SADS what helps you?

[TidesOfLife]

I have a few mental health conditions and always find September- November a difficult time with the cooler weather, darkening evenings, etc. I get really effected by a feeling of being trapped inside and just darkness to look out on. I've got a 3 yo and 1 yo too so it's the thought of not being able to play in the garden or go to the park when it gets dark early. It's that 4-7/8pm time I struggle with the most.

I'm interested to know what other people do to help SADS?

I've got a few things I like doing...

• Making the most of mild evenings. Like last night, we went out for an ice cream after dinner along the seafront (we're 4 miles from the coast).
• Putting fairy lights in the garden.
• Get outside in the daylight everyday.
• Plan autumn things to do. E.g. the seafront town near us have free fireworks every Saturday night from October to December.
• Going out for a hot chocolate. Costa drive thrus if we don't want to get everyone out the car if it's cold.

Would love some more ideas? Especially for those dark late afternoons/early evenings? 😊

Mine always starts in October. I have one of those SAD lights. I’m retired and use it every morning while I drink coffee. I also take a vit d tablet and a vit c tablet.

Buy a proper lamp.

Good idea. I was thinking this morning I'm already starting to struggle with the darker mornings and I need some ideas for coping. I don't think I have any clever ideas to share yet but watching for much needed inspiration.

Great idea for a thread as so many (including myself) suffer with this.

hot baths with candles
generally candles!
with small children I used to do lots of welly walks even in the dark and make an adventure of it

as the children get older, organised team sports are a great thing for activity and fitness in dark after school period and tend to be in well lit areas (eg football fields floodlit, athletics tracks floodlit) which whilst you’re there combat the darkness

Getting out in the daylight is the big one. Even 20 minutes sitting on a bench on a bright day recharges the batteries. Or a brisk 10 minute walk.

SAD lamps do help but really there's no substitute for proper daylight. Fairy lights and lamps just don't cut it.

Lots of Vitamin D.

Trying to stay positive. The time from the clocks going back to 21st December and hte Equinox is just the WORST, November is grim. But by end December we've turned the corner back towards the light.

Citralopram, I’m not being flippant! 10mgs which is a “maintenance” dose and sees me through the dark months. My counsellor suggested it and it really does work for me.

I guess different things work at different stages of life. Before children, my dh and I still went for after dinner walks in the autumn/winter which was nice just to get out or sometimes the pub, cinema, etc. It didn't make those dark evenings seem so long. But with young children, it's a bit more restrictive. The summer months between 4 and 8 (bedtime) are spent playing out in the garden, going to the park before or after dinner, getting an ice cream from the ice cream man. There's so much more freedom. I know this is to do with my own mental health issues but I struggle with feeling restricted at home inside. I think it's got worse since the covid lock downs. I was pregnant during the worse of that too so was at home a lot which really didn't help.

I have just thought, we've had an effective outdoor light fitted for the back garden which lights up the patio really well. If the weather's ok, no reason the children can't play out there in the darker months.

@Uncertain111 yes, welly walks are a good idea 👍

My 2/3 year old LOVED going out in the dark. A torch and a few glow sticks and he was in his element.

Possibly not a park activity but some open space?

Also there are indoor activities you could do, the horror of soft play? Hot chocolate in a cafe? Supermarket to buy baking stuff? I assume they are too little for the cinema?

How do you feel about halloweeen/Christmas/harvest? Can you make each of them a big thing for decorating the house? Themed activities?

I HATE the time between dinner and bedtime and mine are 6 and 10!

Sad light, vitamin d, trying to get a little bit of exercise every day and getting outside no matter what the weather.
I've tried the whole fairy lights, candles thing and it just made me so angry, I don't know why as I like them in summer but they just did less than zero for me.

Hey OP.

Honestly, the only thing that cured my SAD was moving to Spain! The light, so much lovely lovely light. But, not the most practical of solutions. We're back in wet dark Wales now so Ive had to re-adapt.

Early winter isn't really that much of a problem for me (Jan-march is my downer). When the kids were younger we did all the welly walks and glowsticks in the park etc.
Be outside for as long as the weather will allow. Firepit, BBQ's, all wrapped up. Fresh air helps me sleep better and more likely to be refreshed the next day.
Vit D, plenty of, you cant overdose! Vit C and a good diet.
Nothing beats actual sun on your skin. I think I can remember reading a while back that UK sun between 10am-2pm will give you the highest hit of Vit D.
Find a sunny spot and sit and absorb! Even 10mins is good for you.
Autumn is FULL of activities for us. Halloween takes up a whole month... decorating the house, making costumes, planning a party. Fill your time...then you can start planning Christmas! (I dont particully like xmas, but its a good marker of time...after xmas Im 2/3rd s of the way through THE DARK
I really don't mind the house being 'decorated' for a while and we don't spend a lot, generally make stuff from paper and the biggest hit is chalk pens. I let my kids write and draw all over the downstairs windows.
Basically keeping busy helps.

Jan-March is another matter for me. I hate the tease of better weather only for it still to be dark at 4.30! I'm afraid I just give into it. Blankets and snoozing all the way. I don't plan anything in this time and allow myself to reset. If we get stuff done or have days out its an achievement, but I no longer beat myself up for lazy down time.

just read this...
"HATE the time between dinner and bedtime and mine are 6 and 10!"
God yes.....that draaaaagged. I'd forgotten about this!
This was something that changed when we lived in Spain. We ate much later and the kids went pretty much straight to be after food - chat around the table then off to have a wash/to bed. It was amazing the difference that small change it made to my own energy levels. I was no longer nodding off waiting for their bed time!
It's something that has stuck since we've been back. its not very British and it took a few months to get to Spanish stylee in the 1st place so its probably not something you could change over night.
We eat 8.30-9. Bedtime 9.30-10. Kids are early teens now, but we've had this routine since they were little.
It really did get rid of that early evening slump.

Agree with a pp, I moved to Portugal and can't believe the difference. I always knew I disliked the UK winter, but I hadn't realised just how miserable it made me feel until I escaped it.

Not helpful I know, though I'm surprised that you find this part of the year the worst - I always hated the winter rather than the autumn.

Taking vitamin D helped me immensely back then.