Struggling so much with the endless grey dark weather

[Tipsandtricks22]

Its making me miserable. Its not uncommon for me to feel like this in the winter and at the beginning I really tried to be more positive about it and prevent it getting to me but today, the house is literally dark because its just completely grey and horrible and overcast outside. In a way I'd prefer if it was pelting down with rain, at least I like the sound of rain. I get that I live in England but as I'm unable to move to the Canary islands, how to I stop it making me feel so depressed?

@TheCorrsDidDreamsBetterlooks like a great recipe. Thanks for posting.

I'm not sure anyone has said these are cures, any more than a SAD lamp is a cure, but the OP literally asked for ideas about what might help. I used to struggle more with winter weather until I actively spent more time in it, and now it feels less of a barrier that I just had to sit and wait out for 6 months than it used to, and I have started to appreciate some things about Winter - not sweating my arse off being covered in insect bites on constant alert for sun burn and reading about uncontrollable fires on the news, for example, along with interesting skies and fewer people. That's not to say I don't love spring as much as the next person.

Not just picking on you but you are highlighting one day. The OP said endless. That is just not so.

Getting outside for at least 20 minutes a day can definitely help, but sometimes it takes all your effort to do it. Even the low winter light can have a physiological effect and can help with energy levels which might be useful to you, op.

I think SAD is a poor name for the list of symptoms people can experience. For me, I didn’t get depressed or have a low mood - my symptoms were all physical. Heavy legs, exhaustion and the feeling that I wanted to hibernate. Every year in September I promised myself that I wouldn’t let it happen ‘this year’, but despite going out walking in the countryside every day, the lethargy came every year and seemed to get worse with every passing year. The relative inactivity is draining!

i really feel for you, op. It’s a crap way to feel and I don’t know what else to add to the suggestions of a SAD lamp, getting out every day and making sure your diet is optimal.

I can put my experience in the past because we emigrated (not because of this, but it’s definitely a nice side effect), which I know isn’t an option for most people, but maybe start looking at getting away in Jan/Feb somewhere sunny, if possible. It doesn’t have to be warm, just light!

@LauraNordaI didn’t choose one day, it has been grey, misty and damp here for weeks. Granted I’m in Scotland but nowhere near the Shetland isles.
I was more shocked that you questioned the op for exaggerating rather than thinking it’s not like that where I am but appreciate it must be like that where the op is.
Do you honestly think that the weather you have today is the exact weather everyone in the country has?
And you mentioned the temp, the op’s post was nothing to do with the temp

Depending on where you live, it may have been endless shades of grey. We have had a lot and rain as well. Throw in going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark and no access to outside light when you are at work, you are left with the weekend to get some light, if its not dark grey.

Regardless of what grey people are experiencing this year, light and sunshine reduces massively in November and always have done. There is a massive dip from the light in spring and summer and it’s the lack of light in comparison to the rest of the year which impacts on people who experience SAD.

Please understand I'm not being flippant when I say that you do treat a broken leg with aspirin and sitting down with a good book. You don't exclusively treat it with those things but they are part of the recovery. It's a similar situation here. Once you have a SAD lamp and vitamin D, that's about the limit of SAD-specific remedies, though there are other things that can be done to help non-SAD depression, which could help here too. I should have said to the OP If you think you have untreated SAD, it might we worth going to the GP and getting antidepressants year round or seasonally

That said, once those planks are in place, yes you do have have to find coping strategies, and they are the banal things that people suggest every day. Some won't work for you, some will. Some would/could/would if life were different (my seasonal depression both winter and summer variants would be completely cured I'm sure if I had time and opportunity to go wild swimming instead of working all day in the most inland place imaginable but there you go)

Personally I most dread winter because a close relative of mine does nothing at all to help her SAD, moans incessantly about the dark, refuses to engage with any kind of strategy because "you don't understand what it's like," and instead has a relapse of her very severe alcoholism and phones for an ambulance while pissed and I'm expected to do something about this from 200 miles away. When she is in a receptive mood and goes out for a walk in daylight, takes vitamins etc. etc. it's better. It's not a cure but it's better.

Agree. And if some of the posts above (about both cosy blankets and walks in nature btw) are not sneery I don't know what is.

@deplorabelle I hope you find somewhere to swim. I'm in London so hardly a coastal idyll but there's a brilliant reservoir where you can swim that's ten mins cycle from my house so I can go before work if I am disciplined. It has made such a difference to my life, but is not cheap unfortunately, for what is effectively a lifeguarded pond.

It's also not possible for everyone but I have worked part time or compressed hours for most of my life and having a bit of spare time during daylight hours really helps me as well.

I wouldn't rule out massive lifestyle changes like emigrating or changing jobs if winter in the North of the UK is affecting people's quality of life to this extent.

'It's like someone having a broken leg and people suggesting an aspirin or sitting down with a good book. Not going to help'

As the pp said that is exactly what you do! Painkillers, rest and read/watch telly.

'Sad' is a bit like anxiety, a bit like obesity and many other wellbeing issues that once you give it a label, a 'medical' definition it encourages a helpless narrative. It enables people to be inactive and wallow as they can't help it.

I don't know anyone who thrives in winter but it is definitely a case of pacing yourself, getting out even if you cba and rewarding yourself with biscuits in your slanket.

Look at how Scandinavian countries deal with it. They have more dark and most of the things suggested are suggested there too. They’ve made a whole culture of it because it does help.

For those who don’t know, people who suffer from SAD experience physical symptoms, it isn’t just a question of lifting your mood with exercise or diversion. Extremes in air pressure affect me quite noticeably, I get nauseous when the pressure is low and migraines when it’s high. Low levels of light make me very lethargic and I find it very difficult to get and keep warm. I pretty much hibernate for the winter if I’m in the UK.

Personally I suspect the benefits of SAD lamps are psychosomatic but if they help some people that’s great. I need natural sunlight and lots of it.

They’ve made a whole culture of it because it does help.
They've not. It's like saying Brits have made a whole culture out of cosy.
It's marketing.

vitamin D and a daily walk even if it is dark and raining!

Struggling with this too, and I have tried vit D. Made no difference to me. I just struggle with the gloomy, grey, dull weather and the lack of daylight. I also don't like cold weather. I guess I am not making you feel much better but hopefully the spring will be upon us before we notice again! 🌺

I was referring to things like Hygge and Friluftsliv which is basically cosiness indoors and getting outdoors in nature.

Oh God, dont mention 'cosiness' thst is sneering apparently. Fairly lights and candles also not allowed.
We must all weep and wail until Spring and never leave the house lest we get cold and wet and it's not nice or fun.

@Gloriia , I have agoraphobia and your post isn't amusing me.

Apologies. I have empathy for anyone with a serious mh issue.

The thread is about seasonal disorder though and in that context getting out and about has been proven to help.

Every season has its pro’s and cons.

We’ve been conditioned to think you can only do certain things in the Summer and certain things in the Winter. Other than lying on the beach in my bikini, we pretty much do the same as a family in the Winter as the Summer. Walks, pub lunches, picnics (if its not raining and your coat is warm, you can picnic all year), visit attractions near us, bbqs in the Summer changes to roasts in the winter. No one needs to hibernate in Winter (unless you enjoy it ofcourse and thats totally ok too!).

I think alot also depends on how we are raised. I grew up seeing my parents out and about in all weathers (weekends were walks, gardening, playing on our bikes). I try to make sure our kids dont think they are allergic to rain, its so important to move and get out for mental health (and totally understand thats not an easy thing for everyone to do).

OP - what do you like to do in the Summer for fun? Can you still do those things in the Winter?

Self care for Winter by Suzy Reading is a book worth reading.

@Gloriia , I forced myself out today, and did it without the usual panic.
The short days are tough because I wake up 5-5.30 a.m all year round, and it's dark for hours, then it's dark in the house all day, then dark from the afternoon onwards.

Going outside for a walk or run helps enormously, but I've not been doing it.
The not going out is probably from the COVID era.

Basically I need to give myself a kick up the backside.

I try to think about other countries that have even less sunshine to make myself feel better😂 also I try to plan some fun things to do during the winter months to get through them

Don’t stop taking vitamin D just because it hasn’t given you a mood boost. It is important for keeping skin, bones and teeth healthy and can help guard against things like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

I just had a lovely long weekend in Portugal. Super cheap!

I will be going again next month. There is no way that i am staying in the cold for six months

It’s lack of light which is the issue with SAD rather than the cold. Although hopefully you did have sunshine.