Seasonal Affective Disorder

[Hopalong]

Happens every August and I'm always slow to recognize it...

I am depressed.
Not crashed into a well or impossibly depressed, but...depressed.
I want to do nothing but sleep and binge on carbohydrates.
I feel unmotivated. Flattened. I can see my own affect going flat.
A what's-the-point kind of sadness.

Ugh.
I know that if it goes as it usually does, by later in the fall it will
pass. It's just weird. I don't like it that my brain has its own agenda.

I've been thinking of getting a new SAD light (gave one away, lost
another in the move) but I cannot, simply can't, find clear reassurance
online that there's no risk of eye damage.

That WOULD be depressing.

xo
Hops

[Twoapenny]

((((((((((((((((((((((((Hopsie)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

That sounds horrible.  I didn't know those light boxes can cause eye damage; if I find anything useful or reassuring when I'm on my travels on the internet I will post it up for you.  Hope this passes soon.  I think slipping into hibernation mode is normal but that doesn't make it feel nice or like a good thing to happen.  Hope you feel better soon xx

[BonesMS]

I also live with Seasonal Affective Disorder.  NOT fun at all!!!

[Meh]

Yah, saw some red leaves the other day, couldn't believe it. This was the most unbearable waste of summer I've ever had that is what depresses me the most.

There is always Florida for those who can afford it I guess.

You could probably wear some sun glasses and sunblock if you were really worried about the impact of the light therapy. ?? It's not like a tanning booth exactly.

Sorry you are in a Fall funk.

[sKePTiKal]

Hey Hops...

I notice a little of that, too. But I wonder if it if isn't natural... a sort of shift of states along with the season... and perhaps even serves some "soul refreshment" purpose? Like a catnap?

I always worry that those people who are always busy, happy, and chirpy every single day like some manic canary have some serious screws loose, somewhere. Either that, or a main IV line drip of coffee to keep going... or really, really good meds.

Fall is my favorite season. I absolutely love being able to see the change, day to day. And pretend I "hear" a leaf falling (down here, it's more like a hard pine cone bouncing off a roof!)... it's a nice change from the raucous, happy-chaos activity of summer; more peaceful... with an undercurrent of change, too - to crisper evenings, the hint of snow... when I like to have some yummy-smelling casserole or roast in the oven, a good book and a warm cuddly lap cat... or maybe a long movie with glorious scenery and cinemaphotography... like Doctor Zhivago -- an epic, with an intermission and a real story in it, not just a formula to use up X amount of time.

[Hopalong]

You too, Bones? Does yours ease up after a while too?
I know that will happen. Especially if I keep up the a.m. walks...

Thanks Tupp. It's not ghastly, but is real. I'm always surprised
by it but am a bit better at remembering...this too shall pass.

It really is physical (meaning, brain chemistry from the light change)
but also, I know what's coming (hellidays). So there's an emotional
element as well.

Skep, your great images remind me that one new element in my
life will make this winter MUCH cozier. LB's idea of paradise is very
simple: my lap. She's 20 pounds of love, and she's a furnace. I'll
stick my legs on the coffee table and get into a good slouch and haul
her up and she plasters herself all over my torso and goes to sleep.
I am a human dog bed. But in winter? It'll be sweet...

Oh Boat. Wish we could both sail south when the cold comes.
I'm sorry your summer slipped by you. I hope the next one will be
different. It will be... (Sunglasses would defeat the SAD lights, they
work by having light enter the retina. I can still walk outdoors...)

hugs to all, cheers me right up just to check in,
Hops

[lighter]

(Sunglasses would defeat the SAD lights, they
work by having light enter the retina. I can still walk outdoors...)
Hops

Ok, I did not know that, Hops.

But did they help when you were using them?  Was it drastic helpful?

If they aren't safe, you can't use them, but darnit, if they really help it would be so hard not to!
Lighter

[Hopalong]

Yup, they absolutely work.
The light boxes were just amazing.
Pour that light into your eyes (sideways, avoiding frontal staring at it) for, say, 20 min. every morning...
just amazing.
It's like a stimulant without the jitters.
Totally real and feelable and noticeable mood changer.
I loved it!

But then...began to think about vision (have a friend w/degrading eyes) and starting searching,
and found a lot of contradictory stuff about what long-term use of the light boxes could do. Quit.

If I can find SURE info, objective and researched, that a specific type of bulb (not from the manufacturers
who are all selling THEIR spectrum of therapeutic light) is truly zero threat to vision, long-term, I'd be
plugged back in in a flash.

They're used heavily in Nordic countries by loads of people, during winter.
I have a Norwegian friend so I'll try to get info from her on what the consensus is there.

hugs
Hops

[Hopalong]

...and, I am very tempted by this one: http://www.sunnexbiotech.com/noframes/sad.html

Desk-top model, I think.

Sticker shock.
 

Hops

[BonesMS]

You too, Bones? Does yours ease up after a while too?
I know that will happen. Especially if I keep up the a.m. walks...

Thanks Tupp. It's not ghastly, but is real. I'm always surprised
by it but am a bit better at remembering...this too shall pass.

It really is physical (meaning, brain chemistry from the light change)
but also, I know what's coming (hellidays). So there's an emotional
element as well.

Skep, your great images remind me that one new element in my
life will make this winter MUCH cozier. LB's idea of paradise is very
simple: my lap. She's 20 pounds of love, and she's a furnace. I'll
stick my legs on the coffee table and get into a good slouch and haul
her up and she plasters herself all over my torso and goes to sleep.
I am a human dog bed. But in winter? It'll be sweet...

Oh Boat. Wish we could both sail south when the cold comes.
I'm sorry your summer slipped by you. I hope the next one will be
different. It will be... (Sunglasses would defeat the SAD lights, they
work by having light enter the retina. I can still walk outdoors...)

hugs to all, cheers me right up just to check in,
Hops

Oh yes.  And then when the Hellidays are factored in....UGH!!!!   

[BonesMS]

Yup, they absolutely work.
The light boxes were just amazing.
Pour that light into your eyes (sideways, avoiding frontal staring at it) for, say, 20 min. every morning...
just amazing.
It's like a stimulant without the jitters.
Totally real and feelable and noticeable mood changer.
I loved it!

But then...began to think about vision (have a friend w/degrading eyes) and starting searching,
and found a lot of contradictory stuff about what long-term use of the light boxes could do. Quit.

If I can find SURE info, objective and researched, that a specific type of bulb (not from the manufacturers
who are all selling THEIR spectrum of therapeutic light) is truly zero threat to vision, long-term, I'd be
plugged back in in a flash.

They're used heavily in Nordic countries by loads of people, during winter.
I have a Norwegian friend so I'll try to get info from her on what the consensus is there.

hugs
Hops

Some years ago, I participated in a clinical study on S.A.D. at NIH where they loaned me a light box.  (It helped tremendously.)  I'm wondering if NIH/NIMH has a published study on the long term uses of the S.A.D. light box and their effect on vision.

[Meh]

Oh yeah, you are right about the sun glasses. I remember reading now that not only do the eyes pick up the light ....but also that our brain can even interpret nuances of the suns angle to the earth or what degree the light is hitting our eyes or something odd like that. ARGH...it just started to RAIN outside!!! Bonk head on computer, I temporarily forgot what rain was. God I don't want this FALL to happen at all. GO AWAY AUTUMN....go away!!!!!!

Um,  a human dog bed... LOL!!! okay Hops that works.

[Hopalong]

Bones, i think the "green light" one that I put the link to sounds pretty safe...
but I'm perking up with morning walks and spirulina...man, that's potent!

Feeling quite chipper this morning.

Boat, nature loves you no matter what the weather.

And the hellidays are ours to RESHAPE. Gonna do it every damn year
until they aren't so painful.

xxoo
Hops

[BonesMS]

Thanks, Hops.

[sKePTiKal]

Hopsie, are those lights different than the full spectrum daylight bulbs? I can't remember the brand name now, but the sewing shops started carrying them. I got one for doing art work - and used it even during the day - because the "color" of the light was "whiter", some days. (measured in degrees Kelvin... for the science geeks...)

I can't believe how I used to stay up all night - until the sun came up - working on art work. Now, I'm usually snoring on the couch by 9 pm. Funny how we change, without any intention to isn't it?