SAD/ feeling low in winter support thread

[LadyCatStark]

Hi all, after reading some unhelpful comments on another thread where someone is struggling, I wondered if anyone would like to join me in a SAD support thread for anyone who is feeling low now that winter is coming, whether you have a SAD diagnosis or not.

Disclaimer: I know anyone can post anything they like on a public forum but please, out of respect for those of us who are really struggling, don’t come on this thread to tell us how much you love winter, hygge, snuggling, hot chocolate or twinkly lights or tell us that we’ll feel better if only we change our mindset.

Please feel free to share your feelings, good or bad, tell us about your day or share tips for things that help (or don’t). Hopefully we can all help each other get through this winter!

I’ll start us off. I’ve had depression for most of my life but in recent years I’ve started to notice how much worse it gets in winter. I have previously tried to manage my condition myself but things have got worse due to the pandemic and working from home and I’ve now been taking Sertraline for a week and a half, which is already beginning to help (with minimal side effects).

Things that help me are:

Taking one of those effervescent multivitamins, lots of vitamin D, iron and magnesium. Previously St John’s wort has really helped but I won’t take that with The Sertraline.

Running, or other exercise but running gets me outside in the fresh air.

Clearly marking the day time and night time by making sure I’m dressed until the evening and not doing the whole “snuggling” thing until after 8pm.

A weighted blanket.

Eating healthily but still enjoying one “treat” a day. I’ve realised that my extreme dieting makes my mental health so much worse, perhaps obviously but it’s not obvious when you’re in the middle of it.

Hopefully this year walking my dog and lots of extra cuddles 🥰.

Thanks for the thread op

Thanks for starting this thread . As a fellow hater/sufferer of all things dark and cold the things that have helped me are:

1. SAD lamp
2. A brief walk in the daylight whenever possible (not always easy when it's lashing down outside, you're working f/t in front of a laptop and have a limited lunch break, have limited places to dry your wet clothes and limited access to places to walk) or a potter in the garden when possible (if you have a garden area)
3. Having the car as winter ready as possible - snow shovel, sleeping bag, water, snacks etc in the boot and the windscreen washer etc topped up. I spent most of a night stranded on winter in the snow - awful experience. Being prepared gives me some peace of mind.
4. Taking ADs if needed
5. Planning for wfh - I know not everyone can do this though, but I am very fortunate to have this option if the weather is bad.
6. Having nice things planned through the winter months - a concert, coffee with friends, a light show and so on. Doesn't make it 100% but at least it breaks up the awfulness.
7. Give in and buy some of the winter tat - candles, crafting kits, nice blanket. Again, only limited relief for me, but anything is better than nothing.
8. Multi vitamins
9. Knowing it's actually OK to hate the dark, the artificial lights, the 'snuggling', the lack of fresh air and exercise, and the cold and damp!

Oh I hear you, op. People wittering know about snuggling cosy under blankies with the famalam make me murderous.

The shortening days have always been hard for me. Usually the worst bit is from the clicks going back at the end of October to the solstice. November is just hell, every day it just gets darker and darker.

A few things which I've found is ouch help me.

High dosage vit D tablets.

A light box - I have a beurer one which looks like a iPad, you just have it in near your face for 40 minutes a day, you don't have to stare directly at it.

Getting out for a walk in the light when it's possible to do so, morning light is the best. Gentle exercise is good for the soul.

On a rare, bright and sunny November or December day even sitting on a park bench for 10 minutes with you face turned to the sun can help,

The knowledge that after the solstice things WILL get better as we turn back towards the light again.

Useful thread, thank you. My mental health always takes a nosedive as the nights draw in

Apologies for typos. That's not winter related.

I've started taking multi vitamins and vitamin d mostly because when I recover from covid I want to ttc but happy to know it may help my depression through the winter.

In the next month or 2 I'm going to try stock up on thermal base layers as the cold gets into my bones and makes every day a struggle.

Thank you for this thread. I honestly feel a bit scared of the season changing which sounds pathetic from someone in their late 40s. I will be WFH for good now all through the winter so not much interactionwith people. I don't go out much during the week anymore anyway but at least in the summer we go out and do fun things with friends but of course that will stop mostly. I feel really worried that I'll lapse into a horrible dark groundhog day sort of existence with nothing to look forward to for months on end and I am terrified restrictions will come back (which doesn't make sense as I hardly go out so makes little difference really). I just feel so much dread. Going out for walks isn't much fun around here either as it's very suburban so just streets and streets of houses. It's nice to hear there are other people feeling the same way though.

I've no official diagnosis, but I have always struggled with the winter months. I hate the approach of October because I know that the clocks go back at the end of it and then the evenings will really close in. It just makes me feel so low and I just want to hibernate until around the end of the following February.

I am particularly anxious about the winter months this year as my Dad died back in March. That leaves my 86 year old mother (herself not the most mobile or well) alone after 63 years of marriage.

It scares me about how we will get through. How will we manage Christmas, the short days and long nights etc? It just makes everything seem so much, well, darker, for want of a better expression.

Hugs to all. Spring will come again next year of course. And for those of us who find the winter months so hard, it can't come soon enough.

I wish clocks didn't have to go back. We could then have double summer time like they apparently did during the war.

I used to support the "Lighter Later Campaign" and might look at that again.

Thank you for starting this thread. I was diagnosed 4 years ago. Things that help me are:-

My SAD lamp
My SAD alarm clock
I’m lucky that I have a large garden and greenhouse that DH has wired lights up in so I spend time out there on the winter evenings with a heater. We also have flood lights in the garden and I spend time pottering out there weather permitting.
I make sure that I get myself out with the dogs 3 x a day in any weather.
I always plan projects, this year it’s making new curtains for our caravan in the evenings, I normally collect branches, twigs and holly to make autumn and Christmas door wreaths for the house as well as a garland for the fireplace.
I plan next year’s holidays, we have a touring caravan, I get the dates booked that DH is off and plan our routes/places to see/walks etc.
Vitamins

I do live in a beautiful place and normally love living rurally but the mountains make me feel hemmed in during the dark months, the darkness is oppressive and we often get a LOT of snow. I prefer the snow, it seems to lighten everything up.

Wow I popped off to do some work (from home) and came back to lots of replies!

I’m sorry lots of people feel the same as me but hope we can support each other and help some people.

I’m so sorry about your dad @Topseyt.

@CottageOnTheHill wow you have quite a set up!

It’s actually a beautiful day here so I’m trying to get outside during my breaks. I went for a run this morning but started to feel really sick in the last 0.5km so had to stop which I think is due to the Sertraline. I enjoyed the walk home though! I’ve only been back working from home for 2 weeks after the summer holidays and it’s already taking its toll. My job is one that cannot be done properly from home and I feel like I’m letting my families down daily. This morning I felt worse than I have done since taking the Sertraline as I don’t cope well with repetition and already every day feels the same. We are due to do back out soon though but I keep hearing of a return to the WFH rule on the news which I just won’t cope with over winter.

Thanks for this OP, I really appreciate finding likeminded people. Just a placemarker for now but will add my self-help stuff later.

I am on thyroid meds for the first time this year (hypothyroidism) so I am interested to see if that has any impact on how I feel this winter.

OP thank you. I found my way here for that other thread and it's lovely to find someone doing something positive about what is a grim time of year for many of us.

I detest November. Those days of perpetual twilight, where grey hangs over what seems like the entire world and it never gets properly light. I can't bear them.

I'm no lover of Christmas either (although I'd do anything rather than have my child know it). But I do quietly mark the sabbats, and Winter Solstice is a favourite as the year begins to wax again. I look forward to that from the end of October when the clocks go back. For me the continual turning of mother nature's wheel does seem to make this dreary season feel more bearable.

Things that lift my mood (without reference to THAT word 'cosy'; bleurgh):

Wasps having gone.
Bird-life having returned. Huge migrations of pink-footed geese seen dawn and dusk, murmurations, the odd barn owl or short-eared owl spotted during the daytime.
A visit to the coast on weekend days, especially when there are crashing waves.
I swim a mile weekly all year round, but this time of year it feels all the more important. Instant lift.
Vitamin D.
My log burner. A brightly burning fire is essential to me to lift my mood in winter.
On evenings which are not too damp there's a great view of the stars from where I live. An evening on the patio with a fire-pit, even when it's dark, is a mood-lifter.
I decorate the house for various seasons. We have some beautiful plush pumpkins I got at a steal from ebay (hint: it's cheaper if you buy them in the spring), and I decorate the windows and some surfaces with them, along with pine cones, oak leaves, conkers etc. I like the idea of the autumn wreath, too. I have an Ostara one with beautifully painted eggs on it.

This thread has inspired me to order one of those orange sunset lamps. I might try a SAD lamp, too!

Thanks OP.

No problem, I’m on a puppy support thread that’s been invaluable in those difficult early days so thought this might help people too. Let’s try to keep it going as the nights draw in.

I’m actually obsessed with Christmas from the end of August onwards 😂. Think it’s a way of giving my mind something positive to focus on.

I'll be honest and say every September I start off with lots of good intentions and ideas about combatting SAD - light box, exercise, walks etc, which work brilliantly... for about 6 weeks in autumn. Then towards the end of Oct I'm hit by a crushing wall of exhaustion and, worse, I no longer see the point of all those things so stop doing them . I also have depression and am considering upping my dose this year for the first time in years because I'm just so sick of going through these winters. Short of moving to a sunnier country in the future I'm not sure what to do!

Oh - I almost forgot (and I hope it's OK to mention a product here - apologies if it's not and I'll ask MN to remove) but YakTrax have been an absolute blessing for me. I don't like walking on ice - a couple of really sore falls on it - so tend to avoid going out if the pavement or ground is icy, and this lack of exercise outdoors in turns affects my mood. These have been brilliant - they grip on like claws and touch wood, no falls since I started wearing them a few years ago whenever the ground is icy or frozen.

@SirChenjins

Oh - I almost forgot (and I hope it's OK to mention a product here - apologies if it's not and I'll ask MN to remove) but YakTrax have been an absolute blessing for me. I don't like walking on ice - a couple of really sore falls on it - so tend to avoid going out if the pavement or ground is icy, and this lack of exercise outdoors in turns affects my mood. These have been brilliant - they grip on like claws and touch wood, no falls since I started wearing them a few years ago whenever the ground is icy or frozen.

I’d happily second these, they’re also excellent for walking in areas slippery with mud.

I think my SAD has started but it makes no sense as I've been sitting on the beach this afternoon in shorts and a vest top.

Maybe I'm just dreading it rather it actually creeping up already? I hate how early it's becoming dark.

Usually I plan several short stays abroad throughout the winter months as it gives me something to look forward to but right now i just don't have the energy to sort it all out with the testing and documents required.

Thanks OP. i am getting hints of SAD creeping in already.

What helps me:

• Vit D
• Good womens multivit and mineral (Solgar Womens)
• Getting outside in the daylight as much as possible
• Trying to enjoy the cosy side of winter evenings - nice blankets, candles, hot chocolate

Oh and 150mg Sertraline/day which I take for PTSD/Anxiety/depression.

I’ve always struggled with depression m, the MDD comes and goes but the SAD is constant.

I have a SAD lamp and a sunrise alarm clock.

I also try and get outside for a walk as much as I can. Do find myself a complete energyless lump in winter though, hate it. It’s the getting up in the dark, getting home in the dark days that really kill me.

@SirChenjins

Oh - I almost forgot (and I hope it's OK to mention a product here - apologies if it's not and I'll ask MN to remove) but YakTrax have been an absolute blessing for me. I don't like walking on ice - a couple of really sore falls on it - so tend to avoid going out if the pavement or ground is icy, and this lack of exercise outdoors in turns affects my mood. These have been brilliant - they grip on like claws and touch wood, no falls since I started wearing them a few years ago whenever the ground is icy or frozen.

Ooo thanks for this. I hate walking on ice too and regularly get overtaken by frail OAPs I’m going so slowly. Was hopping around a glacier like a goat with crampons on though hopefully this would be a similar confidence boost!

I'm also feeling depressed about the darker evenings and worried that the awful depression and anxiety I suffered with last winter will come back. I think it was partly down to lockdown/homeschooling/work/health problems but I really fear going back to that dark place.

Recently been diagnosed with vestibular migraines, which are really scary, and won't be able to use my SAD lamp as bright light is one of the triggers. Not sure what else I can do this year. The only thing I've thought of is slowly Marie Kondoing various parts of the house. I always feel more positive when I've tidied something.

Oh my goodness - I’ve just seen the reviews on Blacks (the link I posted). Not sure why they’re getting poor reviews, they’re honestly fantastic. Better reviews on Amazon and other sites.

I forgot to mention these day light light bulbs. I find they really help on dull days when you need a lamp on.

It’s been warm and sunny here today but there was definitely a chill in the air this morning. It’s starting to get dark around 7.15 at night now but I’m going to make the most of the daylight while I can!