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?

Is she a fan of Billy Connolly?

This reminds me of when me and my friend took our little ones sledging for a few hours in woods. It started off well, the kids loving it but it was cold. As time wore on they started to feel it and demanded we go home. Both ended up crying and hating us. We had to win their love back with hot chocolate and dry clothes in front of my friends's fire.

I think there's nothing more beautiful than a fresh covering of snow with a twinkly frosty crunchy surface and big feathery flakes floating down 😍

I love the winter and I spend all year looking forward to the possibility of snow, but am usually disappointed when it doesn't come and so I don't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. When or if it does come, I'm then anxious about it melting too quickly and missing my chance to get out in it.

Like others have said, I'm much happier running or walking in winter than in summer. My kids are winter fans too and are much more likely to want to play outside on the darker evenings (which we do quietly and safely!)

Having said all that, I love seasonality and there is something lovely about all times of the year. I like each season to be what it should be.

As for the mental health aspect, not the best, and not happy in my relationship, and would love to be able to have a romantic winter snuggle in front of an open fire which makes me feel I'm missing out.... And in summer I feel worse as you're somehow expected to be happy and out spending time doing fun stuff, so I guess I have a slight case of reverse SAD!

@43ontherocksporfavor - That's a very good point! I think in my head, I think 'oh the festivities have gone and now it's a long slog until Easter', you're right, I should be thinking 'oh, spring's on the way'!

Our school run isn’t too bad - 1 mile (so I do total 4 miles a day there and back twice and kids do 2 miles total). I give up and get the bus if it’s very rainy but a bit of cold is fine. Coats, hats, gloves etc. I like our school run because we bump into lots of other families we know also doing it so it’s nice and sociable and I don’t find that changes much over the year. On the coldest days we take a short detour via a local duck pond and the kids (DC and all their friends we bump into) enjoy trying to break the ice with sticks and or by standing on it in wellies etc. So the cold is fine, but pounding rain does make it difficult (and as I say, I often give up!).

I’m enjoying the rain this last week or so because I’m re-seeding some patches of grass

Actually, that’s one thing that I generally LOVE about summer ending is the garden recovering. I appreciate summer while it’s happening but by the end of autumn I’m usually just desperate for a lot of rain to bring back all the green. It feels a bit different this year though. Although September was very hot we didn’t get summer when we should have had summer and so I don’t really feel that same longing for autumn / winter, which is a shame.

@Splishsplashsplooshsplosh i didn’t say spring starts in January but the lighter days start after Dec 21st I think. I start to notice it in January on my dog walks.

I love winter, it's my favourite season.
Snow makes me very happy, but so does the dark and long nights and the transition of coming in from the cold to the warm.

I dont think im naturally happy or positive, im not unhappy in any way but id say my mood is very stable and much the same most of the time.

Except in summer, which I really dont like.
Dont like heat, dont like not being able to escape it, dont like not being able to sleep due to feeling like im in an oven, hate feeling sticky and sweaty. Its a miserable season and I cant understand why so many people rave about it.
Give me a thick jumper and boots any day.

I love winter, except i don't love mud, which there is a lot of with horses.

if i could wake up to a frosty dry morning every day i would be in heaven!

I'm a happy, content person. I have two young children and I absolutely LOVE winter. I love the cold, the dark morning and nights. The frosty grass and crisp air. It's my absolute favorite season. Snow makes me happy.
I can not stand the heat. I'm in Wales.

I love winter! The fashion, the fact it’s my birthday, the build up to Christmas, cold noses, walking into a warm house, snuggling under blankets watching tele.
I don’t enjoy the cold dark mornings if you have to get up and out early and I don’t like the coughs and colds that inevitably come or the dry hands/lips but overall I enjoy the season.
take vitamins daily so maybe that helps slightly? I am also a generally positive happy person so always try to see the good of something as opposed to the bad

@Comedycook neither, or perhaps both?
I’ve learnt to make the best of it.
Fairy lights come on throughout the house on a timer, so walking home from work in the dark I’ve learnt to anticipate the sight of my windows.
Having been down in the dumps before due to lack of sunlight, I take vit D3 and I walk the dog in all weathers.
I also go to the gym more in the winter.
I deal with that cold that gets to the bones by going to sauna at my gym.
I read more, I curl up with the dog, a blanket and a mug of tea and I’m quite capable of not moving for hours 😂😂.

I just make the most of it.
Hope you will too.

I love going out in the elements (I live by the sea) being freezing cold and then going home and cosying up. I’d say I’m an averagely content person. I do love summer too and it is easier but I don’t hate winter. I also absolutely love massive storms! There are points in January/ February where I get a bit fed up but I still love the whole braving the cold in order to fully enjoy being cosy! I also hate crowds so I love having the beach empty. I guess I feel there’s good and bad in winter and summer.

Why does having different feelings about different weather cause such anger?

I don't like getting up when it is still dark but the weather doesn't have any affect on my mood. I also don't care whether it is dark or light in the evenings.
I tend to sleep better in the winter because if it is cold at night I can get warmer with extra layers or heating. But in the summer when it is hot at night it can be really difficult to cool down which makes it hard to sleep.

I love this time of year. I love coming home and putting on PJs, staying in the house, in the warm and snuggling under a blanket. My DH hates it and it effects his mood massively. I would say I am a much more positive and resilient person than my husband who has a history of anxiety and depression.
He loves the sun, and would happily live abroad. I like summer but hate being hot and burn in 5 seconds!

Nope. Cptsd here. Tons of triggers October to April. I used to live for spring and summer but lots of therapy and learned to live for all year around. I now adore autumn despite the many trauma anniversaries that are in October.
I embraced it all my way. I decorate for autumn and then winter. I go cosy to the max. I book trips to pantos and Halloween events etc. we also go on holiday in October half term. I decorate for Christmas end of November and have lots of outside lights.

I used to quite enjoy winter before kids as it was a chance to hibernate a bit and power down. Since having two very high energy kids, being cooped up in the house is a nightmare 😬

Not anger, but disbelief when people romanticise about bright, crisp autumn days, sparkly winter days and sweltering summers as being the norm in the UK. We all know this just isn't true of our weather.

The reality is that we get the occasional bright autumn/winter day and the odd few really hot days here and there in summer (except for last year, and the odd microclimate that some mumsnetters seem to live in). Generally autumn and winter are dull and grey. Summers are warmer but never hot wall to wall sunshine for months on end.

I stand on the front step every morning, regardless of the weather, in pyjamas with a cup of coffee and breath in the air for 10 minutes. It really helps. On the wettest, most stormiest days, doing that makes me grateful for the cosy house when I step back inside. Embracing winter is all about creating lots of contrasts between cold / bleak and cosy I feel.

@Snowpaw thats sounds romantic but kinda depends where your front step is.

I used to hate winter until I discovered.... Now I don't mind it any more

Well sometimes it can, inasmuch as I might have an excuse to sit on one's laurels, because I can't much do much else.

We went on holiday and it rained pretty much every day. With about 3hrs of sun. And not only did it totally kill our mood, it totally put us off the country, and any hope of moving there.

A plus about rain is that it usually is warm in the house given cloud cover.

It's gone from rainy monochrome to clear, sunny and bright today. Worlds apart in just one day (south east England). Those that live in the Lake District must just learn to ride the storm.

I mean are you getting wet in your pjs in the wettest stormiest days?

My mental health is definitely not robust. But, a lot of my anxiety and intrusive thoughts are triggered by travel, which we tend to do less of in the winter, and we keep more of a routine which is good for me.

I like feeling cosy at home, walks where you can feel the cold air on your face (maybe it’s similar to why people do wild swimming?) and autumn fashion. All the lovely reds and oranges in autumn nature

I hate feeling too hot at night, I have some hang ups about my body so don’t love more revealing summer clothes as much, I would rather be outside in the cool than outside in the sweltering heat…

I think a lot of it is just preference.