Struggling so much with the endless grey dark weather

Apologies. I have empathy for anyone with a serious mh issue.

The thread is about seasonal disorder though and in that context getting out and about has been proven to help.

@Gloriia , I have agoraphobia and your post isn't amusing me.

Oh God, dont mention 'cosiness' thst is sneering apparently. Fairly lights and candles also not allowed.
We must all weep and wail until Spring and never leave the house lest we get cold and wet and it's not nice or fun.

I was referring to things like Hygge and Friluftsliv which is basically cosiness indoors and getting outdoors in nature.

Struggling with this too, and I have tried vit D. Made no difference to me. I just struggle with the gloomy, grey, dull weather and the lack of daylight. I also don't like cold weather. I guess I am not making you feel much better but hopefully the spring will be upon us before we notice again! 🌺

vitamin D and a daily walk even if it is dark and raining!

They’ve made a whole culture of it because it does help.
They've not. It's like saying Brits have made a whole culture out of cosy.
It's marketing.

For those who don’t know, people who suffer from SAD experience physical symptoms, it isn’t just a question of lifting your mood with exercise or diversion. Extremes in air pressure affect me quite noticeably, I get nauseous when the pressure is low and migraines when it’s high. Low levels of light make me very lethargic and I find it very difficult to get and keep warm. I pretty much hibernate for the winter if I’m in the UK.

Personally I suspect the benefits of SAD lamps are psychosomatic but if they help some people that’s great. I need natural sunlight and lots of it.

Look at how Scandinavian countries deal with it. They have more dark and most of the things suggested are suggested there too. They’ve made a whole culture of it because it does help.

'It's like someone having a broken leg and people suggesting an aspirin or sitting down with a good book. Not going to help'

As the pp said that is exactly what you do! Painkillers, rest and read/watch telly.

'Sad' is a bit like anxiety, a bit like obesity and many other wellbeing issues that once you give it a label, a 'medical' definition it encourages a helpless narrative. It enables people to be inactive and wallow as they can't help it.

I don't know anyone who thrives in winter but it is definitely a case of pacing yourself, getting out even if you cba and rewarding yourself with biscuits in your slanket.

Agree. And if some of the posts above (about both cosy blankets and walks in nature btw) are not sneery I don't know what is.

@deplorabelle I hope you find somewhere to swim. I'm in London so hardly a coastal idyll but there's a brilliant reservoir where you can swim that's ten mins cycle from my house so I can go before work if I am disciplined. It has made such a difference to my life, but is not cheap unfortunately, for what is effectively a lifeguarded pond.

It's also not possible for everyone but I have worked part time or compressed hours for most of my life and having a bit of spare time during daylight hours really helps me as well.

I wouldn't rule out massive lifestyle changes like emigrating or changing jobs if winter in the North of the UK is affecting people's quality of life to this extent.

Please understand I'm not being flippant when I say that you do treat a broken leg with aspirin and sitting down with a good book. You don't exclusively treat it with those things but they are part of the recovery. It's a similar situation here. Once you have a SAD lamp and vitamin D, that's about the limit of SAD-specific remedies, though there are other things that can be done to help non-SAD depression, which could help here too. I should have said to the OP If you think you have untreated SAD, it might we worth going to the GP and getting antidepressants year round or seasonally

That said, once those planks are in place, yes you do have have to find coping strategies, and they are the banal things that people suggest every day. Some won't work for you, some will. Some would/could/would if life were different (my seasonal depression both winter and summer variants would be completely cured I'm sure if I had time and opportunity to go wild swimming instead of working all day in the most inland place imaginable but there you go)

Personally I most dread winter because a close relative of mine does nothing at all to help her SAD, moans incessantly about the dark, refuses to engage with any kind of strategy because "you don't understand what it's like," and instead has a relapse of her very severe alcoholism and phones for an ambulance while pissed and I'm expected to do something about this from 200 miles away. When she is in a receptive mood and goes out for a walk in daylight, takes vitamins etc. etc. it's better. It's not a cure but it's better.

Depending on where you live, it may have been endless shades of grey. We have had a lot and rain as well. Throw in going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark and no access to outside light when you are at work, you are left with the weekend to get some light, if its not dark grey.

Regardless of what grey people are experiencing this year, light and sunshine reduces massively in November and always have done. There is a massive dip from the light in spring and summer and it’s the lack of light in comparison to the rest of the year which impacts on people who experience SAD.

@LauraNordaI didn’t choose one day, it has been grey, misty and damp here for weeks. Granted I’m in Scotland but nowhere near the Shetland isles.
I was more shocked that you questioned the op for exaggerating rather than thinking it’s not like that where I am but appreciate it must be like that where the op is.
Do you honestly think that the weather you have today is the exact weather everyone in the country has?
And you mentioned the temp, the op’s post was nothing to do with the temp

Getting outside for at least 20 minutes a day can definitely help, but sometimes it takes all your effort to do it. Even the low winter light can have a physiological effect and can help with energy levels which might be useful to you, op.

I think SAD is a poor name for the list of symptoms people can experience. For me, I didn’t get depressed or have a low mood - my symptoms were all physical. Heavy legs, exhaustion and the feeling that I wanted to hibernate. Every year in September I promised myself that I wouldn’t let it happen ‘this year’, but despite going out walking in the countryside every day, the lethargy came every year and seemed to get worse with every passing year. The relative inactivity is draining!

i really feel for you, op. It’s a crap way to feel and I don’t know what else to add to the suggestions of a SAD lamp, getting out every day and making sure your diet is optimal.

I can put my experience in the past because we emigrated (not because of this, but it’s definitely a nice side effect), which I know isn’t an option for most people, but maybe start looking at getting away in Jan/Feb somewhere sunny, if possible. It doesn’t have to be warm, just light!

Not just picking on you but you are highlighting one day. The OP said endless. That is just not so.

I'm not sure anyone has said these are cures, any more than a SAD lamp is a cure, but the OP literally asked for ideas about what might help. I used to struggle more with winter weather until I actively spent more time in it, and now it feels less of a barrier that I just had to sit and wait out for 6 months than it used to, and I have started to appreciate some things about Winter - not sweating my arse off being covered in insect bites on constant alert for sun burn and reading about uncontrollable fires on the news, for example, along with interesting skies and fewer people. That's not to say I don't love spring as much as the next person.

@TheCorrsDidDreamsBetterlooks like a great recipe. Thanks for posting.

It's not being sneery to dismiss people who go on about hot chocolate or snuggling under blankies.

Those of us who struggle with dark nights and the lack of daylight at this time of year are know that blankets and hot chocolate are not what we are looking for. It's like someone having a broken leg and people suggesting an aspirin or sitting down with a good book. Not going to help. What does help is the vitamins, the SAD lamps and getting out in daylight for gentle exercise.

There is so much misunderstanding about why people feel the way they do. It's not about how how or cold it is, so all the comments about how mild it has been are completely irrelevant. The dullness does affect how you're feeling because when it's dull and grey (like it is in Glasgow today) there is no sunlight to brighten the skies and it remains dull all day.

The op has literally posted asked for suggestions.

True. It is currently chucking it down but the dog is looking hopeful. I just cannot be arsed and would like to fester with morning telly. You just know you'd end up feeling drained, bored and miserable. A big walk and cake afterwards definitely keeps things going.

Small aims/goals and plans every day helps us function and keeps the wellbeing positive.

It's not about my coping strategies.
It is the people that insist that yoga/swimming etc will solve a problem and can't seem to understand that just because they enjoy doing something and it helps them, it isn't necessarily the universal answer for everyone.

Being indoors, even

Yes, absolutely. Being invaders is so much nicer if you’ve been out. Your brain needs to see daylight even if it’s grey.

Get a hobby. Or two. Meet people. I like horse racing. It’s something I look forward to every winter.