Thread for anyone struggling at the thought of long dark evenings #hotchocandhyggetypesnotyourthread

[Hobnobswantshernameback]

I hate the long dark evenings.
I know they are inevitable.
But every year is worse. Think it's also coupled to menopause symptoms where my general mood and anxiety levels are dreadful.
During the working week November to T he end of February I barely see daylight.
I try and get as much as I can but it's tricky to get outside during the working day
i take vitamin D. I exercise as much as I can.
I do try and embrace the seasons. But I just feel really daunted this year by the thought of it being dark so early
anyone want to commiserate or share any coping strategies
And no I don't want to snuggle under a blankie with a hot choc
just in case anyone thinks that's what I need 😂

@Suemademedoit did you see the bit about #hotchocandhyggetypesnotyourthread ? Lovely that you're grateful for winter and that you enjoy hygge, but this thread is specifically for people who struggle with winter. A bit like telling people with depression to be grateful for the lows so they can appreciate the highs.

@Hobnobswantshernameback I'm struggling this week - the clocks going back always do this to me as I know we're in for 4 months of darkness, living under artificial lighting, and horrible weather. Living feels like a battle - SAD lamps, extra vitamins, layers of clothing for me and the dog just to go on a walk (and then trying to dry layers of clothing), scraping ice off cars before you can move, peering through the darkness...honestly, I cannot express sufficiently how much I hate this time of year. Damp, dreich, depressing.

Solidarity with you
i feel much the same
and absolutely to the tone deafness above. I know this happens every year
i know we have seasons
doesn't help minimise the huge physical and mental impact it has on me

I've struggled massively since the clocks went back, I honestly just want to sleep all the time!

Much solidarity back. It's bloody miserable isn't it?

It is
i am back on my vitamin D tablets
and my sleep has gone to pot so that isn't helping
I find the "embrace it" types infuriating
I can't
I try and do all I can to mitigate and I plough on
but it's hard

Bloody hell. If you insist on reveling in your misery, of course you’ll be miserable. My point was that I used to feel the same way - all the same things. Leaving the house in the dark, traveling by tube underground, office accessible from tube station, lunch at my desk, back home in the dark. Just miserable, you live for the weekend when you can actually be out in daylight hours. But having experienced what you say you want for a winter, it’s so much worse. You can have two shit things, one being more shit than the other. I was trying to cheer you up by saying that what you’re after is the worse shitty thing.

Winter is still shitty. But why compound your misery by not looking on the bright side (ha)? Unless you’re going to move to a different climate it’s going to be the same every year so, you know, why not change your attitude to it?

I hate the dark too - the worst was when I used to work in a basement office with a 3 hr round commute so felt like I was just living in darkness. The clocks going back is definitely the tipping point - DS is doing his bit to get us up with the sun still to maximise daylight hours but I'd rather be in bed longer.

I try to engage with the hygge thing to trick myself into thinking I don't mind the dark, dank hours. Also trips to relatives down south where daylight is marginally longer and weather better. God knows how the Scots cope, it's bad enough in Yorkshire.

One thing I've found has helped a little is layering LED lights in shadow gaps to replicate daylight (ha...) and then having lamps on top. Plus as others said, just getting outside as much as possible.

YANBU. November- February is bullshit.

I hate it. I'm dragging myself through to the 16th December when the kids break up. At least I'll get an extra hour in bed before work when I don't have the school run to do.
I knew I'd really struggle once the heatwave ended 😔.

What the fuck?! Im talking about my lives experience, and your reply is I don’t know what I’m talking about? Am I a made up person, making up my own experiences?

Could you be more rude??! On a thread about not-hygge ffs!

I'm with you. I find November the worst. December is crazy busy and fun, I do like Christmas. And January I tend to start an exercise regime (for several years I've done Yoga with Adriene's 30 days of yoga which she does every January). February, things are starting to grow in the garden, days are starting to get slightly longer, and we're on the cusp of spring. But urgh, November is a real miserable slog.

I could be more rude if you like.

I normally cope well. But this year already beginning too struggle. Probably because I am also in the menopause. I often go somewhere in December but this year air fares are unaffordable.

Oh and I am not Christian, so I don't do Xmas.

I never minded winter until I was bereaved quite horribly and that winter felt like a million years long. I dealt with it by getting outside in it as much as possible, appropriate clothing, go out early and walk - the morning winter light can be beautiful, I noticed nature more, the dark coming was tied in with getting to a pub with a fire so I was marking it, not running away. It was an extreme period in my life but I walked both weekend day every week for the entire winter and it has given me a more positive view of the season - I actively embrace it rather than not mind.

I'm also making the effort to get out at lunch or run just before work as the mornings are still light here

Good luck and don't let the hot choc get you down.

Hello - is this the supportive thread we had last year. With tips and general 'how are we doing'?

I found it so helpful last year to have a band of likeminded people reminding me to take supplements etc! I fell off it due to dp's illness.

Oh! I recognise some names from last year! Excellent I am moving house but I'll be back in solidarity ASAP! Have been looking for you all!

welcome!!!!
It is indeed
still here
still dodging the hygge and hot choc 😂

@Suemademedoit please go away
this is not the thread for you
I'm not revelling in anything
I'm getting off my chest why my mental health is at rock bottom and the dark nights compound it
Clearly I just need to get a grip and embrace it all 🙄
We are here to support each other and to share how we cope and tips about what helps
no one is shamed and told to just suck it up
your experience is a positive one
mine and others isn't and we offload here so we can still crack on with our lives as best we can
please stop detailing

So have popped out at lunch time and it's pissing down
hey ho
treating myself to my favourite lunch instead
hoping it's dry later

If you don’t want to try to not feel this way that you say is awful, then this thread is basically company in misery, is it?

If it’s derailing to try to help people no longer suffer the way I no longer suffer, then this thread really is about wallowing. And if that isn’t an own-goal, I don’t know what is! Sheesh.

Are you one of those people who tells people with low mood and depression to cheer up?

This patently isn't the thread for you - why not just head off to one where hygge and hot choc abounds? You'll find you won't be so exasperated, everyone will be happier as a result and you'll have inadvertently done your bit for this thread

Why do all threads on MN end in fights these days?

Anyway I hear pp on the importance of walking daily. I do walk but this weekend I didn't and felt worse. So went for a half hour trot this morning and immediately felt a bit better.