I think that I may suffer from summer pattern seasonal affective disorder - anyone else?

[BellaBobandBernietoo]

I didn't even know this was a recognised thing until yesterday but I genuinely think that I may suffer from this.

I do also struggle with deep winter SAD and dread January and February but I feel equally awful during the high summer months and wonder if anyone else feels like this?

I would like nothing more than to enjoy the hot and bright weather as so many others do but the truth is my body and mind struggle so much as soon as high summer comes along.

As soon as June through to August comes I feel dreadful. It's hard to fully articulate but the heat and the stickiness oppressiveness just wrecks me and it's not just the heat, the bright days do something to my brain, I have to wear sunglasses all the way through the summer months, even when it's not sunny, if not I can feel quite anxious and panicky. I also feel very nauseous in the summer and have little appetite, my mood is low and I have zero interest in anything and of course the broken nights sleep affect me too. When evening and night time arrive I feel so much better, more relaxed and at ease. I do have ADHD so not sure if there is a connection there?

Even when the kids were little I dreaded August and found it quite depressing for some reason that I could not fully explain.

I am happy and much lighter in March-May and then again September-November, in fact I adore September and October and feel a completely different person, I just wish those months could last so much longer. I also adore the rain, no idea why but rain calms and grounds me and makes me feel very content and happy for some reason.

I appreciate not many people enjoy these humid heatwaves that we have here in the UK the last few years but this is more than not enjoying the heat. I do love a gentle warm/cooler day with sun and fluffy white clouds with perhaps a nice cooling breeze but anything more than that does me in for some reason.

Can anyone else relate to this?

Invest in a cinema membership. It’s done me wonders. Love films, and it’s somewhere to escape to in the summer heat when it’s hot and it’s dark and air conditioned!

im struggling with not being able to sleep properly - I’m much better in the winter when it’s dark at night and cooler and I can wrap up warm.
I’m not enjoying this heat at all - working in the hospitals is absolutely unbearable in old offices with no air con! Dreading this week

solidarity to everyone

I was thinking earlier where could I go and sit where there's air con (can only pop to the supermarket a certain amount of times in one weekend!) and I did consider going to the cinema and it should be quiet in this weather which is an added bonus.

Well, it depends what film you go to see… we went to see Toy Story 5 on Friday night and it was jam packed haha, but I think that was opening night.

do it :-)

Can relate and as I’m also neurodivergent and I’ve often put it down to being disproportionately focused on things that other people just aren’t (generally). I often joke that my favourite seasons are the sensible ones (autumn and spring).

i think it’s OK not to love it and you don’t have to pretend that you do. But it’s not going away so it’s important to find things about it that you’re at least OK with, even if you have to engineer it. For example if you’re able, could you increase exercise in spring so by summer you’re regularly doing it (if not already). Do you swim? You mention your garden. If I were you I might read a book in a paddling pool!

Point is, you’ll have many summers and it’s a bit rubbish to dread such a large part of your life, so whilst loving it is probably unrealistic, trying to mitigate or escape it is equally unrealistic. Keep looking for summer-specific things that you don’t hate to take the edge off.

not saying it’ll be a breeze but nothing worthwhile ever is x

Personally I love the summer, but I have heard of this reverse SAD thing quite a lot, where people describe a sense of overstimulation or panic in the summer.
I have ‘normal’ SAD, starting in the autumn and lifting in the late winter. I suspect I am neurodivergent and I am also extremely sensitive to certain things, including atmospheres, and I hate the atmosphere in autumn and at Christmas. I tend to have a lot more panic attacks when the days are at their shortest and it never gets properly light.

How are you all coping?

my brain has gone awol, can’t work, and going upstairs to the hellfire of 36+ degrees at night is horrendous. Downstairs isn’t much better but a bit cooler.

Also, weirdly, some of my joints are swollen - knees, ankles, and today, my wrist, particularly. Can barely use my left hand. Lovely.

counting the days until cooler weather comes back.

I'm counting those days down too, looks as though we have to plough through to next week and it should be down to average temperatures 🙏

I really hope so. Upstairs is a furnace in our house too as it's a chalet bungalow, although downstairs isn't much better. And we have so many flies in the house this year for some reason which are driving me to distraction.

My joints are really stiff and uncomfortable too and my IBS has gone into overdrive, physically I feel like shite . I'm also stressing about DH as he works on the roads, they all have to wear thick PPE and his company are still expecting them to lay tarmac in this heat.

I'm so looking forward to next week but dreading the next heatwave, I'm sure this won't be the last one this summer.

Autumn can not come quick enough imo.

Oh goodness, yes - this is me to a tee! I dread summer, and I'm not even all that keen on spring because it means summer is coming. My migraines are ten times worse in summer and I find bright sunlight totally overwhelming (pretty sure I'm ND but not diagnosed). I want to live forever in a little bubble of early October, with the leaves and the cosy evenings and just a hint of a nip in the air.

Counting down the days here too and I'm not going outside for significant periods if I can avoid it. I was saying to my OH that as we get older we'll have to consider something like an air con and some sort of exercise machine to keep moving in the summer. I'm so reclusive in this sort of heat that I'm worried my muscles might start to atrophy if our summers get worse.

I’m the same OP, June and July are the worst months for me. I can cope with August slightly better because the evenings are cooler. This heat just makes me panic about global warming. We have visited the arctic circle in December a few times now and I loved how little daylight there was. I know a lot of people would hate that but I found it comforting. Cold weather, lots of darkness and full of trees. It was definitely my happy place! Stick me in a city in a heatwave and I’m panicking. It feels oppressive!

Me too, OP. I've been like this as long as I can remember. I'm NT, as far as I know. It's a known variant of SAD (I want to say it's called Summer Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I'm not certain!). For some reason, people will argue with you about it, and, even more ridiculously, accuse you of somehow having control over the seasons, so that your not liking the heat and the long days means that the weather turns cold and rainy, or you're somehow 'spoiling' it 🙄

We don't pitch up on the cold/winter haters' threads and tell them to suck it up, or that "it's just winter, get over it".

There, got that out of my system. Back to my fan and iced water 😂

Yes, I think I have this, although it hasn't been so bad this year (probably because we've had very few nice days where I am). It's not helped by all the people who get on at you about how you should be doing things and making the most of the weather.

I think there's a lot of factors involved.

For me I now try and keep things as constant as I can through the seasons. For example taking Fexofenadine from February. Taking Vitamin D all year or nearly all year round. Shut the blinds at 8/9pm. Regular mealtimes. Air con to keep temperature bearable.

Tbf if you struggle in winter months this wouldn't be any good as weather is much harsher the more North you go.

Just try to find strategies op. No one like extreme weather, we all like Oct and March when it's sunny but cool.

Thing is we have to manage the rest of the year so imo don't medicalise it too much or else it will seem unfixable.

Shop early morning or evening when quiet and cooler. Avoid tourist hot spots like busy beaches etc and just plan your day around quiet time and keeping yourself to yourself. Lots of people do it, you are not alone.

Yes, that's my favourite time too, cosy season.

I know, I'm the same. I usually walk miles with the dog but he's not had a walk for a couple of days now, just moving from one room to another in this heat does me in.

I took worry what our summers will be like on the future, I won't cope if we have longer heatwaves.

I must be a vampire because I love the dark, when everything is too bright it's leaves me on edge for some reason.

It is called summer SAD, I've been googling and a surprising amount of people get it but like you say, it's not something we can talk about because for some reason we are all expected to love summer and hate the cooler months and if you admit to anything other than that you are looked upon as being rather strange, we can't help how we feel. I've loved autumn and the earlier winter months (not too keen on Jan and Feb) since I was a child. They genuinely give me comfort.

I do wonder if ND people struggle with summer more than neuro typical?

Aw poor dog! Tbh it's not bad early on I was out at 6am yesterday it was lovely. Very hot day later on but definitely nice to walk at that time.

'I do wonder if ND people struggle with summer more than neuro typical?'

Different people like different things. I'm NT but not a keen on hot days, I much prefer Autumn. Like I said earlier for anyone struggling manage your days so do everything early or later on and have your quiet time early afternoon when more folk tend to be out and about.

Yeah SAD and other seasonal disorders often go hand in hand with ADHD.

We're quite an outdoorsy family. My DC love a good walk in the woods and everyone compliments us on how far they walk. This is why I hate the heat, feel like I'm under house arrest. That half term week was awful, there was nowhere to go and we had way more screen time than I'd normally allow.

I’m the same, I love being out in the countryside and walking miles, this weather makes me feel so lazy.

I’m the same. During every June, July, August I develop relatively severe anxiety, stress, insomnia and feel totally exhausted but horribly wired at the same time. I realised it was summer SAD a few years ago, but these heatwaves make it much worse. Apparently it’s something to do with not coping with so much light, exact opposite from those with winter SAD. My DH suffers with lack of light during December somewhat so we’re a bad combination. Then Autumn arrives and it disappears overnight. My energy & positive mood soars. I have blackout curtains now and try to recreate darker evenings even when there’s not a heatwave. It helps very slightly. If I could hibernate for summer I would!