Winter Moody Blues?

[VictorAtomic]

Hello all!

So I've noticed over the years that I tend to get a lil blue over the winter months. Im from Los Angeles so its not terribly "wintery" but I noticed this change every year once summer is long gone.

Is it just me? and what do you guys and gal's do when the internal light is just a lil dim?

Music and doing something for 'me' helps. (or my mom would say "you need Vitamins!")

-V. Atomic

 

[Liz]

Sometimes I swear that I have Seasonal Affective Disorder -- I get so depressed when it starts to get cold and the sun goes down so early. It's been so cloudy here lately that I feel even worse. I love to go to garage sales and outdoor flea markets, and there are none here in the winter, which makes me hate the cold weather even more. How do I cope? I watch a lot of movies, and drink an occasional Singapore Sling

 

[Twitch]

Unfortunately, as people I know in the medical industry have mentioned, there are more suicides and literally more people with serious conditions usually "let go" during the winter season. [huh]

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've mentioned before that I have a rough time with depression this time of year -- a combination of the darkness, the cold, the uncontrollable cost of heat, and past associations. Back when oil was cheap I used to like to crank the thermostat up to 80 every now and then, turn on every light in the house, put on a tape of a baseball broadcast, pour myself a cold drink, and pretend it was July. Sometimes my young niece would come over and we'd put a beach towel on the living room floor, change into bathing suits, and pretend we were at the shore.

Can't really do that anymore, but what I *have* done is replace all my light bulbs with the kind that give daylight-equivalent light. You'd be surprised how much of a difference that can make. I also try to remember to take my vitamins every day -- that can also make a difference.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I love this time of year and the melancholy it brings. I thrive on melancholy.
I think I'm wired backwards, because my mood brightens considerably when it is cold, dark, and dreary, and I get extremely depressed and angry when the sun comes back out. I'd be happiest with about a week's worth of sunshine a year, at most.lol

 

[dhermann1]

Light, light, light! Photons! I go crazy with light at Christmastime. I do all the trimmings, even if I'm the only one who sees it. Lizzie, it makes me SAD to think of you being so cold up there in the sun Arctic wilds! I wish I could send you a nice thick blanket. Being cold can get right into your bones. No good!
P.S. VictorAtomic: You've always got your own true love, Debbie Harry!

 

[pretty faythe]

Brad, you sound Emo...lol..or as I say just to annoy my daughter, Elmo or Emu.

I get it a bit, just because living in the Mojave Desert and the unmaking up of the temp mind. One day its warm, the next its cool, then its warm again, the next its brisk. Its very annoying, aggravating. Right now we are in what I am referring to as a false spring. Flowers in bloom, weeds sprouting up, baby birds all over the place. Yets it was a bit chilly yesterday. Today looks like its going to be warm. So of course its going to be heck on my skin, and of course on my my mood. Yup. GRRRRR Make up the mind Mother Nature. Pick a season already and stay with it!!! I know...SNOW!!!

 

[$ally]

Does the Swamp Root tonic help you?

 

[LadyStardust]

I love this time of year and the melancholy it brings. I thrive on melancholy.
I think I'm wired backwards, because my mood brightens considerably when it is cold, dark, and dreary, and I get extremely depressed and angry when the sun comes back out. I'd be happiest with about a week's worth of sunshine a year, at most.lol

I am the same exact way. I literally light up when the temperature plummets, the sky turns leaden, and the wind whips the trees. Now, I'm not one for self diagnosis, but I'll be darned if I didn't fit the profile of having reverse SAD something fierce.

 

[Fletch]

I think what I have is Light-Affected Zone-Yearning* (LAZY).
I do OK on sunless days as long as I can stay in my comfort zone, where my responsibilities are limited to pleasant mindless routine.
When I have to consciously apply and especially reapply myself for any period of time, however, I get irritable, frustrated, and stuck in black and dire thoughts.
After about 20 minutes of this, I feel a deep and abiding grudge against both myself and the world, which can only be relieved by a period of inactivity or totally purposeless activity. Music, which I normally love, doesn't help, probably because as a musician it just brings up issues of frustration and the need to constantly confront same.

*I just now made that up.

 

[Bebop]

Here in No. Eastern Washington State, it starts getting dark at about 3:45 everyday. I get down and out and can write and play my musical instruments with a lot of feeling but it takes a toll on my mind. Swamp Root makes things even worse . I recently purchased some daylight light bulbs but they are annoying to my eyes and remind me how much I don't like having light in my eyes. I think it's a matter of staying busy and switching your internal clock to it's winter schedule. Having people around that can share the dark at 4pm, helps.

 

[AmateisGal]

I love this time of year and the melancholy it brings. I thrive on melancholy.
I think I'm wired backwards, because my mood brightens considerably when it is cold, dark, and dreary, and I get extremely depressed and angry when the sun comes back out. I'd be happiest with about a week's worth of sunshine a year, at most.lol

Brad, you described me EXACTLY. I love cold, cloudy days. My mood lifts during the autumn and winter months. I like spring, too, but summer? Oh dear. I am at my worst then. I cannot stand to be hot. I stay inside the air-conditioned house or air-conditioned car as much as possible.

I think I thrive on melancholy, too.

 

[VictorAtomic]

'dhermann1' P.S. VictorAtomic: You've always got your own true love, Debbie Harry!

I do I do!!!! and I get to see her twice here in Los Angeles after making a very bad decision of not seeing her while in New York City.

(lol and while I type this 'You are my sunshine" sung by Bing Crosby plays in the background)

Speaking of sunshine I tried to get up early this morning (10am for me since I work late nights/early morning) and my body wasnt having it, back to sleep I went. It doesnt help waking up to the sun already pretty much setting.

The worst thing about this mood disorder I guess you can call it is the way it effects your other half, they have to put up with it and they really dont understand it

Maybe we should hold a Fedora Lounge Moody Blues night out and see who who has the best "1920's Depression" look! hehe


-V. Atomic

 

[MAGNAVERDE]

Brad used exactly the phrase I've always about myself: I'm wired backwards. I get just as depressed as anybody else with the change in weather, but like Brad & Amateisgal, that all hits me just as everybody else is gearing up for summer at the beach. I don't like heat, but combine it with sunny days & cloudless blue skies, and I feel I'm being punished for everything I ever did wrong. So I stay indoors all summer unless absolutely I have to go out. Going with my dad to the vintage car fair in Iola, Wisconsin last August was torture and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was using his cane as a pointer, sweeping it through the air without any warning & nearly clobbering a ton of little kids in the process. No, that was one of the good parts of the day. The bad part was the relentless evil sun, which I could feel burning through my straw hat, a tightly woven long-sleeved shirt & a whole tube of heavy-duty sunblock. That awful, hopless feeling is cumulative, and it lasts well into cooler weather.

But when the temperature dropped like a stone last week--went from near 60 to the mid 3Os in one afternoon, and below freezing at night--I turned into Mr. Happy. I don't wear a coat till it goes below 25, just a scarf & gloves. In fact, until I stumbled into this place & decided that I couldn't post unless I at had least thought about buying a fedora (and I still haven't found one that looks like I'm wearing it, rather than looking like it's wearing me) I hadn't even considered wearing a hat of any kind--even in the dead of winter--since the Nixon administration. And although I have three beautiful ancient tweed overcoats, they're for looks, not warmth. In fact, I about die from heat when I wear them. If I could keep it one temperature all year long, that would be about 34 degrees. Some people sleep with the bedroom windows cracked in winter. My windows are open all the way, and if I had a sleeping porch, I'd sleep out there all the time unless there was an actual blizzard going on.

My pals, of course, think I'm crazy, but at least they're happy to see me out, since they don't see much of me from Mothers' Day until Columbus Day. I have a ton of BB seersucker clothing that only the doorman and my boss have ever seen. I've never had a suntan in my life.

Anyway, chill breezes, dead trees, brown leaves & gray skies are where it's at. Fortunately, this place allows me to get to know--and like--all you poor normal, sunlight-loving folks, whom our opposite wiring diagrams might otherwise prevent me from ever meeting in real life.

 

[Quigley Brown]

My landlord has control of the heat in this 19th century townhouse and he keeps the thermostat low. I live on the third floor so it can get pretty chilly up here. The old radiators are just 'warm' so I pile on lots of blankets and watch movies in bed.

 

[Miss Brill]

I love this time of year and the melancholy it brings. I thrive on melancholy.
I think I'm wired backwards, because my mood brightens considerably when it is cold, dark, and dreary, and I get extremely depressed and angry when the sun comes back out. I'd be happiest with about a week's worth of sunshine a year, at most.lol

Yup, me too. I'm a Leo, a summer baby, but I do not like summer. I don't like dreary days though, unless it is good & rainy. I love WEATHER, lots of snow, lots of ice, lots of rain. I remember all my snowstorms, ice storms, and floods fondly.

 

[carter]

I absolutely LOVE to bundle up and drive with the top down during the day this time of year! It's so invigorating!

But I also like sleeping until I wake up with no alarm and knowing I'm warm and cozy while it's cold outside.

When it gets dark, I just want to be in the house. I detest driving on cold dark nights.

 

[Ecuador Jim]

I guess I'm in the "wired backwards" crowd. Being born and raised in Seattle, lots of sunshine isn't normal. Being stationed in Alaska in winter meant about 2.5 hours of daylight in winter.

I love to watch storms develop, and used to head to the waterfront on a blustery day. Lots of good restaurants there where you could get a bowl of chowder or chili, watch the whitecaps on Puget Sound, and the seagulls complain nearby.

Seems that in my business, I'm in tropical locations in the summer, and cold climates in the winter!

 

[PeeWee]

I get a touch of them winter blues myself. I'm starting to understand the appeal of heading south for winter

 

[Flivver]

As a native New Englander, you'd think I'd have come to terms with winter, but I haven't! In fact, as I get older, it seems to get worse.

The months of November, December and January are the worst for me. I hate the cold temperatures, snow/ice, heating oil bills and restricted outdoor activities. But most of all, I hate the darkness!

As soon as February rolls around and the days start to get noticeably longer, my mood improves significantly.

I find that the best ways to get through the three dark months are to spend as much time as possible with family and friends, watch lots of classic movies and listen to my favorite old music.