To wonder if those who love winter have very robust mental health or very happy lives?

[Comedycook]

So I was thinking about this after reading a thread about weather. Lots of posters saying how they loved winter...some even said they love the dark evenings and what really surprised me was the poster who said they loved dark, cold mornings. I assumed everyone hated these!

Now I'm not in a terrible place mentally and I'm not depressed but I do find the dark, rainy, cold days do affect my mood. When the evenings are warm and light I feel so much happier.

I'm really interested in how others don't feel that the winter brings them down and actually enjoy it. Are they naturally happier, more positive type people?

I'm a home body and a bit antisocial tbh, I love winter as a great excuse to stay indoors and get cosy. Be in pj's by 5pm, bake, read, potter around and be warm and cosy indoors.

It keeps all the loud, wanky summer people indoors and therefore makes me (naturally a depressive) much happier. It's more peaceful. I love the smell in the air, it's just better all round. Only thing I don't like is snow and ice. Love layers. Just makes me much happier. I also love the rain :)

I don’t like winter but I absolutely love Christmas. If Christmas wasn’t in the midst of the deep dark winter I would despair!! I find Jan and Feb the hardest because Christmas has gone and it’s still miserable. I make a huge deal out of the festive season from about October onwards because otherwise I can’t cope with the doom! Then new year and all the horrible expectations that doesn’t materialise. Thank god for Christmas and Spring. Those first few days of bright sunshine in Spring are glorious. I suppose I wouldn’t love them so much if I didn’t hate winter to such a degree. My advice is to find one part of it you enjoy and make a mountain out of that one thing!!

I love the change. I get bored with Summer after a few months and I'll be bored of Winter by January.

I’m miserable as sin and love winter. There’s less pressure on you to be happy and social. The clothes are better. Plus there’s Halloween, bonfire night and Christmas. They’re the best holidays.

But you could also say the same about summer.

If people didn't have suncream they wouldn't enjoy getting burned to shit, if they didn't have cooling clothes and summer dresses abd fans they would feel horribly sweaty and uncomfortable, no lovely cold drinks to cool them down etc.

Works both ways.

@Lemonyfuckit I'm an introvert and I hate winter for many reasons. There is so much more pressure to be sociable - bonfire night, Christmas season, new year. Talk of parties and who's doing what everywhere and the sense that you're a Billy no mates if you're not joining in. In summer there are none of those occasions and we have less expectation on us.

I live in a small flat in a city, mental health is not the best. Life is generally quite hard.
I much prefer dark evenings but really struggle to wake up when it’s dark.
Im a homebody and I always feel like I should be doing something when the evenings are light, or feel like I should be out enjoying it when I actually prefer being home.
I do not like relaxing in my pyjamas on the sofa with the sun shining in, it makes me feel shit.
If I had a social life I might feel differently but I don’t go out in the evenings so there’s no benefit to them being light.
I love this time of year and all things associated with winter and Xmas. Also prefer winter clothes.

My mental health is pretty robust, and I have a happy life. But I think part of that (well, at least the part that relates to your question, about the link between those two attributes and liking winter) is that I find pleasure in all the seasons. Whereas my mother, a much more depressed and anxious person than I am, starts to mourn the shortening of the days as we pass the summer solstice, and spends the whole autumn and winter bewailing the dark - even on the most glorious bright days, ending in those excellent blazing sunsets that you get in winter, especially in January.

Also: Christmas. Much nicer and more chic clothing options. Great food (confit de canard, boeuf bourgignon , cassoulet - yes, I know you can eat these any time of year, but really, who wants to?). The autumn publishing lists. The good cinema releases. The lovely bits of France empty out, and empty nesters like me can hog the best spots. My birthday. DH's birthday. Our wedding anniversary.

TBH, I used to rather dislike spring and summer - very closely associated in my mind with exam season, and feeling too pale, fat and frizzy-haired to enjoy the beach. Thankfully I'm long past that, but I still find it enormously comforting and exhilarating in equal measure as we head into autumn and winter.

I love the cozy long evenings in home, closing the curtains fire lighting, nice candle burning, tv and snacks, going to bed with the rain beating against the windows. I love crisp cold, blue sky days which are beautiful to walk in. The Autumn colours and then the frost touching everything white. The twinkling lights of Christmas. I used to be a Summer girl, but as I get older I appreciate the slow down of Winter (late 40s). Make your home your haven, lots of atmospheric lights (battery operated are so cost effective), warm snuggle blankets, a nice place to relax. Find the things you can take comfort from. I enjoy the dark mornings, again I just go with the slower pace of the season, no sun beating on my head in the kitchen first thing - bliss ❄️

I don’t mind it, but this is up north in Sweden where I grew up. The 4 hours is when it’s at its darkest too, around Christmas. After that it gets lighter again so January and February are actually quite nice and bright as the snow brightens everything up and there is a lot of sunshine and at night the moon reflects light from it too. In Stockholm for example I think it’s more like 8 hours a day of daylight at the darkest point but there isn’t as much snow so it seems darker somehow.

Oh I relate to this. I enjoy all the seasons in their own way and after a few months of one I’m eagerly anticipating the next one. I am really enjoying the rain (luckily little chance of flooding here) and the hunkering down inside this week. If feels very needed.

Listening to the rain outside with a cup of tea in my hand is one of the most relaxing things I can think of. I also quite enjoy a big wind / storm when I can hear the windows creaking and the panes rattling around. I like just being able to lie in bed listening to it and am quite annoyed when I have to do too much and can’t just appreciate the sound.

I quite like dark mornings. Children sleep in longer and it’s easier to pass it off as the middle of the night when it’s really nearly 7am!

I’m not sure I ever really used to notice the seasons passing so much. It’s since having children, spending most of my time at home and becoming a bit of a gardener I notice and appreciate the seasons so much more.

I love the dark evenings and mornings as my nosy curtain twitcher neighbours cannot see as much across the street

Different strokes for different folks, OP. Some persons thrive in summer, some in winter and are adaptable.

Is it mental health? Or personality? Preference? Genetics? Who knows?!

I'm one that enjoys winter and I do not feel seasonally depressed but, like a lot of folks, I struggle to get out of bed in the cold and dark mornings as I like to snuggle and stay warm in bed.

*So actually people enjoy the coping mechanisms and rituals associated with being cold.

If they were relentlessly exposed to the elements in the cold, with no cashmere socks, so catch up drinks, no lovely steaming mugs of hot chocolate, they would be unhappy.*

Well of course. No one wants to be exposed to the elements in winter with no protection - but I feel the same about summer (sun in my eyes, sunburn, bugs, feeling too hot to sleep etc.). For me, the things that "mitigate" the cold are nicer and more effective than the things that mitigate the heat.

And the feeling of being warm and cosy indoors with darkness, rain or wind outside is such an exciting, joyous feeling but I can't explain why really. I also like the contrast when you've been out in the cold and dark, and come indoors.

HELL yes.

The thugs of the insect world. Do. Not Like.

Historically summer has always been a really busy time for me, lots of birthdays and plenty of excuses for days out and bbqs and I find myself wishing for cosy nights in.

Then you have pretty leaves, autumn walks, Halloween, Christmas…

January and February I could do without.

I love all of the seasons.

I get excited by the first hints of spring on the air, the summer months when we’re sitting outside until 10, the glorious autumn, and the cosy hunkering down of winter with the wood burner lit and candles burning.

We have a holiday house in SW Florida. Much as we love it there, it’s either hot and wet or hot and dry. We are so blessed with our 4 seasons and changing day lengths in the UK.

I think whether you prefer summer or winter depends on lots of things. At the risk of sounding horrible, most of my friends who prefer winter are more overweight and feel too hot in summer and don’t like wearing summer clothes, while my skinnier friends are freezing already.

Personally, I hate winter. I have SAD, I hate wearing lots of clothes and I’m cold all of the time. I hate having to clean mud off myself, the dog and the house every time we go out and the dark makes me tired. I hate sitting around and I get all fidgety if I have nothing to do but I feel too tired to go out in the dark. I hate hot chocolate, snuggling and winter food.

I want to waft around in shorts and a vest too all year round. I want to throw some trainers on and walk the dog on the beach at 8pm. I want to go out in the evenings at weekends in a little dress and dance the night away with my friends or chill in the garden with a BBQ and a few drinks.

The only thing better about winter, is it’s easier to run but then it’s too bloody dark to go because I’m working all day 😡.

I like the change. At end of summer and in autumn i start to yearn for the cold crisp mornings, frost on the grass, dark evenings, bonfire night, cosy suppers in a warm house, slippers, mulled wine, Christmas... by late Feb/March I'm looking forward to spring summer again!

I love winter because it gives me an excuse to stay inside reading with the curtains drawn and a fire lit.
I do have major depressive disorder and I find the summer with long days and light nights oddly oppressive and a trial to get through!

for me, the darker and cooler nights mean I sleep better. I’m a far better person in the winter for that reason and so I love it!

have to say that coming home and seeing the lights on and the house looking cosy and inviting does have its appeal too.

I openly got quite excited about the winter finally bringing cooler evenings at work. They mostly thought I had lost my mind 🤣

Ooh, also, cheap daffodils in the supermarkets start appearing in January - I never can find good cut flowers for the house in summer. I suppose if I paid a fortune I could, but £5 buys absolutely masses of daffodils and gives you a boost for a week. And in the south east, at any rate, there are really very few days when 'Earth lay hard as iron' - you can feel the light changing and plants being on the move again in January.

I live in a very cold part of the world and I am originally from a very hot tropical country. Where I live it is frequently below zero for much of the winter, lots of snow, but not as wet as the UK. Where I am from it is still 30 odd degrees and is well above 45 in the summer. For me I can't stand the extreme heat. I love autumn and I don't mind winter. DH and I hike a lot and within reason we try to hike in winter as well. There is something about the cool crisp air that is invigorating. We have plenty of warm clothes (it is essential where we live) so staying outdoors is not a problem.
I find it easier to sleep when it is dark.
I much prefer winter clothes to summer clothes- I dread the summer a bit clothes wise and feel self conscious.
I find the summer heat oppressive, the sun shining till late really disrupts my circadian rhythm and the humidity can make it harder to sleep.
The kind of food I like to eat- hot and spicy food, South East Asian soups etc are all perfect for winter.

well I'm in despair already & it isn't even the end of October. The thought of another 5 months of grim, cold, wet, darkness & having people witter on endlessly about "hot choccy" and "cozy nights" makes me want to scream.