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!

[quote LadyCatStark]@EmmaH2022 🤗 hug for you.[/quote]
Thank you!

How's everyone today?

It's grey and pouring in London. I have a small list of domestics and plan to do a workout today.

Oh I love a group hug! As a species we co- regulate only by being around living things. We tend to our nervous system this way. And so this more separate existence for some is really debilitating (a living thing can be a pet of course and also nature if you connect that way).

I would love to help @EmmaH2022 but I am out of touch and a bit of advice is a dangerous thing. Can you get help from a decent CAB (the big ones are good, the smaller ones are a bit hot and miss) or a National helpline. It makes all the difference.

I feeling good today after a body project workout. And meeting a work friend for tea. Still to take my vita tho!

Sorry for typos I'm late
To meet dsd for brunch

still what a lovely post re living things

I hope the debt will be sorted next week.

I am erring on the side of anxiety today, I mean that physical restless anxiety that doesn't vanish with exercise.

Roll on spring!

Im feeling very crappy today. DS having Covid has put paid to our weekend plans and it is grey, cold, rainy and horrible. I need to take the dog for his second walk before it gets too dark but it means getting all wrapped up again, getting cold and cleaning everything when we get back. I really CBA! DH seems to think he’s in a cafe and I’m his waitress 😡. I hate, hate, hate the endless cycle of buying, preparing and cleaning up after bloody food. And the endless washing and just going round and round in circles doing the same crappy, mundane jobs every single day. DS has spent most of the day on screens as there’s “nothing else for him to do”. All I want to do is curl up into a little hall under my weighted blanket and pretend that I’m not going to spend the rest of my life cleaning the bloody kitchen!

Ah Lady I really feel for you.
Hope the dog walk wasn't too awful, there was a lull in the rain here earlier.
The crappy, mundane jobs are so much worse in winter.

Oh no @LadyCatStark that's so rubbish :( it's not fair at all is it? I feel the same. I do 6 days at work, get treated like shit come home get asked to go to the shop on the way home and then have to cook and clean and do the washing and look after DSS as he only allows me to do his bedtime routine. By the time I'm done it's nearly midnight and I'm knackered.

I’m he drives me mad! Every time I say no to doing something I’m accused of “making a big deal about nothing” 🤬.

Anyway, today is a good day as I saw the first lambs in the fields. They must be brand new as they are tiiiiiny and none of the other fields of sheep seem to have had theirs yet. But it’s the very first sign of spring approaching!

Yay, to the lambs @LadyCatStark. I planted bulbs in autumn and the greenery is beginning to emerge. It's the most thrilling things I've seen for ages!

Can I join please? I have bipolar but the winters are particularly aggressive with depression and anxiety and January is always the hardest month.

This thread is heartbreaking. But at the same time it's nice to know it's a 'normal' thing to experience in winter.

I have felt it for weeks creeping up on me but I have been trying my hardest to get on and ignore it. I unexpectedly cried on the phone to my DP today over it, my anxiety has been choking me and it's been hard to ignore lately i said to him I feel like I've got a mental block like a wall in front of my face and I have so much to do but I can't break though it, and today I have been watching all the people on the street outside getting on with their day and walking their dogs/unloading their vans and getting on with life where as I feel frozen on the spot. I don't feel normal at the moment.

Extra pressure this week, the house inspector is coming tomorrow and I'm anxious over a stranger being in my personal space. I have a recruiter call pending and I can't cope with phone calls at the moment, never mind for a job! My DD is at dancing tonight so not only do I have to juggle work and the school run but I have to face all the dance mums for an hour and socialise when all i want to us roll up on a blanket and hibernate in bed

I have suffered of sad as far as I can remember. I took extra antidepressant during winter. But this year I didn't get depressed at all. The only difference is that we now have three guineapig ladies. I love them very much and they are calming.

Not sure if that's the reason but I am happy.

My energy has been really low for about a month. I feel pretty demotivated and not like doing things. I save my energy for what I have to do like looking after the kids and going to work. I still feel so hemmed in by the darkness and bad weather. Now DS has Covid again and we're in for another round of tests and isolation 😫

I totally know what you all mean about knowing what you need to do but not being able to summon up the energy to do it!

I’ve had enough of DS’s isolation already. Home schooling has been a nightmare today and I just want to go out to work (we’re not allowed to when we have covid in the house). DH is also WFH doing his Very Important Managers Job and expecting me to be his waitress again 😡.

Oh and my usually lazy dog decided to get up at 6:30 yesterday and 5:30 today 😡😡.

My elderly mother is ill so I'm staying a couple of days.
I think the weather might have exacerbated her heart trouble, if that doesn't sound too mad!

Guineapigs that makes sense to me. i think the two years I didn't feel the SAD was because some surprisingly good things happened but sadly that can't be planned!

How is everyone?
Today I was knackered by 5pm and had a nap
Makes a change from being knackered by 4pm!

I feel very low, tired and anxious in the winter. I am on antidepressants now after a bad time last year which helps a bit but I still hate it.

When do others find they start to feel a bit better? For me it's probably around April.

@iwantsummertomorrow

I feel very low, tired and anxious in the winter. I am on antidepressants now after a bad time last year which helps a bit but I still hate it.

When do others find they start to feel a bit better? For me it's probably around April.

Over the years, I have found that Nov, Dec and Jan were the worst for me. But it depends on a lot of things, and if light levels are bad, it continues till March.

I am finding that general life circumstances have a connection, but it's rare for something exciting to happen to distract me from winter.

Hope your mom is doing ok @EmmaH2022.

For me I start to feel better around April :)

Hope your mum is Ok @EmmaH2022.
@iwantsummertomorrow, I also start to feel better around April and worst around February.

It’s been a tough week with our puppy, DS homeschooling due to covid, DH and I both WFH and it being “that time of the month”.

Thank you Shane and Lady

She is feeling better thanks.

It's very sunny here but it's giving me a "tired but wired" effect!

How is everyone? I had to call in sick today with a headache. I'm just exhausted from doing everything, working 6 days a week doing the housework, decluttering the house and looking after DSS 24/7 as dp is too I'll. Now dp has been prescribed something like beta blockers or something so that's a worry. But I have remembered to take my meds and I bought some fruit to try get into the healthy eating habit. Although all I am craving this week is cheese toasties.

Shane oh dear, I hope you feel better soon.

I'm now massively occupied with flat hunting which will hopefully take the edge off winter. The market seems to be waking up.

It is sunny here still but walking in the freezing cold doesn't hugely appeal to me. I've been out to make the most of the sun though.

Hope you feel better soon @ShaneTheThird. I’m not doing too badly. I’ve been able to go out to work today as DS has been released from his isolation. I took the dog to work with me and we’ve done lots of walking today during my break and lunch; over 13000 steps 😊. I must remember to take my supplements though, I’m so bad at that!

I love cheese toasties! Hope you managed to get some rest @shanethethird. It can be impossible at home though when you're having to deal with everyone else.

Yesterday I managed to get my hair cut and coloured for the first time since July so I'm feeling a bit better for that. My appearance goes to pieces at the best of times in the winter months and I feel like I am constantly wearing the same clothes to keep warm. DD has started football so I'm to spend Saturday morning watching her play games in the cold. I hate football as well but she loves it.

I need to invest in gloves that keep my hands properly warm. Haven't found ones that keep the tips of my fingers from getting cold. Any recommendations?