Winter Blahs

[doveofserenity]

Need others opinions and comments on something. Because i don't know if just me or what? So here goes.


Do any of you go thru the "Wintertime Blahs" aka winter depression, SAD, or whatever you call the feeling? And then have it seem to be at its worst or highest point today (New Years Day)?

i dont know if its because of all the crap i have been going thru in the last few months, or if it is because of the feeling of being "Rushed", the prep work for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve...etc.

And then today, just sit and want to scream bloody friggin murder at the world? And even the kids know to stay clear of you? For no reason at all?

i have been like this all day. And the people here have learnt real quick to take "the long route" away from me.

Anyones comments are welcome. Thanks.

 

[EmpressFi]

Winter blahs? Not in that sense...

Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons.. football games.. crisp cool air, wonderful smells that lead to the holiday movies, music, etc..

However, that being said, I get the holiday blahs. I get homesick for Southern Ohio and my family. I miss my parents and other loved ones who've passed on and with all the sappy sentiments filtering out there, I go into overload. That's what gets me.... I dont get depressed as much as I'm just emotional.

 

[BiBunny]

Yes, I do. The best thing for me is to just spend as much time in the sun as I can. Some people do tanning beds or the special lights. (WTF are they called? I can't remember.) I'm sorry that I don't have anything better for you than that. I hope you get to feeling better soon, dove.

 

[graceanne]

I don't have your problem, since I detest the sun and stay inside when it's out, but I know quite a few people who do. You're not getting enough vitamin D. If you can afford it, get a half an hour at a tanning booth. You don't have to tan, take a book and sit in the chair by the tanning booth - it'll help, take my word for it.

 

[EmpressFi]

Yes, I do. The best thing for me is to just spend as much time in the sun as I can. Some people do tanning beds or the special lights. (WTF are they called? I can't remember.) I'm sorry that I don't have anything better for you than that. I hope you get to feeling better soon, dove.

UV lights or flourescent? I remember seeing a special about that once.

 

[catalina_francisco]

I love winter, but also get winter depression. It is getting better, but when I first came here after living my whole life in a very bright light climate, I hit rock bottom and it took me a couple of years to realise what was wrong. My body is adjusting slowly, and I do a lot of self talk as well, but it still can get me when I least expect it. I vowed to give light treatment a try this year if it was too bad and I could find where to buy one of the high powered light boxes they use...or alternately try it out first at a clinic which provides it as a form of therapy. So far it hasn't been bad, and by next week I will be back in the light of Oz for 4 weeks so I will get a boost.

Catalina

 

[nh23]

My moods tend to be a bit crazy winter, summer..doesn't matter..lol. I wish I could offer some advice other than what has been said..but I just don't know. I hope you start feeling better. *hugs*

 

[Netzach]

I just went tanning for the first time in my life today.

Twelve minutes and I got a little brown and a huge HUGE lift. There's a lot to this vitamin D thing and tricking yourself into feeling like you're in florida for ten minutes.

 

[Velvet Bubbles]

Have you seen your doctor about it at all? I don't recall reading that you had. If I missed it, I apologize. Have you tried evening primrose oil or 5-HTP? (Ask your doctor first, of course.) But they help me. Of course, I'm on a prescription.

 

[minx1]

I usually get it back in the UK....its all those dark mornings and evenings. You wake up and go to work in the dark and come home in the dark....very depressing.

I haven't had it here though.....so I would say its definitely affected by the level of light.

 

[graceanne]

Have you seen your doctor about it at all? I don't recall reading that you had. If I missed it, I apologize. Have you tried evening primrose oil or 5-HTP? (Ask your doctor first, of course.) But they help me. Of course, I'm on a prescription.

Actually, you can also get a script for vitamin d. I've got one, or used to have one. I don't get enough sun, evidently. What a shock.

 

[@}-}rebecca----]

Apologies Miss Dove for mini hijack

Bunny, Netz please be wary of those tanning beds. They are on the way out here in Australia, considered to significantly increase the of potential melanoma.

A 26 year old woman whom recently died here was an advocate in the fight to make the public more aware of the inherent risks.

ABC News Link

Australian Cancer Council

I am really uncomfortable being a wet blanket on something you may enjoy but the topic is serious, so I am breaking my usual rank of skimming over the topic and saying nothing at all.

 

[graceanne]

Bunny, Netz please be wary of those tanning beds. They are on the way out here in Australia, considered to significantly increase the of potential melanoma.

A 26 year old woman whom recently died here was an advocate in the fight to make the public more aware of the inherent risks.

ABC News Link

Australian Cancer Council

I am really uncomfortable being a wet blanket on something you may enjoy but the topic is serious so I am breaking rank with skimming over the topic and saying nothing at all this time.

yeah, that's why when my mom does the tanning beds she uses sun block. She doesn't want the tan - she just wants the light therapy. She literally wears pants and a long sleeved shirt, puts sunblock on her face, and sits in a chair in front of the tanning bed with a magazine.

On the other hand, I cannot for the life of me figure out why some one in Australia would need a tanning bed for light therapy. It's freaken HOT over there.

 

[@}-}rebecca----]

yeah, that's why when my mom does the tanning beds she uses sun block. She doesn't want the tan - she just wants the light therapy. She literally wears pants and a long sleeved shirt, puts sunblock on her face, and sits in a chair in front of the tanning bed with a magazine.

Well she sounds smart, I get ( understand the desire/need ) the light therapy thing, I can't imagine living in a place where there is no sun for months on end. Apparently the suicide rate and drug usage is really high when people start to suffer. Having said that the worst skin burns I have ever had really have been when skiing. Chronic how fast that hits when you're not careful.

On the other hand, I cannot for the life of me figure out why some one in Australia would need a tanning bed for light therapy. It's freaken HOT over there.

Two reasons Miss Grace

1. Vanity
2. People think tanning beds are as safer solution than sunlight.

Beautician I was speaking to when I was getting everything on track for my vacation had a beautiful tan. I commented on how lovely her skin looked, it's a product they use in the salon, spray it on. Apparently all natural safe ingredients, I'm considering it myself after I have investigated a little further. I like having a lite tan, we are talking healthy glow though .


To get back on topic, Winter doesn't stress me here. Living on the Coast we get a great deal of rain. It's about the only time I can relax when I have a little free time, read have a snooze. I feel so guilty doing that if the weather is good. Feel like I should be outside doing something.

Holidays can be upsetting however, I work on that every year. It's getting better but it does tend to compound the usual stresses and reacquaint with grief that I am usually much stronger at setting aside.

 

[graceanne]

Well she sounds smart, I get ( understand the desire/need ) the light therapy thing, I can't imagine living in a place where there is no sun for months on end. Apparently the suicide rate and drug usage is really high when people start to suffer. Having said that the worst skin burns I have ever had really have been when skiing. Chronic how fast that hits when you're not careful.

Yeah, but that's cause people assume if it's cold you can't get burned. If the sun is out you can get burned, and doubly so if (a) you're skiing or (b) on the water cause the sun reflects off the (a) snow or (b) water. It's almost like getting double the amount of sun.

Two reasons Miss Grace

1. Vanity
2. People think tanning beds are as safer solution than sunlight.

Beautician I was speaking to when I was getting everything on track for my vacation had a beautiful tan. I commented on how lovely her skin looked, it's a product they use in the salon, spray it on. Apparently all natural safe ingredients, I'm considering it myself after I have investigated a little further. I like having a lite tan, we are talking healthy glow though .

I, for one, don't understand why people think crispy is a good look. I mean, not pasty white is attractive, but that dark brown look? NOT! Not to mention that, at the very least, it causes wrinkles and age spots. Oh yeah, that's REAL attractive. And why anyone would thinking something man made is better for you than god made . . . I will never understand people.

I personally think it's a status thing. Sunbed cost money. If you do them regularly it adds up. It's a 'look at me, I have the money to waste on a sunbed.'

 

[@}-}rebecca----]

I, for one, don't understand why people think crispy is a good look. I mean, not pasty white is attractive, but that dark brown look? NOT! Not to mention that, at the very least, it causes wrinkles and age spots. Oh yeah, that's REAL attractive. And why anyone would thinking something man made is better for you than god made . . . I will never understand people.

I personally think it's a status thing. Sunbed cost money. If you do them regularly it adds up. It's a 'look at me, I have the money to waste on a sunbed.'

Totally agree, it can appear grotesque and it does wreck havoc on the skin ( putting aside the more serious risks of cancer for a moment ) . I think it's just a color thing with me. The appearance of a light tan makes me feel better. I was brought up as a sun baby. People didn't understand the serious ramifications of the sun. As kids we ran around almost nekkid on beaches and were as brown as can be. As an Australian it epitomises the lifestyle we share here and not in a pretentous elitest manner. We are working at educating future generations against this manifest.

Look at our poetry, even than that perpetuates the myth .......

My Country

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die-
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold-
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land-
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand-
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

by Dorothea Mackellar

You would find it extremely difficult to find an Australian that can't recite at least part of that poem by heart.

 

[minx1]

Bunny, Netz please be wary of those tanning beds. They are on the way out here in Australia, considered to significantly increase the of potential melanoma.

A 26 year old woman whom recently died here was an advocate in the fight to make the public more aware of the inherent risks.

ABC News Link

Australian Cancer Council

I am really uncomfortable being a wet blanket on something you may enjoy but the topic is serious, so I am breaking my usual rank of skimming over the topic and saying nothing at all.

*nods* You are right Miss rebecca.....my dad died from cancer that began as skin cancer. Its something I am very aware of.

 

[rida]

Need others opinions and comments on something. Because i don't know if just me or what? So here goes.

Do any of you go thru the "Wintertime Blahs" aka winter depression, SAD, or whatever you call the feeling? And then have it seem to be at its worst or highest point today (New Years Day)?

i dont know if its because of all the crap i have been going thru in the last few months, or if it is because of the feeling of being "Rushed", the prep work for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve...etc.

And then today, just sit and want to scream bloody friggin murder at the world? And even the kids know to stay clear of you? For no reason at all?

i have been like this all day. And the people here have learnt real quick to take "the long route" away from me.

Anyones comments are welcome. Thanks.

Hubby suffers from SAD or Winter Depression. It has to do with the amount of sunlight, and yes, just around new year's day is the bottom (makes sense as winter solstice is around Dec 21st and after that days starts to get longer once again, but it takes time for the chemicals in your body to go back to a proper level).

What he does is, now that he can, he makes sure to go south for few weeks between November/December. It keeps the hedge off the bottom, but still I cannot wait for when he will be feeling better.

Before, he would use the special light, although having to wake up at 3AM to be able to sit in front of it long enough was causing it own problems ... or he would just sleep a lot and unfortunately drink too much ...

Hang in there ... the day are already getting longer ... just few more weeks

 

[Netzach]

Bunny, Netz please be wary of those tanning beds. They are on the way out here in Australia, considered to significantly increase the of potential melanoma.

A 26 year old woman whom recently died here was an advocate in the fight to make the public more aware of the inherent risks.

ABC News Link

Australian Cancer Council

I am really uncomfortable being a wet blanket on something you may enjoy but the topic is serious, so I am breaking my usual rank of skimming over the topic and saying nothing at all.

Fair enough.

I plan on doing it maybe 3 times this winter.

I also have a Mediterranean complexion under all this winter pallor (who'd know?) I think my first actual burn didn't occur until I was about 17 or 18 and being stupid.

I also recommend underdoing it, which no one seems to do. I did 10 minutes of a 12 minute bake and I stopped the moment a depressed thumb on my breatbone showed at all pink. Frankly I'm well lotioned and I'm after the mild high without lexapro.

 

[Netzach]

Yeah, but that's cause people assume if it's cold you can't get burned. If the sun is out you can get burned, and doubly so if (a) you're skiing or (b) on the water cause the sun reflects off the (a) snow or (b) water. It's almost like getting double the amount of sun.




I, for one, don't understand why people think crispy is a good look. I mean, not pasty white is attractive, but that dark brown look? NOT! Not to mention that, at the very least, it causes wrinkles and age spots. Oh yeah, that's REAL attractive. And why anyone would thinking something man made is better for you than god made . . . I will never understand people.

I personally think it's a status thing. Sunbed cost money. If you do them regularly it adds up. It's a 'look at me, I have the money to waste on a sunbed.'

Eh.

It's look at me, it's sunny but -10 outside!

Having other people wax my body parts to me, is a waste of money, not compensating for an environment unfit for the uncrazy.

 

[WriterDom]

I should probably try the tanning bed at the gym. I hate winter.

 

[Homburg]

Yes, I do. The best thing for me is to just spend as much time in the sun as I can. Some people do tanning beds or the special lights. (WTF are they called? I can't remember.) I'm sorry that I don't have anything better for you than that. I hope you get to feeling better soon, dove.

Full Spectrum Lights. They're getting more available, though a lot of the easily available ones are crapola.


---------------------------------

I, for one, don't understand why people think crispy is a good look. I mean, not pasty white is attractive, but that dark brown look? NOT!

See, I goth chicks, and a good part of it is that I find pale skin attractive. Heck, you've seen pics of "v". I love her skin tone. Not pasty white, but still very nicely pale.

That said, a golden tan is lovely too. All depends on the person. Personally, I'm a bit darker of skin all the time. Comes from my ancestry. Sunburn is generally something I don't need to worry about. Well, okay, the dome burns, but that's because it's still not used to having no hair to block the sun out.

--------------------------------

I don't particularly suffer from SAD, but I am a bit slower and lower during winter months. A lot of the things I enjoy can't be done as easily at this time of year, and I am thus less active.

I will say, following on something Minx said, that I need some light. I've worked jobs where I was coming to work while it was still dark, working in a building with no windows, and not going home until the sun was down. After a few months of that I was a total shambles.

 

[myinnerslut]

i dont tan. i burn. thus i dont even attempt tanning beds. that and i really dont find the fake and bake look attractive. i must be the exeption rather then the rule becuase i can think of five seperate tanning salons in the small downtown area by my college.

 

[HottieMama]

i'm SO pale i am practically translucent, but i refuse to attempt to tan just to burn/blister. i got sun poisoning many times as a child/teen and am now almost paranoid about my skin and sun exposure.

 

[BiBunny]

I don't use tanning beds, either. My mother is a huge devotee and has one at the house. When I get to feeling icky at home, I'll just sit in the room with her while she's in it. She likes having someone to talk to; I like the lift I get. I'm incredibly pale and burn badly in the damned things. I used to use 'em, but I think I'm allergic to something in the bed because I would break out in some sort of irritating rash when I lay in it. So no worries, Miss Rebecca.