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Original poster

Does anyone get SAD in reverse?

159 replies

AchillesLastStand · 08/04/2022 17:52

This sounds strange but I think every spring I have SAD rather than in the winter. It’s like my brain can’t cope with the longer days, I can’t sleep and feel anxious all the time. The past week has been awful, and I keep waking at 1.10 in the morning like clockwork and then can’t get back to sleep. I have constant brain fog.

I read that your brain may produce less melatonin in the spring which causes the sleep problems. I really like the winter months and feel cocooned by the dark evenings. Is anyone else like this?

For record, I’m currently taking amtriptyline for anxiety but it’s not helping with the insomnia.

OP posts:
ThalictrumDelavayi · 12/04/2022 10:54

Yes I have this. My heart sinks around April and I get depressed, and I have to endure summer as best as I can, silently, until my heart leaps in September and I love love love autumn, winter and early spring.

Seems it's "allowed" for others to moan and whinge from September to March about the cold/rain/dark nights, but if you express just the tiniest personal dismay at the heat/sun/light nights of summer then you're a miserable spoilsport who should shut up and enjoy it.

Vive la revolution!

grafittiartist · 12/04/2022 10:57

Yep!
Except everyone else seems happy it's spring.
Roll on autumn ( without wishing any of it away)

Cockenspiel · 12/04/2022 11:09

I must admit, I do like spring and love seeing all the flowers in the garden coming back to life.

But summer can do oneAngry. I find the heat and seemingly endless heat-waves we now get in southern England just so horribly uncomfortable and depressing. I can’t sleep, I can’t wear anything that looks nice, I hate the gross feeling of being sticky and sweaty the whole time. It’s just grim and I always feel very down, lacking in energy and exhausted from it all by July and then all of August. I feel such a huge sense of relief come September, which is no doubt helped by the end of the school hols tooGrin.

IAlsoHateSpring · 12/04/2022 11:21

@VeryMuchFlaggingMinty

Like very sad and anxious and even sort of scared and lonely (for no reason).

I often feel like this around spring, have done since I was a teenager.

I enjoy the weather being sunnier and warmer but get awful hayfever and hate when it's really hot and humid.

I always look forward to autumn, it's definitely my favourite time of year.

I'm sorry to hear another person feels like this but it is comforting to know I'm not the only one!
CoolToBeUncool · 12/04/2022 11:31

I found spring/summer more difficult when I was younger. I was really overweight and had crippling social anxiety. I used to see all these bright young things in their vest tops, shorts and little dresses gathered in parks and pub gardens having a great time in the sun and feel even shittier about myself than usual (and that was saying something back then!)
Now I'm in my 40s, I quite like the sun (hate humidity though) I still dread the pressure to "make the most of sunny days" though. My mum is their most enthusiastic champion; she'll actually phone me to announce it's going to be sunny, make sure you get out and enjoy it!Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!!!
My ideal would be to have perpetual autumn. I love autumnal colours, the crisp weather, nights drawing in, the autumn look (jeans, boots, parkas and scarfs). I do a little happy dance every first of September to Earth, Wind and Fire!

ValerieDoonican · 12/04/2022 11:56

I think there's a lot of Carole King fans on here ... love this song!

flinginflangin · 12/04/2022 12:21

I like sunny days but I agree you can definitely get SAD in reverse. Summer is enjoyable to a point, but I am so much more at home in the cooler darker days of autumn. I don't understand why some people think only hot, sunny weather is beautiful. The worst thing about it was when I was a child and having to eat salad for dinner 'because its summer'. I don't mind the house being a little cluttered in the winter months but I can't stand it in summer. As pps have said, sometimes the worst thing is the residual pressure to go out and enjoy it. The first sunny day of the year it feels like everyone suddenly has to tag themselves on social media in a beer garden. Staying in is so much more enjoyable in a comfy dressing gown and slippers but even that's hard when it's hot!

howdyhey · 12/04/2022 12:38

I get so nostalgic in spring and summer. I can feel very isolated and there's something about the light nights and the sounds you can hear that makes me feel a million miles from everyone. Sundays in summer are the worst for this. I can hear bells ringing and birdsong which are beautiful sounds to me, but on summer evenings they seem to make me think of everything and everyone I've ever lost, if that makes sense. I get a bit fixated on the passage of time and can't seem to settle. Sometimes I have to go for a walk just to see people sitting in their homes doing normal things so I don't feel so alone. I'm happy the rest of the time!

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 12/04/2022 12:53

@howdyhey

I get so nostalgic in spring and summer. I can feel very isolated and there's something about the light nights and the sounds you can hear that makes me feel a million miles from everyone. Sundays in summer are the worst for this. I can hear bells ringing and birdsong which are beautiful sounds to me, but on summer evenings they seem to make me think of everything and everyone I've ever lost, if that makes sense. I get a bit fixated on the passage of time and can't seem to settle. Sometimes I have to go for a walk just to see people sitting in their homes doing normal things so I don't feel so alone. I'm happy the rest of the time!
I can relate to a lot of that x
Nelliephant1 · 12/04/2022 12:58

I hate long days and light mornings/nights.

Roll on dark nights and mornings for me. They can't come quick enough.

Nidan2Sandan · 12/04/2022 13:09

I like it when spring brings warmer weather, but not boiling weather. But I dont like the long summer days.

I want it dark by 8PM, and cool of the evening.

I think, like a PP said some of that is related to the intense pressure that nice days means we should be out doing something

As a kid Mum would shut us out of the house from 10am till bedtime, all meals were had in the garden and she even stood and did the ironing in the garden as she is a MASSIVE sun worshipper. I HATED it, I wanted to be in the lounge reading my book not sweating in the garden.

DH hates being indoors if its sunny and has this annoying habit of saying he's bored, let's all go out. So then I ask to do what, and he responds he doesnt know but wants to go out. Drives me mad and brings me that same anxious feeling that my Mum gave me.

Liv999 · 12/04/2022 13:17

@flapjackfairy

Oh Yes, I love autumn and winter and hate the light nights. I am already counting the weeks until summer solstice and once that arrives I feel like it is all downhill to September and my favourite half of the year. It's mad really but I just can't help it, !
I'm exactly the same, my mood completely changes once September comes in, love the thoughts of autumn and winter on the way
TruffleNoir · 12/04/2022 18:38

This evening it's dark and rainy and actually was making me feel like it's September time!

Wintersgirl · 12/04/2022 18:58

Oh yes, same here, hence my user name! It's people behaving like arseholes I can't stand, for some reason people become extra dickish when the weather is hot..

Bbub · 12/04/2022 21:04

So happy that I've found my people. Everyone I know is all about embracing the sunny weather but I get anxiety about it. Being in the sun makes me feel ill and is awful for my skin, and I feel lonelier in the warmer months too.

Saw a few "spring - what are you wearing" threads on here and I was so pleased that it's rained all day where I am 😳 I just stayed in

dipdye · 13/04/2022 16:37

and she even stood and did the ironing in the garden as she is a MASSIVE sun worshipper. I HATED it, I wanted to be in the lounge reading my book not sweating in the garden.

^

That's intense Grin

shumway · 13/04/2022 16:53

I hate being too warm.

Rowgtfc72 · 13/04/2022 17:40

Hate the sun and the heat and the bright light. Makes me miserable.

lollipoprainbow · 14/04/2022 07:34

The sun was blazing here yesterday, so bright couldn't see where I was walking/driving it really annoyed me! It's given me a migraine.

Clumsyandshy · 21/04/2022 22:06

@SnowdropsInSpring was kind enough to direct me to this thread after I posted a question about pre summer depression, wondering if anyone else felt like this.

as long as I can remember, I have sunk into a deep depression as the month of May approaches and during.

I have attributed this in the past to my birthday being over, the start of the exam season, issues with showing more of my body as the weather changes and the pressure mounted on by social media to being making the most of summer.

I turned 30 this week and although it isn't quite May yet, I can feel the depression sinking in, like I know it's coming. Last year this coincided with PND and I received therapy. In 2019, things escalated with my bullimia and I received help with that. In previous years I have been on medication and had counselling for anxiety and depression.

The trouble is, I know that the feelings of worthlessness, demotivation, suicidal thoughts and fear will subside later on in the summer so it's hard to tell whether all of the intervention works or not. Things do get incredibly dark for me during this time so it's no use telling myself it will pass even though deep down I know it will.

I hear a lot about SAD in the winter months and feel in a minority to experience depression specifically around this time every year. I know I'm laying out a lot here but wondered if anyone had any coping strategies or have ever experienced anything similar?

I realised as I was writing, that maybe telling myself I WILL be depressed in May might be part of the problem but its hard to switch this off

SnowdropsInSpring · 22/04/2022 20:16

.

GibbonsGoatsGibbons · 22/04/2022 20:42

I hate the heat & my skin hates the sun (quickly becomes irritated despite hat, sun hat, sun screen) so I hate summer.

my theory is that for me it's the histamine (due to hay fever & skin reactions) which makes me feel anxious & jittery

just being hot I can deal with but it's the stronger sun I can't find a way around

I don't feel the guilt about not being out in it but I find it really stressful to get everything & everyone done outside early enough so we're home before the sun is high in the sky - waiting until after is too late to get anything done.

I have a couple of real life friends who hate being hot too we huddle in the shade together Grin

Rainallnight · 22/04/2022 20:47

Not SAD exactly but it makes me really anxious. It’s weird. Would love to know an explanation

Thisisit2022 · 22/04/2022 21:35

The only thing I like about Summer is that I get to look forward to the autumn drawing in.

the80sweregreat · 22/04/2022 22:39

I hate summer when we get horrible heatwaves and I can't bear being hot. As I live in the uk I often hope the summer won't be great , it is a lottery to be fair! I do have anxiety about really hot days and tend to stay indoors.
I am as miserable as the ones I know who hate it too cold.

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