SAD – coping when the weather’s gloomy

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Neens

So, hands up – who’s felt their Seasonal Affective Disorder - SAD – and Winter Blues/Winter Depression symptoms return in the last few weeks?

The papers are reporting today that we’ve had a month’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours; the wettest day of the year so far. Frankly, I wish the rain would pack its bags and get lost! Yep, I’m missing the sunshine…can you tell?! Having a daily dose of artificial sunshine from my SAD light isn’t really making up for it (especially because it’s spring and it should be sunny, dammit!) Last year my colleague, Lynda, coined the term ‘spring anticipation anti-climax’… I think that’s exactly what the country’s suffering from!

As I made my way home this evening in the rain, I thought about the things that I do, or try to focus on, to make myself feel better when the weather is what we British folk might call ‘mucky’. I thought I’d share them with you to see if they might help you feel better, too…

Things I like to do to make myself feel better:

my home at Christmas

Putting on cosy socks after being soaked.
Cosy nights in. I light candles, wrap up in a blanket or drag the duvet onto the sofa and snuggle up with a book/watch a film and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.
Comfort food. There’s nothing better to me than simple dishes like chilli, casserole, bangers and mash, soup, cottage pie and lasagne – mmm!
Have little home spas. Long hot baths and ‘proper’ facials just aren’t the same in summer – you don’t really feel like steaming your face in summer, right?
Visit the local Turkish baths or sauna. I find this particularly helpful for relaxing my neck and shoulder muscles, as I often find myself hunching against the cold and wind.

Things I like to focus on:

That simple feeling of relief when I get into the house and it’s warm and dry.
There’s no rainbows without rain.
There’s no wasps around. The huge house spiders we get in autumn are usually gone by winter, too.
I love the smell in the air and how everything looks freshly rinsed after a good downpour.
Without the rain we wouldn’t have such a beautiful, lush green countryside that’s so admired by other countries.

When you suffer from SAD, light therapy is just one of the things you can do to manage your symptoms. Trying to adapt the way you think about the weather or darkness, treating your body with care during these conditions and a little self-indulgence can go a long way.

I’ve come to believe that if you listen to your body, it will let you know what it needs. If the darkness makes you feel like you could hibernate, sometimes it’s easiest to go with the flow and indulge that a little. Not too much, mind – you still need to get out into natural daylight and move your bones. But what I’m saying is that if you find yourself wanting more of those cosy nights in than you’d want in summer, it’s quite natural – please don’t beat yourself up about it!

Have you been struggling with the extreme change in the weather compared to the end of March? What do you do to help yourself feel better in gloomy weather?

Take care,

Neens

Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1204146

Where’s the sun gone?

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Neens

Hi folks

So, we’ve had the most glorious weather over the past week or so. I’ve been very fortunate to be off work, and I’ve made the most of it!

wpid IMAG0235 Wheres the sun gone?

wpid IMAG0233 Wheres the sun gone?

I woke up to a very different picture this morning, as I’m sure the whole country did. It’s no suprise; I knew the forecast. But goodness! What a difference. Dark grey clouds hang like an overhead press gang.

It’s a bit of a shock to the system after a week of wall-to-wall sunshine. If you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD, these shifts in the weather can have quite an affect on you. I know all-too-well how it feels: you think, ‘Yay! Winter’s done, sunny days are here, and I can say goodbye to SAD or Winter Blues symptoms for six months.’ Then some dull days go and spoil the fun.

This is why I recommend keeping your SAD light handy. It would be great to put it in the back of the cupboard until October, but unfortunately you might need to use it again. The longer daylight hours will hopefully be easing your symptoms now, and even on a dull day, a walk during the day will be beneficial. But please don’t struggle, thinking you ‘shouldn’t’ need your SAD light – if you feel the familiar symptoms reappearing, don’t ignore them.

Hopefully the sun will put his hat back on and come out to play again very soon. In the meantime, take care of yourself and please afford yourself the same understanding you’d show a friend.

- Neens –

Spring/summer essentials

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Neens

Helloooo!

Happy first day of the British Summer Time! And what a way we’ve marked it, with such glorious weather here in the North East… I hope you’re feeling the benefits of the longer daylight hours and the sunshine?

Tonight I watched the sun go down at about 7.15pm and it felt like such a milestone in managing my Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD. Finally, I reckon I can stop using my light each day (although it will be on when it’s particularly dull).

I wanted to do a lighter post today (‘scuse the pun!), since my last one was rather serious. So, I thought I’d share my top five spring/summer essentials with you…

1) A camera
I rewarded myself for my efforts at the gym today by sitting outside with a cuppa, a biscuit and a book, in the company of these little guys… honestly, they were everywhere! I finished a beginners’ digital photography course this week, so I’m looking forward to practising my new-found skills this summer. I only had my compact camera today; the SLR I borrowed from work for the class would have been great to use for this macro shot, but my trusty compact didn’t do too bad!

2) Innovative clothing solutions
Ladies, I bought some of these recently and they are just brilliant! Thanks to my lovely colleague Sarah, for spotting these in the Avon catalogue, and remembering that I’d been after a solution like this! They’re perfect for wearing with blouses, wrap dresses/tops and v-neck tops. It means that you don’t have to overheat in two layers, just to avoid giving people an eye full!

3) Handbag organiser
I’m sure these have probably always been around in some form, but I’ve been late to cotton on! I bought one recently and can now find my office key/pass, my name badge, hair brush, lip balm, painkillers and all those other bits and bobs that normally hide at the bottom of my bag. It also appeals to my ‘lazy mare’ instinct, making it easy for me to change handbags quickly, without having to pull everything out and swap over. I’ve also found a large beach bag version, which I might consider investing in, too… just need to get my holiday sorted now!

4) Sanctuary salt scrub
I just love this stuff. It’s wildly indulgent (for me, anyway!), so I usually buy it with gift vouchers I’m given, or Boots points. It’s one of those luxuries that makes me feel really pampered and leaves my skin so soft. It’s great for this time of year when you want your skin to glow, and when you’re using lots of sun cream that can clog your pores.

5) Long-lasting sun cream
Speaking of sun cream, I use a long-lasting sun protection cream or spray most days in summer. I burn really easily, but I love sitting out at lunchtime reading a good book. There’s many times in the past when I’ve been caught out and have burned, so now I try to be more careful and apply in the morning, so I can be protected on the way to work and at lunchtime, without having to worry about re-applying.

So, there you have it… my spring/summer essentials. I wish I’d heard about some of these earlier, so I hope you will find them as ‘essential’ if you decide to give them a try! What would be your top five essentials? How are you feeling now the clocks have gone forward?

On another note, I may not post so often during spring and summer, as hopefully everyone will be feeling happy and healthy during these months. I will do a post about Summer SAD, though, and if you ever need to chat, do feel free to get in touch, as I will be monitoring the site and still posting occasionally. Maybe you can post some suggestions for other topics you’d like me to cover?

Take care,
- Neens -

Why do we suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD?

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Neens

Hi folks Finally, here is instalment number two of my ‘who, why, what, where, when and how’ of Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD - and Winter Blues. I’ll warn you – it’s a long one!

In this post I’ll be covering a couple of the accepted theories of why people get SAD and Winter Blues / Winter Depression. This is my own understanding, based on what I’ve read over the years and a little background reading I’ve done for this post. It’s taken me quite a while to write, as I keep changing my mind what to put in! I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much info, but wanted to give you enough too. As always, do let me know what you think?

Anyhoo… the first thing to say is that nobody seems to really know what causes SAD and Winter Blues! There’s a lot of theories, but it’s very likely that there’s a complex interplay of factors that will determine whether a particular individual develops SAD or not.

The most commonly held theory is that a lack of exposure to daylight in the late autumn to early spring months affects the brain’s production of the hormone melatonin and the neurotransmitter serotonin.

The body has an internal body clock, known as the circadian rhythm. It regulates sleep/wake cycles, appetite, digestion, mood and many other functions.

Before we learned to artificially light our homes, people went to bed when it became dark and woke when the sun rose. They also spent a lot more time outdoors and had more physical jobs.

The brain responds to decreased light by increasing production of the hormone melatonin, which signals to the body that it’s time to sleep. In the morning, when light reaches the eyes, melatonin levels begin to decrease and the hormone cortisol is released. This gives us the get-up-and-go that we need to start the day. In the depths of winter, when many of us need to get up while it’s still dark, the body hasn’t received the correct signals to wake up. This is why it can be a real wrench to get up and why you may feel shocked out of sleep by a traditional alarm clock – your body simply isn’t ready to be awake!

But the problem isn’t only to do with waking… with very dull days, your levels of melatonin can stay high throughout the day, leading to those feelings of lethargy and sleepiness that you might recognise all-too-well. Before I was diagnosed with SAD, I would return from college and want to go straight to bed – I couldn’t keep my eyes open!

The neurotransmitter, serotonin, is also thought to have a key role to play in SAD, as it appears to in other types of depression. Researchers have found that levels of serotonin can vary from day-to-day and across the year, with levels markedly lower in winter. People with lower levels of serotonin appear to be more likely to experience symptoms of depression, SAD, Winter Blues / Winter Depression and even PMS in women.

Reading about how to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs (Dr. Simon N. Young, 2007), this theory makes sense to me. If you’re anything like me, in winter you’ll be less likely to go outside at lunchtime, or whenever (funnily enough, I don’t enjoy sitting in the freezing wind and rain as much as I enjoy reading a book in the sunshine in the summer! ). Often eating at my desk means I move my bones less, get less natural light and I’m probably eating stodge, too. I mean - who really fancies a salad in the middle of winter? Certainly not me!

Haha – yes, yes, I’m aware that I don’t always follow my own advice!

So, if light, exercise and a healthy diet are major natural ways of increasing serotonin production, then it would seem to follow that not doing/having these things may cause you to feel rubbish. At least, that’s how I’m understanding it!

As always, if you haven’t already, I’d recommend you have a look at the following excellent articles about SAD, which explain a bit more of the why in more medical terms than I have done:
NHS
Mind

If you’re interested in doing a bit more digging around into theory, here’s a few other theories that caught my eye:

People who suffer from SAD may have retinal sensitivity anomalies -
Evidence of a Biological Effect of Light Therapy on the Retina of Patients with Seasonal Affective Disorder - Marie-Pier Lavoie,Raymond W. Lam,Guylain Bouchard,Alexandre Sasseville,Marie-Claude Charron,Anne-Marie Gagné,Philippe Tremblay,Marie-Josée Filteau,Marc Hébert (2009), Biological Psychiatry, Elsevier

People who suffer from SAD have lower levels of cortisol production in winter -
Seasonal differences in the diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion in healthy participants and those with self-assessed seasonal affective disorder - Thorn, Lisa and Evans, Philip D. and Cannon, Anne and Hucklebridge, Frank and Clow, Angela (2011), Psychoneuroendocrinology

I’ve said to my mum and friends several times in the past that I bet there’s a correlation between babies born in spring and summer and high incidence of SAD… I should have put money on that, as it appears to be true! I can’t find the published article, but this is what was reported in the Daily Mail.

There’s a lot of debate still ongoing, though, as many of the theories don’t give absolute or satisfactory answers. So for example, suppressing melatonin doesn’t ‘cure’ SAD; anti-depressants don’t work for everybody; not everyone born in spring/summer suffers with SAD. It really does seem that individual differences can play a big part. So you may be more at risk of developing SAD if you or your family have a history of depression, if you’ve been under chronic stress, or sudden stress, such as bereavement. If you suffer from depression that isn’t seasonal, it can feel worse in the winter.

Having said that, there does seem to be strong evidence to support the theories surrounding melatonin and serotonin having a key role to play. Correspondingly, there’s also strong evidence to support light therapy. If you want to do some more reading still, have a look at Lumie’s page of research abstracts.

I hope that this will have been a helpful post for you. Do you think there’s anything I need to add? What other theories have you read?

Speak soon

- Neens -

Image credit
Alarm clock: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=1146532

March Mania – Hypomania and Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Neens

Yippee, Happy March! In the official Neens’ book, 1 March is the start of spring and a real milestone – it’s still light when I leave work around 5.30pm. I hope that the increase in daylight hours is starting to ease your Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues symptoms, too.

I met for a catch up with one of my friends the other night and he commented that I was especially chipper. Translation: I was being a motor-mouth! Anyone who has ever met me will know that I’m a real chatterbox generally; honestly, I am that person who’s chatting away to a complete stranger at a bus stop, on the train, in the gym…

But this week, we’ve had some fab sunny weather and I have been bouncing-off-the-walls, hyper! You’d think I’d had several cups of strong coffee on some of the days.

I think most people would say they feel a sense of wellbeing when the sun shines. But if you’re suddenly feeling a marked surge of energy, and you know that you suffer from SAD, then you might be experiencing what’s known as Hypomania. I’m sure I get this; I’m like a little kid at Christmas listening for Santa, except that I’m running to the window to see how sunny it is and longing to be out in it!

At this time of year I’m easily excitable, full of plans and ready to take on the world. That is, when the sun’s shining.

This morning, I woke up to really misty, murky weather and I felt flat. It brightened up in the afternoon, and having used my light lamp, I was back to being Tigger! I appreciate that to a non-sufferer, this might seem completely bizarre. It’s a weird time of the year when you suffer from SAD.

I was reminded of something else, talking to my friend the other night. Now is not the time to make big decisions. Yep, you might feel like you can take on the world, but if you’re experiencing these swings that I’ve described, it’s worth waiting until they’ve settled down a bit before taking action.

I’m speaking from experience. I’ve made big decisions in the past around this time of year that I wish I’d not made, or given a bit more thought to. That burst of energy can bring about a bit of the no-nonsense, ‘let’s get on with it’, ‘I’m taking no prisoners’ kinda attitude. Sound familiar?

Making plans is great – it’s an ideal time for that, if you’re feeling fired up and motivated. Why not grab your pen and paper and jot down some thoughts on what you want to do for the rest of the year? I’ve always thought January is a rubbish time of year to make resolutions and plans, anyway – so much better to do it once you’re feeling energised and ready to put them into action.

But if your thoughts are on life-changing decisions, such as quitting your job, ending a relationship, moving, etc., then maybe just hold fire on making a final decision until you’re feeling less gung-ho.

Does anything I’ve said ring true for you? Or do you disagree? Do you think that you experience Hypomania?

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

- Neens –

Image credits:
Chatter Teeth: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/424094
To-Do: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1151807

Beat February symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Neens

Hi everyone Hope you’ve had a lovely Monday? I’ve been trying to write my ‘why’ of the ‘who, where, what, when, why and how of Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD’, but it’s a toughy!

So, while I’m doing battle with that meaty issue, I thought I’d pop a quick post on with a few ideas on cheering yourself up if you’re finding these February swings in weather hard. I know how difficult they can be - just as you think it’s time to pack away your winter coats and turn the heating off, you find it’s back to the biting wind and grizzly skies!

Well, first thing’s first – spring is most definitely on its way (really, I promise you, it is! ) But if you’re using a SAD light, do keep using it daily. Even if you’ve been feeling better with the lengthening days, a dull day can make you feel like going back into hibernation! So hold your horses!

OK, so how about these things to put a spring in your step (cue big groan, I know!):

Get out in your garden or the local park and see all the flowers, trees and shrubs starting to bud. Take your camera and lose yourself for an hour!
Lie a moment and listen to the birds twittering away in the morning.
Buy some cheap pre-potted bulbs and put them on a window sill where you’ll see them growing and blooming – daffodils and hyacinths are perfect! Or treat yourself to some cut tulips or daffs…
Paint your nails a bright, summery colour.
Dig out that summer top and wear it – put a cardi over the top if you’re cold!
If you’ve a bit of energy, sew some seeds – anything you like. I’ve just bought a herb propagator kit – about £3 – and I’m looking forward to putting my hands in soil again
Give yourself some TLC – create a home spa and give your skin a good scrub and moisturise, put a face mask on – anything that makes you feel fab!
Change to a lighter, summer fragrance, if you normally wear perfume.

These are just some of the little tricks I use to jolly myself along. I know they’re quite superficial things, but they honestly can make a difference to how you feel when you’re caught in the grip of SAD. I recommended the spring bulbs on one of the Lumie forum threads and some of the lovely ladies there are still saying how much seeing the bulbs blossom is helping to cheer them up.

If you give some of these tips a go, let me know how you get on? How’s February been for you? Do you feel better knowing that spring is near, or does it still feel a struggle? Do you have any tips to add?

Happy planting/pampering/photographing, etc!

- Neens -

Image credits:
Spring shoots: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/763369
Snowdrops: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1340915

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues?

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Neens

Well, I promised you in ‘Where to start…‘ some longer, more detailed posts on the what, who, where, why, when and how of SAD and Winter Blues… and here’s the first of these posts. I hope you’ll find it helpful – do let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I already told you my Tigger and Eeyore analogy, but I have a couple more for you that I use when trying to explain to friends and colleagues what SAD is. Before I go into them, I’d like you to know that these are just my ways of thinking about SAD and my experience. I’d also encourage you to look at the SAD Association (SADA) page, or NHS page for a more medical explanation, if you haven’t already – I’m not trying to replace or replicate their information.

I find it helpful to think of SAD and Winter Blues as a scale, or continuum, and everyone has their place on it. On one side, you have people who experience no change to how they feel in winter compared with how they feel in summer. Then further along are those who feel a bit down and notice a change in their moods when winter comes round (Winter Blues). On the furthest point of the scale are people who suffer from SAD and will be significantly affected by the lack of daylight in the autumn and winter months. Don’t laugh at my amateur attempt with Paint, but this is what I mean!:

SAD is a type of depression, but it is different to other types of depression in that it has a definite seasonal pattern. Symptoms will appear in the autumn months and usually last until spring. But sometimes, if our lovely British climate gives us a long spell of rainy weather in summer, people can experience SAD symptoms in the summer months. Left un-managed, SAD can become debilitating to the same extent as any other type of depression.

822176 55586868 baby hedgehog 274x300 What is Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD and Winter Blues?

image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/822176

In terms of how SAD makes you feel, my favourite way to describe this is that ’I would quite like to hibernate, thank you very much!’ Like this little guy:

Like a hedgehog, before I learned to successfully manage my SAD symptoms, I really, really wanted to hibernate for the winter. I would’ve been quite happy to just sleep and for the world to leave me alone!

Like many people who suffer with SAD, I started noticing that I felt awful in winter around 17/18 years old. Typically onset of symptoms appears between 18-30 years old and is about twice as common in females as males. I was diagnosed with SAD at 21 after visiting my doctor in 2003.

I had all the classic symptoms: finding it hard to get up, get moving, concentrate. I would feel weepy and down and/or irritable for no reason. And I just wanted to sleep and eat – stodgy carbohydrates in particular! I remember my first year university flatmate laughing when she saw my food basket - filled with several different breads and potatoes and a token bit of chicken!

Looking back at those few winters I spent feeling like that, I can barely believe I felt so bad. I’m not really sure how I functioned to be honest, but I know I wasn’t a pleasant person to be around on some days!

I’m being really honest and open because I want you to know that you’re not alone in feeling this way. Or if you’re hoping to provide support to a family member or friend, then believe me, this is a serious condition and it’s not ‘all in the mind’. I want to help people understand the realities of suffering from SAD and Winter Blues and know that although there is no ‘cure’, you can manage the symptoms.

According to SADA 85% of people can successfully manage their symptoms using light therapy, which is how I manage mine. If light therapy doesn’t work for you, your doctor might recommend using anti-depressants and/or having some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions. If you think you have SAD or Winter Blues, I really do recommend you see your GP. I’m going to do a separate post on treatments, but if you want some info in the meantime, have a look at Lumie’s website. They’re specialists in light therapy.

I hope this post has given you some useful information about what SAD and Winter Blues are – but feel free to use the comments box below to ask any questions you might have.

- Neens -

February tease

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Neens

February can be such a tease, can’t it?

January, you know what you’re dealing with, and for a Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD - or Winter Blues sufferer, it’s often the hardest month. With the festive break behind us and spring still seeming a long way off, it can feel pretty bleak.

But February? Well, it’s the month that teases you with promises of lighter mornings, milder and sunny weather. Then the next day it throws a curve ball at you!

Yesterday I left the house for work and it was light, mild and there seemed to be that intangible feeling that spring was in the air. Today I’m listening to the wind whistling round the house and the heavens have just opened. Not to mention the ‘weekend cold snap’ I’ve just heard the weather reporter mention!

I wondered whether I was too late starting this blog, but thought that at least there’ll be a good bank of posts to help for next autumn. But February has just reminded me, ‘woah!, hold your horses, we’re not over winter yet!’

So if you’re battling with your symptoms this weekend, I just wanted to show a bit of solidarity and let you know you’re not alone – February trips me up every year!

But hey! I’ll take whatever nicer, brighter weather February has to offer, look at the little blossom pods on trees and the daffodils starting to come up and smile. It’s not too long now!

Wrap up warm and go and see if you can find those signs of spring.

What month do you struggle most with? What’s your favourite month and why?

Take care,

- Neens -

Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues – Where to start?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Neens

Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD - and its milder form, Winter Blues (also known sometimes as Winter Depression) affects nearly a quarter of the UK population. Does that surprise you? It did me, when I read this on the SAD Association’s website! So even if you don’t suffer from one of these conditions yourself, it’s likely that someone close to you does.

I almost don’t know where to start! In writing anything, I tend to find it helpful to answer the 5 Ws and 1 H – What, Who, Why, Where, When, How? The thing is, this could turn into a very looong post, so I’m going to share some basics here, then I’ll go into more detail in separate posts to come.

One of my favourite ways to describe SAD is through these little fellas; Tigger and Eeyore. I tried out this analogy on a friend today and he loved it!

During the late autumn and winter months, the shorter days and lack of sunlight can make you feel miserable, irritable and very lethargic – a bit like Eeyore. But in the summer and even in the depths of winter, a sunny day can bring out the Tigger in you! Some people even experience mania-type symptoms once spring comes round, known as Hypomania. That’s probably where everyone’s energy comes from for the big spring-clean! For a bit of fun, I found this quiz to identify which Winnie the Pooh character you’re most like - I turned out to be Kanga! Which one are you?

SAD is a type of depression. I know some people aren’t comfortable with this description, but medically, they do sit on the same scale. What differentiates SAD from other types of depression is that it has a very definite seasonal pattern; the symptoms recur each winter. You normally will have experienced symptoms in the winter that disappear in summer for three consecutive years before you would be diagnosed with SAD.

And what are the symptoms of SAD? Well, I mentioned three of the main ones already, but a few of the most common others include:

Disturbed sleep patterns (sleeping more or less and/or waking frequently)
Loss of interest in things you normally enjoy
Craving carbohydrates and sweet foods (comfort food!)

My food shopping basket in winter would make you laugh! Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1100035

There isn’t a ‘cure’ for SAD or Winter Blues. But most people can successfully manage their symptoms using light therapy. The SAD Association estimates that this will work for around 85% of sufferers.

You’d normally use light therapy daily from the onset of your symptoms, often around Oct/Nov until Mar/Apr when the daylight hours lengthen. The treatment involves exposure to a bright SAD light that simulates the level of light you would get on a bright spring day. How long you need to use the light for depends on the severity of your symptoms and the strength of the light.

I whole-heartedly recommend SAD light therapy – I have managed my symptoms for eight years using a SAD light lamp and a dawn simulator, which wakes me gently with light in the morning. I recommend dawn simulators to everyone, regardless of whether they suffer from SAD - they’re such a lovely way to wake up!

I will write some more in-depth posts, but if you want more information on SAD and Winter Blues before then, please have a look at this NHS page. *Update: I’ve done a couple of these posts now - you should find links at the bottom of this page!

What Winnie the Pooh character do you identify with? Is there something in particular that you’d like me to cover in a future post?

See you soon!

Why write or read a blog about Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD?

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Neens

I have been thinking of setting up a blog about Seasonal Affective Disorder -SAD – and Winter Blues for quite a while now. What held me back? Well, a few things, actually. I was worried about broadcasting that I suffer from SAD, as an old colleague once cautioned me about the affect this could have on my future career. I also thought: who am I to write a blog about this subject? And I wondered whether there was a need for it.

This year, I set myself a goal to provide support to other people who suffer from SAD and Winter Blues. I have been successfully managing my symptoms since I was diagnosed in 2003 and I wanted to help others to do the same.

I’ve been chatting with some lovely folk on the Lumie forum. It’s a really great place to go on the web; a community of people who are going through the same thing. But the why of this blog came to me while I was on the forum. Some users complained that new threads were being posted and nobody was responding, even though they were reading the posts.

One of the main problems with suffering from SAD or Winter Blues, when the symptoms are not being successfully managed, is feeling lethargic. It’s much easier to read a post than it is to compose a supportive response, giving advice. I also suspect that because many of the new threads are from newly diagnosed members of the Lumie forum, asking for advice about SAD, other members become a little reluctant to repeat advice that they might have given several times in the past on older threads.

So, my hope is that this blog might serve as an additional resource, where people can drop by to get a more personal take on SAD and Winter Blues than they get on other information pages. I will try to categorise the posts in a useful way so you can find what you’re after quickly. Do let me know what you think? What is your experience of SAD or Winter Blues? Or do you know someone who suffers from it?

- Neens -

P.S. Maybe I’m a woman of extremes, because I’ve now gone from worrying about broadcasting that I have SAD, to hoping to become something of an ambassador for managing it!

The Light Room

Information and advice about managing Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues

SAD – coping when the weather’s gloomy

Where’s the sun gone?

Spring/summer essentials

Why do we suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD?

March Mania – Hypomania and Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD

Beat February symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues?

February tease

Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD – and Winter Blues – Where to start?

Why write or read a blog about Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD?

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