SAD winter support thread

[AutumnScream]

Apologies i can't find last years threads but they were a massive help checking in or just reading how everyone was doing day to day to get through the difficulty of winter. So many of us suffer from SAD and no amount of hyge and cosyness makes up for it.

Hoping it might cheer some people up to share something incredible that happened to me at work this morning. I’ve been working with a little boy who has a genetic condition and severe brain injury. He wasn’t supposed to survive his birth and was born extremely prematurely and his parents were told to expect that he would never move independently or talk. I’ve noticed he’s been moving himself around more lately so I was building towers for him further and further away to encourage him to reach out for them to knock down. Eventually, he couldn’t reach anymore so he rolled on to his belly, pushed himself up and crawled!!! 😭😭😭 (tears of joy)! I can’t tell you how much this has brightened my day, I’m so proud of him!

@Idratherbepaddleboarding
now that is a good day!

@Idratherbepaddleboarding that's put a smile on my face ☺️

Thanks, it was a much needed reminder of why I do my job! I’ve actually had such a good day today. I was out visiting children all day with no bloody computer in sight! I nipped him at lunch time and took my dog for a walk and he saw some other dogs when he was off his lead and didn’t try to run off and play. I usually put him on his lead when we see other dogs as not everyone wants a giant black lab careering towards them at 100 miles an hour but we sort of know these dogs so I tried him and he behaved perfectly 🥰. Then after work I nipped to The Next outlet to return some jeans that DH had ordered. He wanted me to swap them for some new ones but they didn’t have any he’d like but I got tons of stuff for me for really cheap 😂.

Sound like a really lovely day.

I'm really feeling it today. DD not sleeping atm so feeling very tired and overwhelmed atm, nothing seems to be going right.

I'm really thinking about going to GP to ask about ADs but I've done so well now to of managed my symptoms for over 3 years without the need for ADs, feels like I've let myself down.

@3nough you’d be in no way letting yourself down! Don’t suffer to try to prove a point to yourself🥰.

God, this is miserable. Cold, wet, dark, muddy. I have a streaming cold that shows no signs of shifting. Sat in bed with a coffee and my sad lamp and wishing I could stay here all day.

Yep! Had to drag myself to work, motivation level is zero.

After my lovely day, I’ve had 2 really shit days 😭. I’ve got zero motivation too and I think my concentration span is around 30 seconds at the moment!

Wednesday an Thursday we’re hideous for me, I was working in a comprehensive (invigilating mock GCSEs), and had a couple of very aggressive teenagers kicking off at me, very stressful.
Much better day at a different school today, and the weather was sunny! I’m going to go out for a long dog walk tomorrow to try and lower my stress levels.

Isn't it amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do.

Has been freezing cold, yet I've still felt more happy and energised today.

I've had a really miserable week, sluggish, unmotivated and anxious, quite tearful at times. Made basic mistakes at work. I had an argument with someone medical who disagreed that SAD existed and that I was making it up each year because I was anticipating it, that it becomes true. And it is all resolvable with anti-depressants and mindfulness (if only.... I've also found my lightbox can trigger migraines).
I compensated by eating my own body weight in chocolate.
But ....I hope everyone has a good weekend

I don’t know, it hasn’t been sunny here 😂🙈 it’s been torrential, and I mean truly torrential rain here for the past 2 days 😭.

Oh no. I'll send some of our sunshine your way.

Hope everyone is ok. I had an incredibly tough week and am stressed to hell.

Hows everyones weekends looking?

It has been, dull, very gloomy and wet here all week. Proper Dickensian November weather 😒

Felt dreadful since sunday....low mood....but did have sinus issues....forced myself to go out while bright....even in rain....now ok...have booked flights to barcelona for dec, jan and feb....did it ages ago so very cheap...stay with a friend...it might be cold but it will be bright....cannot face the awful depression i had in feb a few years ago in lockdown....might even go canaries etc....

Thanks @ItsTheSmallThings I’ve got it! It’s a stunning day today here, cold but bright sunshine so I took the dog for a long walk and met DH at the village cafe for a sausage sandwich sitting outside in the sunshine. We’re off out with friends this afternoon/ evening so it’s a good chance to forget about work and just chill!

I'm struggling because it's just so grey and wet all the time. Usually we're out and about at the weekend, but we haven't really been doing that for the last few weekends.

Very lucky with the weather here again today, sunny but cold. I had to get out early to drop ds at a rugby match, so took the dog for a 2 hour walk high up on hills. It’s done me good, not sure how long the effect will last though, but I will take every little win at the moment.

Another cold, damp, gloomy miserable November day here in South Yorkshire.

I am exhausted and have no motivation to go out for a dog walk or to the gym. Lovely sunny day here but just want to sleep. Too tired even to cook a healthy meal

Was motivated for the gym this morning but the class I was booked into got cancelled because of instructor sickness.

Also fed up with Christmas already and it hasn't even started yet. Pressure, commercialisation - and FOMO especially as I have no friends, and family are 3 hours away. DH is not the sociable type. My life is very lonely and isolated sometimes and there is nothing to look forward to

@SayyestoJRM that sounds hard, do you read at all? Books help me when I can’t face the world.

@SayyestoJRM, Good Lord, what is your user name all about 😄🙈.

I've been thinking about the fact that I feel lonely recently too. I live far away from my family, and I just want to be closer to them. I'll probably stay here for a few more years for various reasons, but then I want to go home 💛.

Oh god. I've got to leave the house at 7am to do a 10 hour day an hour away, and I've only managed about 3 hours sleep. My bastard brain woke me up at 2.30 and I couldn't get back to sleep.

It's a full on, high energy, public facing role, too. Really worried about driving back in the dark (on both poorly lit rural roads and the M1) later.