To feel depressed by it getting dark so early

[Poetrypatty]

... And only going to get worse. I think that Boris press conference today didn't help. Feel miserable going into another winter of all this crap and the effort of keep trying to keep mine and dcs mood up.

I bloody love autumn and winter!

No wasps
Hats
Scarves
Cosy big coats
Mulled wine
No wasps
The smells of the Christmas market
No wasps
Winter boots
Earmuffs
Warming hearty stews
No wasps
Snowmen
Christmas
Cosy nights in
No wasps
Oh and no wasps

I really do sympathise OP as I feel similarly about summer, the bright light, long days and intense heat makes me feel nauseous and suffocated. For want of a better word it's too 'loud'. I can't hear myself think. It makes me very anxious. I count the days till the nights roll in again and the heaviness of summer is lifted.

@cricketmum84

I bloody love autumn and winter!

No wasps
Hats
Scarves
Cosy big coats
Mulled wine
No wasps
The smells of the Christmas market
No wasps
Winter boots
Earmuffs
Warming hearty stews
No wasps
Snowmen
Christmas
Cosy nights in
No wasps
Oh and no wasps

Urgh - layers of clothes that smother you, the over priced festive tat and food at the crowded Christmas market (when it’s usually peeing down), the stodgy meat and root veg stews, the snowmen on the 2 days a year when it snows enough with the right kind of snow on a non-work day (instead of shovelling the bastard snow off the car and driveway at 6.30 to begin the commute), nights in under artificial light…

I’m with you on the wasps though

Oh god none of this is helping. The endless fucking layers to get everyone into before you can leave the house. The endless mud at the front door. The never ending washing which takes forever to dry. The claustrophobia of being hemmed in by your own clothes. Freezing feet on the train platform. Waiting for the windscreen to defog. Is the boiler making a funny noise? If it packs it in we’ll be fucked.

I try to stay off all the ‘I hate summer’ threads with my joyful bouncing about finally, at last not being cold and not having to wear socks all the time. Because I know it’s annoying!

You lot get the majority of the year.

I try and compare now to mid winter and think how much lighter it is than december. Only way I manage not to spend more htan half the year depressed about the light.

I am also relieved that it is cooler in the flat (30 degrees is too much) and there are no bloody flies getting in. (hate flies)

There's many people like this. I remember my mother became very down October to February. Back then SAD was un heard of. But it all made sense years later when people became more aware of SAD. I do feel for what she went through, GPs dosed her up with antidepressants and diazepam. She suffered so much that getting out of bed was the hardest thing for her.

I do prefer summer months myself, I like bright mornings and evenings. However the one thing that cheers me up about the early dark evenings is that next doors kids are not out till 10pm screaming their heads off like they are being murdered and their mother isn't blasting Boyzone and James Blunt.

I love dark evenings,drawing the curtains and shutting out the world and feeling cosy.

Dark mornings can go fuck themselves though.

I find it fucking miserable, it's one of the things I hate about living so far north. I struggle a lot with depression and sad as it gets darker. What helps for me is taking vitamin d, doing exercise when I get up in front of a sad light, a lot of it is very half arsed Jogging on the spot and lazy floor stretches but just being in front of the sad lamp (like a moth) and getting the blood flowing helps. Being religious about keeping a proper sleep schedule, I find I really easily gets thrown off. And ignoring people who wang on about being cozy and hot chocolate.

I actually feel like that in the summer months.

Cold & Dark make me feel cozy and relaxed.

Hugs to you op. I agree. My dp is swedish and loves the winter, bangs on about snow and dark nights and icy weather he loves it. For me winter is where hope goes to die. I struggle with getting and staying warm. I never look nice in winter as I just wear a million layers. I get colds, I'm knackered because the dark makes me feel tired and hopeless. I do love the cosy winter things people suggest, adore them in fact. That love always wears off by November for me and I'm miserable until April.

Over the last 20 years we have managed to afford a winter sun holiday in Feb Half Term once or twice. We went to Barbados and one year Antigua. We only went for 1 week but it really did make a difference to our moods. I don’t like Xmas and having this to look forward to keeps me going.

I'm with you op - today it seemed so dark in the morning all of a sudden. I really don't like the short days of autumn - but January is even worse!

I've been feeling like this today as it has been so grey and dark and rainy and gloomy. I also have SAD but have found that my SAD lamp sets off my migraines 🙄 so I don't know what I can do to improve it.

I also have reynauds and seem to spend the autumn/winter fighting against the cold all day and night. Get out of bed? Cold. Get out of the shower? Cold. Sit at my desk wfh wrapped in a heated blanket but every time I need to get up? Cold. Waiting at the school gate? Cold. Picking up DC from activities? Cold. etc. etc. It feels like I am in a constant battle against the cold all day every day. And I am one of those people who have the heating on all day!

I'm with @SophieHMS

There aren't many things that propel me into feelings of rage but cosy does.

Another way of looking at it is that the days draw out again after 21st December.

For me winter is where hope goes to die

Never a truer word spoken - you have summed up the coming months perfectly in just 9 words there.

I feel a huge amount of relief come the winter Solti e when I can look forward the to the return of the sun again.
I hate winter.
I am always cold and live in layers.
I hate the dark.
I also realise that hating it is pointless because I can’t stop it. I try and change my mindset but I still find my self looking forward to December 21st. Although I don’t because I hate Christmas 🧐

I love many aspects of it (hate a few). But it smells different. Fresher and sharper. Home becomes cosier and somewhere to be glad to get to. There's the run up to Christmas and lovely things to do despite covid. I love Christmas.

@SirChenjins

For me winter is where hope goes to die

Never a truer word spoken - you have summed up the coming months perfectly in just 9 words there.

Yup. I hate the sheer drudgery of it all - the mud, having to wear a million layers, the darkness. And screw warming soups - give me gazpacho on a sunny terrace any day.

The only thing that helps me slightly in winter is trying to go for a walk in daylight every day - just out to a shop for a sandwich on work days, but it helps to see some daylight even if it is always fucking raining-

It can work in reverse. I hate summer. Everything is so bright, full on. Wasps everywhere. Fruit flies. Need to wear sun cream, sunglasses (with a mask now in some cases!).

Give me winter please!

@echt

Another way of looking at it is that the days draw out again after 21st December.

The earliest sunset occurs a couple of weeks before the shortest day - usually around 8 Dec. It always cheers me up to pass that, as I mind the dark evenings much more than dark mornings.

@SirChenjins

For me winter is where hope goes to die

Never a truer word spoken - you have summed up the coming months perfectly in just 9 words there.

I agree. It's brilliant.

However the one thing that cheers me up about the early dark evenings is that next doors kids are not out till 10pm screaming their heads off like they are being murdered and their mother isn't blasting Boyzone and James Blunt.

This did make me smile, but sorry to hear about your mum Thethreecs it must have been very difficult for people before we knew about SAD.

Really grateful for all the supportive messages on here and thinking about fellow sufferers, and general winter dislikers as well. It has also been interesting to hear about the other side of the coin so to speak, those who find the summer hard. At least winter is benefitting some and that's good.

I don't have what could be called a cosy house if that exists, and I get freezing even in all the layers. A winter holiday is a really good idea both for something to look forward to as well as the sunshine itself. But not doable for us at the moment. Plus who knows what will even be happening, that just makes it all worse.

The earliest sunset occurs a couple of weeks before the shortest day - usually around 8 Dec. It always cheers me up to pass that, as I mind the dark evenings much more than dark mornings.

That's good to know, thank you.

It can work in reverse. I hate summer. Everything is so bright, full on. Wasps everywhere. Fruit flies. Need to wear sun cream, sunglasses (with a mask now in some cases!).

Give me winter please!

Well you get 9 months of the year to freeze and be ‘cosy’. Often with at least half of the summer thrown in.