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!

@LadyCatStark oh no Covid? Hope it's mild. And not too disruptive.

Thank you for your messages. I am thinking of getting help from al anon. Keeps coming up on the alcohol support threads. I think I need help to stop enabling

Yup ffs. It’s very mild at the moment, it just feels like a mild cold. The only reason I thought it was Covid is that my taste and smell have got less and less as the day has gone on. The disruption though… I won’t be able to go to work until almost the Christmas holidays which means I won’t see some of my children ever again 😢. We won’t be able to do any of the nice Christmassy things we had planned for a while and DS won’t be able to go to army cadets as I won’t be able to take him and DH is away on Monday unless he tests positive. If DS does get it he’ll miss 10 days of school though and actually, I don’t like these not isolating rules as I worry DS or DH could be carrying it but not test positive and risk spreading it to other people right before Christmas.

Oh no! Hope you recover quickly covid is shit. It's a shame about work as well that must be really tough. Hope you have enough food and netflix to see you through the next ten days.

It’s just really annoying timing! I feel less ill than when I had a cold a couple of weeks ago but I can’t do anything or even sleep in my own bed as DH doesn’t want to catch it if possible (although I think it’s inevitable TBH). Luckily we’ve had a supermarket delivery today anyway and I’ll do another for next week. I’m working my way through The Big Bang Theory having just finished Young Sheldon, which is brilliant!

Oh how shit.

I've been to 2 Xmas Parties this weekend. Duty parties. Cheap and blah.

I'm not a party person at all. It was nice to see people but loud music just means we shout at each other in close proximity. Buffet lovely for germ spreading. Anyway. Feel ok. Staying sober is really helping my mood.

Bloody cold volunteering at parkrun this morning but bright sunshine made it nicer

@PinkStink, with the timings, I’m pretty sure I picked it up at the Christmas party I went to last week 🙈. That’s a bit of a worry as there were about 20 surgeons from our nearest hospital on 2 of the other tables so hope they don’t all come down with it!

I hope it stays mild @LadyCatStark. It's a rotten time of year to be ill and isolated but fingers crossed you'll be back to normal well before Christmas. My friend self isolated with her daughter and her DH and DS didn't pick it up. Neither did my DD16 when the rest of us had it. The LFTs we did were fairly reliable, though I thought I was negative the day I tested positive on the PCR test. However, looking at it in daylight there was a very faint line after all.

DH is a lot better and took the kids out to his parents for the afternoon. It was lovely to get some time to myself. The house is mostly decorated, still need to get a (real) tree though but I'll probably leave that till Friday now. I've still to get a few Christmas presents too it seems more manageable now.

I'm back to work tomorrow after being off for a month. I'm looking forward to the normality of it all but it's with a bit of trepidation. I'm going to use it to kickstart my wellbeing routines of a lunchtime walk and taking my vitamins.

Did you get your tree decorated @stilldumdedumming?

Thanks @Ulysses. Still feeling OK but I’m soooooo bloody bored! We decorated the tree so that was something but otherwise it’s just sitting around. DH is treating me like a leper too.

Ah have you got much to distract yourself with @LadyCatStark? The sheer boredom of being trapped in the house with covid was the worst for me.

I did get the tree done. I might have upped the expectations. But we didn't get the tree up last year at all so this was an actual achievement for me. Just some baubles and lights! A photo from last night. A bit dark tho.

Went to Aldi today for the food shop. DH normally does it. Really busy and long queues. Yuk.

It's cheap though and we know what we like.

Long dog walk this morning. Now on sofa covered in said dogs snoozing

That's really pretty, fairy lights make everything better in the dark. At least your tree is decorated @LadyCatStark, small victories .

I took DD10 out to get a secret Santa gift. Our town centre has been decimated by shop closures, it's such a shame so wasn't all that Christmassy. DH came out later on with us for a coffee and cake.

That looks great @stilldumdedumming!

@ShaneTheThird it’s difficult to focus on something for long during the day such as reading as I need to keep more than half an eye on the puppy 🙈. I think I’ll try and teach him some new commands to pass the time and keep him occupied but I’m not really sure what to teach next. I was going to ring the trainer for a 1:1 in the next couple of weeks as we learn a lot more that way than we did in the puppy class but I’m sure I can find some YouTube videos 😂.

@Ulysses yes it’s nice having the lights on and I’m watching the Yorkshire Christmas programme that’s on channel 5 which is lovely. I’d have a mince pie if I could taste it 😂.

That looks beautiful!

Yes it doesn't feel very Christmassy at all lately! I put my tree up just for DSSs benefit but we don't have other decorations because dps OCD means he hates them and won't accept them changing the appearance of the house 🙄. I want DSS to watch Christmas cartoons as this is the first year he really understands but he's just been on a mad one all day

Love my isolation buddy so much 🥰

Awww he is perfect! How are you feeling?

Fine thanks @ShaneTheThird I just have that horrible fuzzy feeling that you get when you’ve had too much screen time so I’ve spent the evening wrapping DS’s Christmas presents. I’ve bought gorgeous navy Kraft paper with teal ribbon to match the colour scheme of my tree (yes I’m a mumsnet heathen and I have a colour scheme 😂) but I’ve just realised I can’t put them out until Christmas Eve as or the puppy won’t be looking as angelic as he does in that picture 🙈.

Oh no! Work from home is back 😭😭😭 I can’t go through another winter of it.

That's rough :( I think and hope after this winter there will be no more rules. After Christmas we will be into our 3rd spring of covid. Can't deal with it. How are you feeling now? I need to ring up the ent as they never got back to me despite referral and now I need to ring the Dentist as well as my gum is swollen and really painful so I'm guessing maybe an infection there. Great before Christmas. On the plus side my new coat is amazing it comes to my knees so keeps my upper legs warm it's 100% waterproof and it's windproof so even though it's thin it keeps the awful cold wind out. Love it.

I feel ok thanks. My cough is a bit worse but tonight I tasted my tea and I even smelled some sage when I made stuffing! Only a bit but I’m glad it doesn’t look like it’ll be gone long term 😮‍💨.

Glad you got a lovely new coat, where is it from it sounds perfect?

Sorry about your tooth. DH has the same problem and can’t get an appointment until Monday. It’s making him so grumpy 😡.

Aw hope your cough goes soon they are an utter pain.

Does anyone drink lemon and ginger tea or lemon and honey? Really good for helping fight illnesses.

My coat is from millets Peter storm brand it's fab cost me £60 but was well worth it. Even dp is now agreeing he too needs a new waterproof coat as his isn't waterproof. We went around the shops today but couldn't find any he liked so will keep trying.

Ah it's the worst isn't it. I need to try call the dentist in the morning. I'm sat eating chocolate orange brownies in bed about to look at netflix.

Sounds perfect, waterproof is definitely needed up here!

I’m not sure how much of his toothache is real pain and how much is that he can’t cope with me being ill 🙄 it’s not good that he can’t get an appointment til Monday though, that’s still ages off!

Morning all. Hope everyone is okay. My first week back at work has went well and it's nice to have those routines again. My anxiety over Christmas and other life admin issues are thriving though. I seem to be in a rut of thinking the worst all the time and I've been struggling to get off to sleep at night.

And it's just so dark!

Glad your first week back at work was a success! Anxiety is so shit :( is the work routine helping at all? I know how you feel, Christmas always makes me feel anxious and trapped for some reason ever since I was a child.

Sorry that Christmas is cause of anxiety ☹️.

I’m seriously sick of this Covid now. I can’t do anything and ‘D’H is being an absolute dick head 😡.