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?

Doteycat same here x

Possibly when people say this they're just lonely, and feel it more in summer when they can see people out having fun more. In winter people are indoors, even while socialising, so the perception is that others aren't out and about, so being lonely doesn't feel so unusual

I wouldn’t go that far but there probably is more FOMO in the summer. You feel you should be doing something.

I've never been bothered by winter, I do like it - especially icy dark mornings! I lived in Iceland for two winters as well, so have done 24 hour darkness. The key is social things and making the most of your home. Also making sure you have stuff to go do/watch/enjoy all the time.

I guess it's a matter for me of having the right clothes for the season to enable going outside and enjoying it. I don't really worry about safety in the dark - and I grew up in a shitty area. I saw two gangs confronting eachother with gangs and that was at 3pm one summer weekday afternoon so 🤷🤷🤷.

This made me laugh. If only.

I’m more likely to feel depressed in summer rather than winter. I welcome every season, but winter more so.

It’s quieter in winter.
Snuggling under the quilt at bed time.
Being warm & cosy inside whilst a storm rages outside.
The change of clothing from summer dresses & flip flops to winter coats & boots.
Going from salads to stews.
Shutting the world out by closing the curtains.

The only thing that spoils it is Christmas, & I usually leave the country at that time. Everything changes, & I love the change.

I have a pretty happy life and decent mental health these days but I hate winter. Don't mind the dark that much but I can't abide cold and wet. While I love to be cosy, unfortunately I can't actually hibernate and have to experience the grim weather more often than I'd like. Also makes you feel trapped indoors sometimes.

I hate winter. And I say that as someone who gets outdoors a lot, I’m active, and I like the changing of the seasons. But I live in Wales and our typical winter weather is exactly as it is today - grey, wet, raining, no light, miserable.
I am a light driven creature and I find the dark mornings very hard to get up. The shortened day length is horrible. The outdoor landscape is peeled of colour; even the houses have grey slate roofs (because of all the rain). I find myself wondering why we don’t all paint our houses bright colours like they do in the Far North - I’d love to see red and yellow to brighten things up! (Pink front door here!).
A light box helps. A dose of that every morning stops me dipping further than I otherwise would.

Possibly when people say this they're just lonely, and feel it more in summer when they can see people out having fun more

This definition isn't the case for me.

I love my own company but in summer everyone wants to go to beer gardens or to the beach or on a nice day out with ice creams or fish and chips or to do some wholesome exercise with the family.

There's definitely the feeling that you have to do those things because it's sunny and you have to "make the most of it.

Not particularly robust, this year especially has been a struggle mentally as we’ve gone through some tough lifestyle changes due to illness.

But I love winter and I’m glad it’s on its way. The dark mornings and evenings are cosy, the cold feels rejuvenating and crisp, the rain is peaceful, the clothes are cosy. I feel ‘me’ again. So cheesy, but I feel like I’m coming back to life!

From a mental health perspective, I’m more negatively affected by summer. When it’s hot I’m usually crabby, tetchy and demotivated. Can’t concentrate. Shattered all the time because I barely sleep. I can’t stand it unless I’m literally at the beach with a bit of a breeze, which sadly can’t be 24/7!

I don't mind the winter. I don't like extremes of summer or winter but I'd choose winter.
I cannot stand waking up to the bedroom light on though. That switch from pitch black to unnatural light is awful.
But I love being a bit cold, walking with a brollie, tree lights, big coats, boots, being covered up

I love winter and I'm not very mentally robust in fact I'm in recovery after having a breakdown . There's just something about it raining outside and it being more normal to be hidden under a blanket in front of the tv . When I do this and it's sunny outside I feel like a failure .

You see I am the opposite to most people and find Summer a bit depressing. Spring gives me anxiety. I'm not sure why. There's a bit of FOMO in Summer and the feeling that everyone except me is out having fun. I love Autumn, I really quite like getting up when it's dark and I absolutely love the cold. I am also a big fan of January!!!

I'm interested in how some people can actively enjoy something that makes others so miserable?

Well that applies to millions of things surely. Football, rock climbing, calamari, Ed Sheeran, mrs browns boys, karaoke - all things that would make me miserable but I can understand someone else would really enjoy.

For people who think enjoying “cosiness” is vom/cliched or some kind of “pose”, why would we fake that? I genuinely love cosy things and feeling snuggled up against the cold. It’s a nice feeling for me - maybe not for others. It isn’t hard to understand that people genuinely like different things!

As for evening activities, yes I’ll go out some evenings to ferry DC about or do my own hobbies, sometimes I work late and sometimes I’m doing housework etc. Changing into pjs and big socks and snuggling on the sofa all evening isn’t practical for every day, unless you’re a lady of leisure.

And to add that I am generally mentally robust with the occasional (monthly?) big dip.

What I don’t get about this thread (well, unless that’s the point of it of course, it has been known ) is why people are making judgements about the character of other people based on their preferences for different seasons

i don’t go around assuming that everyone who loves summer is a depressive who has a miserable life that - why is the OP making assumptions about people who like winter and not listening to the responses? OP is this your way of getting through depressing grey autumn days and coping with the discomfort of socks - have a little wind up thread?

I don’t notice my mental health being affected by the seasons tbh. I don’t suffer from depression or anxiety. I’m an extrovert, and not an ex or current goth.

I like all the different seasons. I like winter because I cope better with the cold, and I don’t find the UK cold difficult to deal with (compared to other countries I’ve lived in). I like winter sports, clothing, and seasonal decor. I like the nights drawing in early, and coming home to light the wood burner. I think there’s a real natural beauty in the stark winter landscape.

Of course where I live impacts on this. I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much in a cold flat, but then I probably wouldn’t enjoy summer as much in flat with no air conditioning either.

Why do people keep saying "stew" as if it's a good thing?

Maybe if we all liked the same one the seasons would listen ;

Mmmmmmm stew! Because it’s warming and feels wintery and cosy!

The plants would outvote us

Too right

Plus if you are not tanned people assume you have been actively avoiding the sun, which is not necessarily the case. I just don’t tan.

What you say about houses, I feel about winter coats. I was looking round a crowd of people on a grey day in London recently and imagining if their coats weren’t 60% black, with almost all the rest grey/khaki/navy, if there wasn’t apparently a rule that men are only allowed to have black umbrellas - wouldn’t it all be less depressing?
I actually started a thread once about this and got absolutely slated. Apparently you can’t say that a crowd of people all dressed in gloomy colours is depressing as it’s massive privilege to have a coloured winter coat even if it’s old or second hand. Because if you can’t afford more than one coat it has to not show dirt and be suitable if you need to go a funeral in winter.
On a different topic, I do understand that feeling that everyone else is enjoying themselves, that some people get in summer - I get it not in summer but in the run up to Christmas. Much prefer January to December!

Two of my favourite dates in the whole calendar are December 21st whereafter the days get longer ( Winter Solstice) and March 21st where we have the first time of the year where the amount of daylight hours match the dark ( Equinox).
If not for these seasonal markers , Christmas, daffodils peaking through, green moss appearing on tree trunks and branches signifying life, and anticipation of at least eight hours of daylight by late January.....I would have brought forward my move to Jamaica at serious financial cost to me far sooner.
London Autumns and Winters have to be top ten of the ugliest things in nature. Damp, grey, lack of crispness and low winter sun, hardly any snow, frost on low roofs, much less pavements is anomalous by sunrise, but it's still cold....with none of the seasonal beauty or conditions.
I have to really cling to the nuances and a sense of being grateful for life in order not to get depressed.
I do get jealous of those who live in places in the UK where more than one of the seasons acts accordingly. As it is in London, we could guarantee Spring and Autumn....now we haven't even got Autumn acting right past mid October.

I’m in London I can’t relate to this.