My Southern CA Winter Depression

it seems that you enjoy the winter months too

...I so lookforward to winter and I live in the foothills of appalachia....it is beautiful time of year for me the FALL especially when the leaves are turning and filtering down in the cool fall breeze, and then the precise sound of snow lightly coming to rest upon the hard cold ground in the winter is just an amazing thing to me. 

 I guess i love the differences in the season so much that it doesn't affect me in the form of SAD>.....

i look at the winters as an opportunity to get some creative work done, andto get our equipment for bee hives ready for the coming spring. It seems that during this time of the year (the winter and fall) MY moods are not affected...not sure that is a good thing for being rapid cycling well, it sure doesn't stop in the winter or fall or spring OR summer it is the same no matter the weather and for that i guess i'm fortunate IF you can call rapid mood mixed mood bp fortunate it just doesnt change at all for ME that is in the seasonal cycle, i wish there WERE a season when i could predict my mood and could know what momemt to moment i was going to be feeling in the form of bp mood swings, but not the case for ME.

ANd in the summer often the heat is too intense and i end up INSIDE now that is when i feel "pent up" per say....for my meds and the intense heat do not not mix....but i wait and do things in the morning or in the early evening when things are cooling down and OH those summer nights are precious too. But i can't tolerate the airconditioning due to other physical problems and therefore summer to me is the hardest time to get through. Isn't it weird how each of us have our own diverse responses to the seasons. Some thrive in summer, some in the fall and others spring and winter.

You sound like you live in an area as  I do atop a hill looking over....it is divine to say the least and surrounded by the deciduous trees of the appalachian area. When the cold winds start blowing it is like a whirlwind atop this hill but yet we love it so much, and it doesn't stop us..there is sunshine even in the winter and snow and we bundle up and go on about going outside .....although we are hindered by the thermal underwear, the layers of clothes and often one piece coveralls and gloves along with hats and often scarves.....we still get out in the elements and i think that is the key to a lot of my coping....
I SOOO need nature and SOOO utilize it as a coping skill i just find things to enjoy in nature that aren't there in the summer time...like the crisp beauty of iced over branches of trees that create a wonderland effect as they act as prisms for the sunlight that does come through...casting colors, all colors of the rainbow upon the pristine snow......or the leaning branches of the trees as they carry the weight of a snow just fallen or the smell of wood smoke puffing from our wood burning stove...OH the wonder and the beauty of winter allows me to enjoy a little of the outdoors and yet enjoy being able to channel my mania into doing things INSIDE the house that i avoid like the plague during summer time for i can't keep inside during that time or if i am i am so exhausted from theheat it just floors me basically.

So glad to hear someone else enjoys the winter time too.....i thought i was nearly the only one! HA!

Around here people are scrambling to get their fire wood in for the winter, to get perenialls cut back and ready their flower beds for the coming frosts and snows, and checking insulation on their well and pump houses to assure no frozen pipes for the coming season.  It is really a matter of perspective and what one gets used to I believe, although SAD IS DEFINETLY a problem for MANY MANY and i SOOOO feel for them....I have to say this ctrygirl...LOVES the winter and the complete and total purity of the snow that blankets the ground and decorates the trees....

i can so see how the lessened sunlight is an issue for some....i am fortunate to not have THIS illness of SAD.>>>GOT so many others it is a blessing...but then again been born, bred and raised in this environment and winter was always treated as a wonder when i was a child so i think i've just incorporated that into my own COPING skills somehow.....NOW my mother is VERY VERY affected by SAD ...she can not take the winter months whatsoever....after Christmas has come and gone she starts to falter in her moods and needs, literally NEEDS sunlight and starts that downwad spiral to depression no matter how hard i try to infiltrate her feelings or uplift her she literally NEEDS the sunshine and feels the lack of it rather severly.

THanks for this opportunity to read about how others react to the changing seasons, i never really think of it until late winter when i see my precious momma start to feel the effects....it is kinda humorous to hear of how 70 degrees makes those of California start to feel the effects.....don't get me wrong dont' think the illness is funny NOT AT ALL>..just the other morning i stepped out and could already see the condensation of my breath at 9 am in the morning for it was only 40 degrees here the night before and hadn't warmed up much yet and my reaction was AHHHHHHH THE CRISP FALL AIR>>>tehee..weird how each person is so diverse and how each are affected by the same situation in such different ways....very interesting to hear how Cal. are reacting to the coming seasons....thanks for the insight....i know i am not able to travel much and to hear of the other areas is so interesting to  me ...i hope MORE people post on here how winter affects them in THEIR area.....

thanks john for a peek into what seems like a wonderland abode for you, and didn't know you too were atop a mt looking over.....what a view huh??? separate from the hustle and bustle and yet able to view it if we so choose...(come winter the only thing i don't like is that the leaves are gone and the view of the world below is very visible and i like my camo!!! tehee)

Have a good one and thanks for the interesting post!!
sincerely

ctrygirl

Obviously ,over here in Cornwall UK it's the same, the weather's turning,has turned.I hate it ,it;s getting me down as it always does.

I want January to come so bad.

After that the world starts waking up.

The Atlantic is boiling in its' cold grey way.

Oh well,I cant change it so I'll have to just put up with it.Great site btw.

Cynders.

Everyone,

Personally, I do not do well at all during the winter months, and location doesn't seem to matter.  I am presently in Minnesota and may spend a good chunk of the winter here.  My wife and I have a home in the Greater San Franciso Bay Area and our studio, which is an old converted church, here in Minnesota.

I spend much of the summer here and my girl visits for extended periods in summer and again in the fall.  I usually return to California about this time, but there is a snag this year -- my step-daughter is pregnant and she is also being laid off.  Her husband is finishing his secondary education -- they are living on very limited funds -- and will be moving into our home for the next three months.  We have ample room for everyone, but my dear step-daughter has never been able to acccept my illness or behavior and I have no intentions of upsetting her.

In other words, I will be spending most, if not all of the winter in Minnesota.  Now I grew up in this state, and have a vivid memory of what winters here are all about.  I enjoy being outside rather than in, so I always try to find activities that get me up and out -- not always that successful, and that is when I sink.

We have a lot of sunshine during the 'great freeze' and it is welcome, believe me, but we also have very excessive low temperatures and heavy winds which combine to create a brittle and brutal environment.

I have always had to deal with my SAD in the Bay Area during the gray, rainy periods, and extended indoor isolation -- nothing really helped -- and I had no alternative but to grin and bear it.

I am not sure what it will be like being back in the frosty Midwest, but we shall see...