2024/25 SAD thread

[Idratherbepaddleboarding]

Link to last year’s thread

Hi again, I thought I’d start a new thread for this season of SAD 😭. It’s definitely starting to feel autumnal here 🥶.

If you’re new this year, please join us for tips to get through winter, chat and general moaning!

Thank you 🙏🏻

I have never been so floored by the change is clocks as I am now. Absolutely crushed. Does anyone else feel the same? Is it because we have had two years of crap springs and summers so have not built up the reserves to cope?

I am really struggling and and fed up of having a kind of weepy, hopeless feeling hovering in the background.

I do try (SAD lamp, vits, decent food, plan nice things, try to get our for fresh air and exercise but) but it's not working...

And if I hear the word 'snuggle' one more time........................... 👊

I don't this year but understand that the poor springs and summers will not help.

The argument should not be about whether we have clock changes at all, they should be consigned to history. It should be about whether we have BST year round or GMT year round. Whichever we chose, it would mean autumn and indeed spring being more gradual.

I'm a lurker on here but I just wanted to mention that I have the Lumie lamp. I bought another brand recently because I wanted to have a couple in my room to brighten it up. It was meant to be 10,000 lumens but it was nowhere near as bright as the Lumie so I returned it. It was just a bright rectangle that didn't throw out any light at all. It was the Beurer so not a really cheap brand but I should have known because I have their alarm clock and it's just a normal lamp.

I’m sure it doesn’t usually get dark at 5pm the day the clocks go back! I mean it must I guess… but it feels more sudden for some reason!

Maybe because we’ve been on holiday in October half term for the past few years and I’ve built up some reserves, plus we’ve usually been flying back on clock changing day so maybe it’s not so noticeable?

Urgh it’s so grey 😭. Can anyone remember what sunshine looked like??

@Idratherbepaddleboarding I just said that to a friend. This is the greyest winter ever. Just soul-sapping!

@lyingonthebeach it’s horrible. And I bloody hate this week. My dog is terrified of fireworks and they’ve been going off left, right and centre since Friday 😡. Presumably they be going off until after the weekend and it’s horrible to see him like this 😭.

Not guna lie - a bit jealous of a colleague whos going on hol to a sunny place next month

Another hideously grey, damp day. I feel as if it's seeping into my bones as well as my mind😣

Very grey here too

I believe sunshine is due next week^

I’m suffering now. My antidepressants are keeping my mood to acceptable levels, but my body can barely function! Mornings are horrendous. I can hardly think straight with tiredness. I ache. I prefer being asleep to being awake. It’s almost impossible to motivate myself to do anything.

I do not feel like this in the summer. Think I should emigrate.

Same...I kind of struggle to live my life in winter....I feel like I'm just waiting for summer so I can live again. It's so grey at the moment and the weather forecast just predicts days and days more of it. It's really hard to deal with.

To make it worse I got home the other day and dh had closed the kitchen blinds before it was dark... I mean FFS we get little enough daylight as it is without him closing the blinds before it's fully dark. I told him I need to get as much daylight as possible.... premature closing of blinds and curtains will not be tolerated!

I had the most miserable 4pm walk with the dog, everything was so grey and it wasn’t even raining properly it was just… wet air. I felt like I was walking in slow motion 😭.

Hello, plodding along here. I'm in-between jobs atm aka left/lost my job, so that's keeping me busy.

Some thoughts and reflections

1 Having a project is helpful to keep the mind occupied. I've been decluttering and doing courses.

2 Vitamin D, I don't get on with tablets alone but I take the Better You Vit D and K2 spray. Apparently the K2 helps absorption.

3 I have just come off my anti depressants as they affect my motivation, I doom scroll and play mindless games much more when I am on them. A reflection here is that maybe they are better for me in summer when I am not actually depressed...the reason being that they put a brake on Intrusive thoughts, so I've now come into autumn/winter without negative thought patterns that I'm trying to break. Instead I'm feeling relief that my motivation is back and looking for things to apply it to.

4 What I surround myself with socially has an enormous effect on my wellbeing. I've started attending lots of online Zoom groups and am really enjoying them - training courses, workshops etc. - in the evenings. No stress of travel but learning something. I also just went along to my local Toast Masters, was absolutely brilliant.

5 Trying new things feels great, as above.

Lots of people rave about cold showers. A hot shower has the same mental health benefit for me 😂

Today is rough

I also didn't complete a couple of tasks yesterday. I guess my brain thought I finished them.

It's been nothing but grey for days. I suppose I was lucky that my brain didn't fall out before. Or am I going to find other tasks half done 😱

@EmeraldRoulette I really get it ( I hope that helps - I don't wish this on anyone but I'm also glad not to be alone). My brain is starting to feel mushy, I am struggling with non-routine work and I can't focus on basic tasks (or any book/TV show which requires concentration - chick lit / baking shows rule at the mo). Even friends who do not have SAD have been dragged down by the non-stop grey.

The forecast says some sun next week so I live in hope. If there are any blue skies, I will be outside as much as possible. I am living for my sunshine break in a few weeks - won't be massively hot but will be warm with sun and blue skies. Bliss!

Virtual hugs in solidarity.

Hi ,hello ,I'm new here , didn't see this thread before,
From the minute it starts to get dark my body feels like it's shutting down ,wants to sleep,I can't be sleeping at 5 o clock in the evening.
Logically I know it's not bedtime
But every year I'm the same desperately trying to stay wake from when it gets dark.
And mornings ,I physically can't wake myself up if it's dark ..
I have an sad light and a Lumia clock ..I'm so very tired 😩
Is it just me ..does anyone else struggle with this 😞

The grey this week has been horrendous. There was actually an article about it in the daily mail....there's a word for it.... anticyclonic I think? Something about pressure trapping the clouds. Checked the forecast and weekend looks like it's going to be grey. Haven't seen blue skies or even a glimpse of blue for days. Really really struggling with that.

It happens every year and I posted about it last year...It's that really annoying thing where you've got about two hours of brain power because the grey is so debilitating. I don't feel sleepy, but I can't really get my brain to do a lot.

then I get irritable as I'm so ineffective. Argh.

Yes, and it feels like a waste of a life. I just struggle my way through the winter, and keep thinking there must be more to life than this. I can hardly concentrate. My IQ has probably halved over the last couple of weeks! I fall asleep really easily if I sit down - I fell asleep on the sofa after dinner last night.

I’m so glad there is more awareness around this now. I have suffered with this for decades and it’s only fairly recently that I feel like I’m being taken seriously, believed, and not just being a lazybones.

@LeaveALittleNote I can so relate to the IQ halving.

I occasionally get periods of pointless hyperactivity after dark and I'm having one now. I confused myself today by working out early to get my brain going. I'm in "tired but wired" mode now.

so I'll try to take advantage by doing a big clean. Friday night 😂

I always say I might not open the curtains on days like today. I wonder if the daylight lamp is doing better against pale curtains than against that terrible penetrating dark grey.

Oh ok, tired but wired sounds unpleasant, but sounds as though there are some advantages!

I wish sunbeds weren’t dangerous because I would honestly get into one right now if I could.

"because the grey is so debilitating. '"sums it up and I just wish other people in my life could 'get' this.

Oh yes I'd love a sunbed too but skin cancer runs in my family