I think I have SAD
 

Seasonal Affective Disorder
I never used to be affected by the weather, but I've noticed in the past couple of years if the weather sucks I'm in a bad mood. Good thing the weather has to really suck to affect me. Until today we had four straight days of heavy clouds, temps in the low 30s, and snow flurries but no accumulation. The sky was gray, the ground was brown - it was just ugly. I couldn't work up any ambition to do anything. Today the temps are the same but it's sunny and bright and I've been outside all morning and loving it.
I never used to experience this.

That's my winter complaint also.
I don't mind the cold or the snow...but the lack of sunshine gets to me.

Today is nice and sunny. Wind is picking up, so it's feeling cold.

My dad had that and he found some bright "daylight" color light bulbs in the kitchen were enough to make him feel a lot better.

You need to get out more and exercise. As you get older that becomes more and more important.
Walking is good but you may have issues with your hips or knees so a LOW POWERED E-Bike might be a good idea.

Normally I exercise for about one hour a day but after loosing my job because of Covid (March 2020) I've extended that to about 2 hours a day. I'm 55 and I feel great! (I have a small collection of classic lugged steal framed bikes.)

Please try it Patrick. Turn off the TV and just do something.

Kinda hard to "get out" and exercise in his cloudy, freezing weather. ;)

Patrick, you need an indoor playroom. Could be a workshop or pool table room with a bar. I've has a bit of SAD myself even here in SoCal while on the mend from surgery with more to come. It's hard to get out of the funk sometimes, but you have to have that will.

People have noticed my 'moods' here and I take note.

Not really an issue of "SAD" here as much as it is just "COVID Fatigue" me thinks. Some days lots of energy and some none at all ? Just really tired of this and no real end in sight.

As to weather here , yesterday morning it was 32 at 5:00 A.M and had been like that for quite a few days.... this morning it was 63 and is currently 74 will stay in that range for a week of so.

I've got it too, I have a blue light array that is supposed to be the shizzle, but what works best is to get out and exercise.

Everybody is different, but here's what worked for me:

I bought myself an Apple watch for my retirement, and it is very good at forcing some movement and exercise throughout the day.
In order to "close my rings" I do some combination of cycling and walking each day - a bare minimum of an hour, but often much much more, depending on the activity. (I rode in the hills for about three hours yesterday with an old friend, a nice, easy 30 miles with lots of breaks. Good time.)
I'm sleeping better, my left leg, the one with the artificial hip, is moving freer and is much stronger. My lungs are clearer. The valleys don't last as long as they do when I'm just parked on the couch. Tbh, I'm still an arsehole, but Apple doesn't have an app to change that behavior.

I know how depression works. I hope you can find something to help you in keeping the darkness at bay. Fresh air and mindless exercise is a fast, easy way to change the movie in your head.
Good luck! You're not alone!

Do you take any vitamin D? If not Try it.

I don't think I have SAD but I and my mother have always been effected by light. Over cast, cloudy some rainy days, the period at dusk negatively effect me and that effect is compounded in the winter months when the sun is low in the sky. I avoid certain colors such as gray as the problem compounds with diffused light and the gray color. It drives my wife crazy as she is light sensitive but at dusk I turn every light in the house on, all the bulbs are 100W. Once the sun goes down I am then generally ok and the lights can be dimmed to a normal setting.

Winters are long and grey here in the northeast. I think it affects all of us to some extent . utside

Is "SW Ohio" a cold & snowy place? I was thinking farms, hot Summers and mild Winters. :confused:

It gets cold down here but nothing like some you guys have to put up with. My sister lives in Denver and I've seen photos of my BIL shovelling the drive way... BRRRRR :( If "SW Ohio" is freezing an exercise area/room would be ideal but even a tread mill or stationary bike would do. Patrick has a big house.

One of the best treatments is to get a light box designed for this (or make one) and use it at the times they tell you to. Your PCP may know about these, or may refer you to a specialist.

I also wondered if an LED headlight could be reversed so it points at the pineal gland ("third eye") and wear it at the times you'd use a light box.

I have one. I have an about 45 minute routine in the morning, mostly for my back and hip arthritis. I spend 20 minutes or so in the hot tub (102 degrees), then go to the stationary bike, then stretches, some light weights work, then more time on the bike. The problem is I can't get motivated to do anything when it's so cold and gray out.
It's strange. I have so much to do inside - plenty of projects and I have the workout routine but something about looking out the windows and seeing cold and gray just saps my ambition. It's hard to get out of bed, and even then I sort of listlessly and joylessly go through the routine. This morning and I hit it hard and loved it, and the only difference was the sun was shining through the windows. It is a strange phenomenon.

You know what will fix SAD?

A dawg puppy :).

at the winter solstice we're down to about four hours of usable daylight. some people can't take it.


i get through with dog walking and a **** ton of vitamin D.

the wife tans.

Everyone here gets it.

Vitamin D is HUGE.

Lights are supposed to be good.

I skied a bunch as a kid. Didn't impact me at all then. I suspect that exercise, being outside, daylight, and HAVING SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO made an enormous difference.

SAD is very real. Make some life changes. It can be addressed successfully for most.

Good luck. Report back.

Vitamin D is toxic in doses that are too large, 4,000 IU, so be careful.

Probably ok on the toxicity thing. From the Mayo Clinic:

Taking 60,000 international units (IU) a day of vitamin D for several months has been shown to cause toxicity. This level is many times higher than the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for most adults of 600 IU of vitamin D a day.

Any vitamin that is not water soluble can be toxic, probably some water soluble ones also.

I'd stay below 40k to avoid calcium regulation problems.

yes, all lipid soluble vitamins can be toxic


anyway a light box plus more D3 should be tried - a visit to your MD is a good idea