Any tips on dealing with SADD? Days are so short now I feel I need to sleep 10+hrs/day?

Question

How is YOUR winter going?

Answer 1

I moved to Texas. Wamer weather equals more time out in the sun.

Answer 2

Ok, the first thing to know is that this effect of slowing down in response to lowered light levels in the winter is a normal and natural biological process. Our bodies respond naturally to waking at dawn and going to sleep at dusk. The further north you live the more you are likely to want to hibernate in the winter. This is a function of sunlight triggering receptors in the eye and then stimulating the brain into producing appropriate levels of body chemicals for local conditions.

This only becomes a problem when our totally unnatural modern lifestyle demands all year round energy, late nights, and regular working hours - regardless of local conditions.

So if you want to force your body to function your way, then you can trick it by providing it with extra light stimulation both morning and evening in order to extend the day length. Light boxes and natural daylight lamps work best. But you have to do it every day. If the sun is out get out in it, get as much natural daylight as you can. If you work in an enclosed space like an office have a natural daylight bulb in your desk lamp or generally keep light levels high wherever you are working.

Otherwise ...move south permanently: take a mid-winter holiday in the tropics; or change your job so you can work 18 hours a day in the summer and only 4 hours a day in the winter.

Answer 3

I never knew what "Cabin Fever" was, till moving from South Florida to Tennessee. But.....I do. Have lived here for 19yrs now.
Winter, being cooped up in the house can get very "suffocating".
All the emotions that, that word can mean. Stuck inside, no sunshine, "all the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray"......
how true that is.....What do you do....For everyone, it is different I'm afraid. It depends on a lot. What you have access to. If you have the resources. Different interests. Different desires. Some people don't like the idea of laying in a tanning bed. Some people don't like going to the gym or library, or to the mall, or whatever..Some people don't want to get out of bed. No drive at all.... The holiday commercials of everyone all happy and cheery, then you get into your car, or go to the stores....everyone is in a rush. The not so nice sales person, or the person who cuts you off.....Lots of people can't handle the holiday pressure, and the winter isolation....
Some how, whoever you are. You have to just find something to pass that time....Plain and simple....There isn't a magic wand that is going to make the cold and miserable weather just vanish, you just have to deal with it.....
I play on my computer. Sure it gets boring....Make photo albums. Scrapbooks. Watch TV. Do nothing! Guess what!!!
HOW LUCKY WE ARE!!!!
How would you like to be in Baghdad?
How would you like to be in some desert in Africa where it is 120*, and you have no food and/or water???
Blah blah blah, yada yada yada.....Yeah, she's just running at the mouth.......
There are a LOT of people a Hell of a lot worse off then we are!!!!!!!!!!!!
THAT, is what whoever you are, need to tell yourself!!!
Seriously!!!! No Prozac, no booze, no feeling sorry for yourself!!!!!!!
There is someone way worse off then we are right at this very second!!! We're all on a Computer!!! In our homes, safe, warm, fed, roof over our heads.......we're not in a hospital bed hooked up to life support!! Waiting for a Kidney or a Heart or a Liver....Or making Funeral arrangements!!!!!!!!!
We all have "our stuff"....because it is what "we" experience...
Sure, some stuff SUCKS.......
BUT....when....IF, you take the time to just THINK, what others are going through, a couple months of crappy weather doesn't even compare............
So...APPRECIATE, you have the ability to be on this site...You have the money to have the internet. You have the roof over your head....
and I don't care who thumbs down me....
I work my tail off for chump change. But I am still able to afford this. And I am warm. And I have food in my fridge....I may not have what "the people on Cribs have", but I sure do have a hell of a lot compared to MANY all over the world....
So..
now..... feel sorry for others, then yourself!!!!!!!!!!
Life is good. Every day you wake up!!!!!
Merry Christmas

Answer 4

Light therapy helps. Make sure you are in a well lit room. I've got it too. I'm from Chicago and winter here sucks. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with SADD for the rest of my life. In two more years I am moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Best weather on earth. 335 days of sunshine per year and the "cold" months of December and January average 60 degrees. Good luck!

Answer 5

Let the sun shine on your gloomy winter.
I hang my clothes out on the clothesline in the winter and let the sun shine on my face and it feels so good. I did it today in the snow. Fight the urge to sleep a lot.
I work in a hospital and for some reason, our families come in and pull the blinds closed so "grandma can sleep" We want the sun to shine in and we want our pts sleeping in the dark, not in broad daylite. Just because they are sick doesnt mean they are supposed to lay in the darkness. We have a psychiatrist who orders the blinds wide open from the time the sun comes up until it goes down. It helps get rid of depression.
Sunshine works. Use it to your benefit. Keep as much sun shining. Put on your coat, go outside and take a walk in the sunshine.
I hate winter. I drove 30 miles to work in a snowstorm the other day. I just make the best of it.

Answer 6

As a night working cab driver I sleep during the days, so I may not see the sun for several days, some times a couple of weeks. It can be very difficult to get out of bed this time of year, especially considering that I'm independent and set my own hours, so being late to work I can tell the boss to stick it.

Thinking about, since I'm now well past the half century mark, I should consider getting a sun lamp for above my desk.

Answer 7

I sleep a lot this time of year too. Right now with holiday craziness, I have too much to do to worry about it, but starting in January, sometimes I do feel down.

When I have housework to do, I try to just get to it, put on some rock and roll, and get energetic. It tires me out so I sleep better, it's good exercise, and of course, you get the house clean! Sometimes it's good to just hibernate too, with a good book, a blanket and a cat. When there is a sunny day, I go for a walk, or I get a coffee and go for a drive with some nice music on in the car.

We also have an botanical conservatory here where you can go for a walk in an indoor garden, it's almost as good as being outdoors and helps me a lot.

Answer 8

Melatonin has been shown to be effective in treating seasonal affective disorder. Melatonin production is regulated by natural light. With the lack of sunlight in winter, your melatonin levels escalate, which is why you are so tired.

Meatonin is synthesizes from serotonin, and a low level of serotonin causes depression. The more of it that is converted into melatonin, the less available for mood regulation.

Walmart sells melatonin, cheap. Try a 3 mg pill about 30 mins before bedtime for a couple weeks. All you stand to lose is $7 and you could gain your mood back.

Good luck

Answer 9

I've dealt with this for the past six years or so...since I was sixteen. Each year it seems to get worse. For the first few years, exercising was really effective. This year has been the worst so far...so bad that for the first time I've had suicidal thoughts. That was a HUGE warning sign for me, so for the first time I decided to get professional help. My doctor put me on Prozac 20s, and that didn't do squat, so she upped the perscription to 40s. Within a week I was feeling like a completely different person - a much better person, who I like a lot better. Honestly, I hate feeling like I'm chemically dependant...as if it's some sort of weakness or something... For me it just got to the point where I realized that the transition between thinking about killing myself and actually trying to do it isn't that far of a stretch.

My doctor suggested exercising, balancing my diet, and surrounding myself with friends and fun experiences to help even my mood. Your sleeping pattern should adjust itself when your mood improves. If you find that you're too depressed to even want to try to get better, then definitely go see your doctor. Good luck!

Answer 10

SAD may be caused by vitamin D deficiency.

also, the 'winter' blues seems to come about as it is also represented by the holiday season, and also people seem to be suseptable to illness during this time as well.

Best thing I can think of is to keep yourself occupied, eat right, drink lots of water, and make sure you are getting your vitamins, especially D. The body cannot produce enough when the indirect sunshine of the winter months is here.

Another idea is to buy full-spectrum lighting for your home. Full spectrum light is the closest 'temperature' to real sun light and can also help.

Answer 11

White daylight flourescent lamps really help, but it can only help so much. The rest of the time when you feel it is too cold (due to the snow of course) and it is too dark to get up, you are right.

In the winter, I love my toasty warming blankie (lol), changed my screensaver into tropical beach scenes with white sand, started wearing my pinks and light blues.

WInter has its moments of beauty and having the four wheel drive helps get you around, despite everything they all say about these big bad vehicles.

My winter is ok thank you very much for asking. Wake me up when spring comes. The hibernation mode affects everyone in this neck of the woods.