To ask for tips in not feeling down as we approach autumn?

[Rougeblush]

Perhaps I should post in Mental Health but I think a lot of people feel like this to a lesser or greater extent!

Every year as we head towards the end of summer I start feeling a sense of dread. While I’m happy to get back into a routine of DC at school and work not being interrupted by holidays etc, I always start feeling low around this time with the days getting shorter already.

It seems to be worsening as I age, and this year not helped by the fact my eldest DC is off to university - while I’m thrilled for this next stage for him, I’ll miss him so much.

Would love to hear advice on what people do to minimise the autumn sadness! I know loads of people love September, but I’m not one of them 😂

Another one who feels it, as PP said a visceral fear, months of oppressive grey nothingness terrifies me, months of no sunless and the feeling gets worse every year, am going to research how and if vit D helps and at what dose, autumn/winter a genuine problem for me and haven’t found anything yet to reverse that, solidarity to fellow sufferers

OP I am finding the same as I get older, I truly begin to dread the close of summer and the long winter ahead. I don’t even love the heat! I just dread the dark and cold, and there is more than a whiff of finality about it, something about mortality, which has only come on since menopause.
Something that has helped is having a comfortable, warm down layer. I got tired of segregating my coats to specific weather (a spring or autumn coat is just clutter if it’s not warm enough in winter) so I added a down gilet underneath and I will never go back.
I understand any ethical opposition; there are loads secondhand on Vinted if that helps.
I put one on in October and it doesn’t come off until May (by which I mean I have a few and they get worn and washed in turn). I’ve occasionally gone to bed wearing one because they’re so light and flexible I forget I have it on. DH is allergic so I have to be careful, they live downstairs.
I also have half a drawer full of silk long johns which I wear under everything.
If I can crack the raincoat issue I’ll be invincible 😀
Years ago I spent a fortune on a SAD light which did FA for me but a friend swears by hers.
I have no time for this coziness fetish, to me cozy just means warm and comfortable despite cold and dark surroundings and I’d prefer warmer surroundings I don’t have to fight!
We decided to scale down to a very small Christmas so the festive season is a smaller bump in the road. I still enjoy the anticipation and the Christmasy feeling but without the pressure or the letdown feeling in January.

It's way too soon to be feeling down about autumn.

I highly dislike winter, feeling cold etc but we have over a month left of very decent weather, hopefully - and if most recent years are anything to go by this will last to the end of September at least.

I don't usually find autumn too bad - the real slog comes in February (and March, spring is never as warm as I want it to be).

If the seasons affect your mental state a lot then you really need to learn to live in the moment and enjoy yourself when the season you like is actually here, rather than starting to anticipate bad weather in two or three months' time.

Sorry for earlier huge block of text, I had more to say about this than I anticipated.

A lower carb diet has kept me from autumn pasta and potato cravings and associated sluggishness.

In the past I enjoyed a boot camp style outdoor exercise class in the winter. It was a morning class so made the most of the light, though there was a lot of muddy laundry.

I foster dogs for a local rescue and I enjoy dog walks in the cold and damp. Cold, dark nights are surely responsible for dogs becoming domesticated 😀

YABU. I’m sorry but we live on an island in the North Sea. The changing of the seasons is not new, and each brings much to look forward to. Plus we still have another month of summer. Give yourself a talking to, go out for a walk every day and thank your lucky stars this is apparently the worst thing you have to worry about.

Your DC leaving home is in a completely different category and many report feeling heartbroken. Keep yourself busy, make a plan to visit them at uni and make sure your life is full of activities and distractions.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a form of depression, and it can be severe (as it is in my case)! It’s really not a case of pulling ourselves together or not having other things to worry about. Sorry, but your post is quite ignorant.

Feel the same way. I HATE winter. I don't think it's cosy, it just makes me feel miserable and tired.

I am trying to prepare. I am kicking off a September reset where I plan to really focus on exercise, nutrition and wellbeing. Getting out for any sunlight there is when I can, sorting my house so it doesn't feel so horrible to be stuck in. Basically try set myself up for as good "well being" as possible to counter the SAD. I think I might also buy a SAD lamp for my desk.

YABU

Imagine how you’d feel were you living in Ireland like me….its been Autumn since the start of August!
(I’m only kidding, though the calendar bit is actually straight up. The old Celtic calendar exerts a strong hold here, and the seasons’ quarterly changes [the old Fire Festivals that’d have been the norm in Britain too] are still marked, and even observed)

I'm definitely from the other side of OP’s reaction to this time of year.
It’s the time when I start to come back alive again, after having been pretty much in the Underworld since early April, such is my loathing of Summer. Panic starts building at the end of March, and the first time actual warmth is detectable, I’m done for. Bright sunshine and heat, even Irish heat, would have me in constant tears if I let them.
I’ve no idea why all this has been my lifelong reaction, though it’s true that hot sun is no friend to my untannable skin, and if I had to choose, I’d be always cold rather than sometimes hot. (I’ve not exposed more than my face and forearms since around 1978!)

Doesn't it make you wonder whether all this, our ‘opposite-balanced’ feelings about Summer and Winter, has some evolutionary root, with Mother Nature having ensured some of us start revving up just as others are losing the will to continue? That way, there’d always be at least some of the settlement with the energy to bring home the giant elk/cabbage/elderberries etc!
[latest scientific study from the University of Barking ]

Early Autumn walks in the countryside/country parks/woods are the best. I try to embrace it all as much as possible.

I am with you and I personally find the romanticisation of UK Autumn annoying.

We see imagery of beautiful AI generated or American pictures of sunlit avenues with crunchy, golden and amber leaves tumbling serenely from majestic trees as happy families wearing nothing more substantial than some knitwear in autumnal shades walk around collecting seasonal produce and drinking pumpkin spice lattes, and sweet woodland animals in adorable woodland houses enjoying handicrafts by a roaring fire.

We get soggy leaves clogging up everything as an unending torrent of rain pours from a grey sky and 4 hours a day of light, whilst you trudge along like Michelin man in multiple layers but are still cold and wet and then try to cheer yourself up with a £7 drink which contains more calories than a full English and makes you feel nauseous.

Or pay £10 for a pumpkin that has been bought from a supermarket and then placed artfully in a field for you to "pick" with your child who is now having a tantrum because they have also placed multiple vans selling various junk food around the field and they do not really want a pumpkin, they want cookies, "artisan" (read: expensive) pizza and ice-cream.

But still, the hygge advertisement pours in telling us we should all be feeling cosy and enjoying evenings by the fire, knitting our own tampons and making jam, and people saying they just love autumn sooo much.

I'm the same but you can't do a thing about it.
The seasons come and go. Time flies. Just looking forward to next Spring and Summer that's all you can do.
I understand why some people go abroad for the winter.
Lucky if your in a position to do that.

@Anna20MFGI also read wintering - last January in fact. I loved it. And as someone who rarely reads so I’m out of the habit, found it very easy. It flowed beautifully. I would def recommend it to others. It’s not a guide book for enjoying winter, more offers a perspective on accepting not loving it. Which helped me like it a bit more!

How condescending can you be?
I can heat my house. It costs money. Being warm in summer doesn’t.

I. Dont. Like. Hiding. Under. Heated. Blankets.
My face is still cold. It’s uncomfortable. It’s not natural warmth.
pissed off with the cozy brigade coming in this thread to say it’s all ok if you just get enough blankets.
It’s not.

I agree.

I refuse to talk or think about the ‘next’ thing too early. It’s why I hate people talking about Christmas in September/October and seeing Halloween stuff around in August.

Why do we always have to be three months ahead? It’s not even autumn yet - just enjoy summer. September is also usually really warm and nice, so we don’t even have to think about throws and boots for another month at least.

Is it social media? We just all need to live in the moment.

I have not solved this but things that help me:
sunrise alarm clock
getting outside - especially when sunny
leaning into the seasons - as a runner I try to notice and enjoy the physical seasonal changes I see (but it’s not easy on cold, drear, wet days - I love crisp winter sunshine!)
trying to enjoy the the winter things as different to summer etc - so strawberries and cream, bbqs are replaced with red wine casseroles and good chocolate; beautiful coats and jumpers; - also part of ‘leaning in’
exercise

This works until Jan but I find Jan and Feb a struggle. TBH I really like September and early October, and then I quite enjoy the run up to Christmas. But by Feb life feels pointless! There is a point in March usually when I start to feel lighter. I think probably a sunshine holiday in the early part of the year would be the answer. Perhaps when my primary age kids have left home…

What about one of those light bulbs that simulates sunlight?
I love the changing of the seasons more than the actual season but I really love seeing all the autumnal colours on the trees. The smell of autumn and winter I also really love.

HAVEN'T RTFT But high strength vit D

Walk every morning in the daylight

Book something to look forward to in October / November and again end Jan

@MetalliCat89 and @BUMCHEESE - light isn’t my issue it’s cold. A SAD lamp won’t help. Vit D won’t help (and I take it anyway).
@PlainJaneSuperbrainthe2nd I can’t ’lean in’. It’s going outside in the freezing cold that causes my problems. Plus the cost of making inside warm enough.

@cardibach is your home pretty draughty or is it the expense of heating generally?
Are you on a direct debit where the cost is spread over the year? Would that be more affordable?
The high cost is awful.
I don’t tolerate the heat or the cold very well so struggle at the peak of both.

I never cared about seasons until about ten years ago. I started to dread the winter. Then I realised that cold winter mornings (in Ireland at least) are often lovely and sunny. It's a small thing, but it makes a difference.

following as this always happens to me!

Another one who feels less guilty about indoor stuff in autumn

Not that I don't like outdoor activities

But I'd never do a jigsaw on a summer's day

It’s old but not draughty and it has new double glazing. I’m getting a bit fed up of people suggesting I don’t like the cold because my house is a bit crap. It isn’t. And I do pay for heating but it’s nicer not to. And heating doesn’t stop going outside from being a total ordeal - so many extra clothes to put on and so I’m uncomfortable as well as cold.
Cold weather is shit. It’s horrible. It’s inconvenient. It makes me depressed.

They’re still cold though. It’s the cold tha5 is my issue. Not the light. Not the lack of sun. Not the rain. Cold.