socks, blankets & Zoloft. Ugh. Please kill me.

Wait, no, hold that thought. I'll drink myself to death instead, thank you.

Thing is, you could do that for realz up there. You live each day one at a time when the opportunity to just walk out into the woods with a bottle of whiskey is always prevalent.

what the hell don't you live like in texas or something??? plz try having this opinion in MN, say, this past weekend

― Tanganyika laughter epidemic (gbx), Monday, December 8, 2008 8:00 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

fwiw I am a S.A.D.-inflicted bro in the lone star republic

I'll bet there's no freezing rain coming down on top of already-crusty snow in Texas currently, no? Ah, but each man's struggles are his own.

each man's struggles are his own.

High today, 74.

But then we typically have 30+ consecutive days of three digit temperatures and 80-90% humidity each summer, so yeah

Winter is the death of everything, barren trees, incapacitating cold, loneliness and holidays. "White Christmas" my ass. It's more of a wonder that people survive it rather than kill themselves.

i have s.a.d. bad.

i'm basically a lizard. i need warmth.

i've gone from heat-intolerant to cold-intolerant (this season's gonna suck - i just bought my first down (synthetic) jacket ever), but i don't think winter gets me down, especially. it helps to live 2 miles from energy-sucking Times Square rather than dark depresso 19th century fucking France. (USA! USA! USA!)

this is the first winter i've actually seriously considered finding myself some antidepressants! and i am really vehemently anti-antidepressants! i think bc we use daylight in our office and now it gets dark so much sooner, and my job is frustrating, i'm feeling it a lot sooner/more intensely.

It's less to do with the temperature for me and more to do with the light: sun comes up later, days are grayer, night comes sooner. xp!

20 degrees in nyc seems colder than 20 degrees in minnesota or alaska

or i could just be getting old

twenty foot walk to the car vs. ten minute walk to the subway station.

there are certain parts of town that are chilled by water and/or wind (tunnel) exposure, but i think nyc can be warmer than other places in the right parts/times due to density of buildings and people and ambient warmth from infrastructure

xp - what he said

mookie perhaps also you expect that it won't be as cold as MN bc it is not LOLMN so you unconsciously dress less warmly.

haha in mn/ak you have to go start your car before you shower/dress/eat so it will be ready later

srsly though bc it gets dark so early i feel like i am working late into the night when really i've only been here 7 hours.

what does HI DERE think?

and i am really vehemently anti-antidepressants! - see, I used to be too, until I actually talked to a physician about them. I was all about "real feeling" vs. "fake happiness" & the attitude that misery has proven to be just as vital a driving force in the human condition as anything else, but in the end, if the serotonin ain't getting where it needs to go, you might as well grease the wheel a bit. I wish I had gotten over my stubborness about this a long time ago, b/c I certainly would have gotten a lot more out of the last five years or so, I think. Anyway, if you think you might need 'em, give it a try & may a nice downy cushion fall upon your winter blues.

my opposition is rather complicated, though the stuff you mention is part of it. anyway... we'll see. doesn't really matter how i feel about them til i find myself some health insurance!!!

fwiw, generic zoloft is super-cheap.

I was feeling this hardcore last week, but today I feel pretty good--probably thanks to a punishing yoga teacher last night.

yes actually i feel that as soon as this semester is over and i am not going home-tunnels-work-tunnels/walking in dark-class-tunnels-home, and can go to the gym after work or partake in more evening activities, i will feel drastically better!

y exercise is key. one really must fight the hibernation instinct & maximize blood circulation during this bleak time.

but it gets so much harder if you hate gyms and like exercising outdoors. before work? dark. after work? dark.

right you are! which is why I bought myself a small, vintage exercise bike. It was cheap, easy to transport & fits comfortably in a corner of my modest one-bedroom apartment. For those who happen to be in snowy environs, I must also extol the virtues of cross-country skiing.

Get light in your face, real light, not those lamps that could be linked with later macular degeneration. A dose of morning light is supposed to be the best for keeping SAD at bay.
Solstice light is wonderful—full of drama & long shadows. Everything is German Expressionist.

I've been eating a proper breakfast and I feel a lot better. Although "proper breakfast" for me means "something that's actually solid and not just OJ and coffee". Regular sleep schedule helps to.
All of this help to counteract living in England, where it gets light at nearly 8AM and gets dark at a quarter to 4 in the afternoon.

Get light in your face, real light, not those lamps that could be linked with later macular degeneration. A dose of morning light is supposed to be the best for keeping SAD at bay.
Solstice light is wonderful—full of drama & long shadows. Everything is German Expressionist.

― Beth Parker, Monday, December 8, 2008 11:57 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

I love Beth Parker and I don't care who knows it.

it's getting lighter now. RIGHT? RIGHT?

yes, days get longer after winter solstice, which was dec 21! fact!
i also love beth parker
but i also don't always get morning sun, or it doesn't come through the clouds, and so, go in for the fake sun, sometimes. works!

I believe astrology stuff causes winter sadness before and lack of sun theory
But maybe it's the stillness that gets people agitated
Like a mad man left alone with his thoughts

I swear my S.A.D. has gone away since I moved into an apt. with huge ridiculous windows.

This is the greatest unintended side effect of my new place.

this morning was very bright and sunny and joyful after a week of cloudiness - definitely did feel a unasked for lift to my spirits because of it

rain makes me happy