#s.a.d.

[annasinthewalls]

spring is coming. Spring IS COMING. You will stand on soft grass again, and feel the sun kiss your cheeks and shoulders. you will eat of the same berries as the animals returned from their hibernation. you will hear the air alive with your collective breathing.

[turtlesandfrogs]

If you know you're one of us who gets depressed (or just feel more tired/fatigued/like everything is harder) as we head into winter please consider:

- light therapy, aka getting a really bright lamp, made for people with S.A.D. and using it for 30 to 45 minutes every day in the morning. (In studies this has been shown to be as effective as therapy or medication for treating S.A.D. AND it works for normal straight up depression too!)

- CBT specifically for S.A.D.

- Getting on a antidepressant seasonally

Additionally, you may find these suggestions helpful for general quality of life:

- get a sunrise simulator alarm clock if you have to wake up before dawn

- getting movement outside in bright, early morning light if possible

- increase exercise & make sure you're getting enough sleep

- taking a vitamin D supplement, because a lot of folks in the US are moderately deficient . If you don't have enough vitamin D, it can make you depressed (and make you fatigued, and make your bones and muscles ache), and vitamin D deficiency rates go up in the winter.

Good luck. It's a real thing and it sucks, but there are things we can do to reduce its effects.

[todayontumblr]

Monday, November 27.

Holiday Blues 2023.

It's not just November, nay, it's nearly December. The mornings are getting darker. The evenings are, too, and it's only getting chillier. The holidays approach, as the holidays are wont to do. And we know that this is not good news for everybody. In fact, the seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) struggle is real, and if you're finding these first days of winter difficult, you're not alone. Far from it, in fact.

Well, fancy that. If you suffer from holiday blues, we've got one or two things that might be of help to you. It's Holiday Blues, from @postitforward, and it's back for 2023.

[mechanicalinfection]

Who's up for a Springtrap and Deliah au!!

[ladykagewaki]

Baby Batch Battles Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.)

@zaya-mo @chrissywakingup @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @aintinacage @ladykatakuri @marierg @isthereanechoinhere96 @thecoffeelorian

[jev-urisk]

A Musing Monday 🎐

Today im musing about apple cobbler for two. 🍎🫶

Its fall! Leaves changing, air frosting, pumpkin spicening! But its also a season of anxiety. Winter is always really rough on me- im regrettably solar-powered and winter in a mountainous valley really makes my s.a.d.-ness even worse. 🥶

It's one of those dumb brain-circles of winter being hard but thinking about how hard it is makes me feel so much worse and spikes my anxiety long before the mornings are dark.

SO IM THINKING ABOUT APPLE COBBLER FOR TWO! Thinking about my partners and the cheesy ways we kiss sometimes and the warm hugs and belly laughs and that every night I climb inbetween them to fall asleep warm and safe. 🥧

So Im thinking about Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, a comet I hiked a mountain to see on Saturday! I waited with my dad, aunt, and a few cousins as the sun went down and the cosmic lights came on one by one. We ate manapua and had some good family time on that mountain peak. 🌠

So im thinking about nourishment night, a weekly event where some of my closest friends come over and we all cook together! Yesterday we lit up the firepit and had roast corn and foil-wrapped pizza. ❤️‍🔥

So im thinking about my WIP, 7 Circles, and how I'm going to cozy up under my kotatsu when winter comes and write, and draw, and play all these tag games and maybe winter wont be so bad after all. ☃️ Especially with all the new and wonderful friends I've made on tumblr this year 🫶

Monday tag! @gioiaalbanoart (hmu to be +/-)

[studywgabi]

Summer S.A.D.

Hooray! Summer.

Oh, fuck me, not again.

Jesus fucking Christ. Why can't summer be something you only have to get over with once in your life? Seems like more than enough.

I mean, why should the classes be accelerated, why should they be any different than the rest of the year? It's not as if I'm needed at home to help with the fucking harvest. And fucking daylight savings. God. Fuck.

It's far, far too hot. Torns mi brien too soop.

Two summers ago, I stopped with the fucking hazmat suit wardrobe in 90 degree weather. Since then, it's been all thin cotton skirts and sleeveless halters. I'm able to do it now, but it's still so fucking hard. I hate the idea of forcing anyone, even a stranger, to look at this body. It's wrong. I feel offensive just stepping outside my door, like I'm hurting people with my existence.

Winter and fall, cold weather and early sunset comfort me, make me feel safer and less exposed. I hate spring and summer, when the sun rises before I can wake up so I feel like I've failed and I'm behind as soon as I start my day. Hot weather and early sunrise add to my stress.

There is an endless supply of mostly useless listicles about winter S.A.D. with generic and vague advice like "go to therapy" or "seek support from friends" or "buy this super cool product that will cure your depression," or, my personal favorite, "don't beat yourself up," and some with genuinely helpful advice on using light therapy, caring for indoor plants, and taking vitamin D, but there's not as much available for summer S.A.D. I want this post to be a running list of realistic, affordable advice. Feel free to add anything that isn't a miracle, and may not work for everyone, but has worked for you.

Drink the amount of water you need to feel hydrated.

Find a new indoor hobby, book series, t.v. show, or fandom that you genuinely (being the operative word) like.

Take cool showers or baths.

It doesn't always have to be summer if you don't want it to be. Watch The Holiday and listen to Mariah Carey.

Create an enjoyable, flexible structure to your day that really works for you, makes sense, and changes as you need it to. If you are a student or a family member to a student and the change in routine or lack of structure is difficult for you, make up your own schedule.

Use soft lighting, the reverse of light therapy for winter S.A.D. Try combining light filtering through your curtains, some candles, and a desk lamp rather than using one bright overhead light.

If you are currently in any kind of treatment, you may need additional or different support during the summer. Don't feel that you have to keep your treatment plan exactly the same just because it works during the winter.

You're not weird, I promise. Not everyone looks forward to getting melanoma. Not everyone enjoys sweating like a hooker in church. Not everyone eats hot dogs. It's fine. You're fine.

[idontknowreallywhy]

So. Winter solstice.

It gets better from here! Hang in there folks…

[theragamuffininitiative]

Struggling hard-core with spring coming on meaning summer is hard on its heels and wondering:

(this particularly goes out to anyone with summer sad, you are my peeps) feel free to describe your sad symptoms/personal coping methods/geographical and climate influence/etc in the tags.

[annasinthewalls]

a green that persists through winter

Avon, CT 2/26/24

[themonsterundermystairs]

to all my fellow people who struggle with the cold and dark of these months: get yourself a lamp designed for s.a.d. and start using it right now. i put it next to my bed or my gaming pc, so that i can either read or game and occasionally look at the lamp. it really helps me and perhaps it might help you. we'll get through this

[softboyscully]

so fucked up & evil that they made seasonal affective disorder widely known as S.A.D. like yeah girl i know. that's why i'm here

[ardent-reflections]

It was September. In the last days when things are getting sad for no reason.

Ray Bradbury

[actualalienfauna]

Life has been weird lately. Seasonal depression is fucking hard but some good things have happened.

[hipstersbleedroses]

today is the first day of the winter i cried because its always so dark