Is there spring depression?

this is my 4 year suffering from the spring depression and is very confusing, and can't understand why

What you wrote about feeling "safer" and "hidden" in the winter helped me understand myself quite a bit more... thank you so much!

Wow, you have explained exactly what I have been going through ever since my husband died, 26 years ago. I suffer from chronic dibilitating depression. It is a very dark depression. I go through a transition of depression from fall to winter and then feel much safer in the winter and can hide myself and don't feel the pressure to get the yard done or much around the house. I wonder if I will ever be delivered from this. As February approaches, I feel more depression coming on and anxiety and panic. Somehow over the past 2 yrs. I have experianced agoraphobia and can not even go out of my house to get the mail, let alone going to my counselor each week. Of course, I have to make myself go to appointments or get groceries, but I have a lot of anxiety that makes me sick to my stomach as I am getting ready to get out. The entire month of March is hard for me as that is the month my husband died. I have never really gotten over it. I am experiencing much grief over the loss of my husband now and that is a good thing, though very painful. April continues to bring me further down especially when the sun comes out and it is starting to get warm enough to get outside and get the yard work done. Like this week, we have had 3 warm days in a row. I have been in the house crying because I can not get myself out there to start the yard work with the grass so long my puppy comes in so wet. My self esteem is very low during this time and I cry a lot trying to figure out what is wrong with me. Why can't I even go outside to get the mail or play in the back yard with my dog? Why do I feel like I need to take a nap everyday to have a couple of hours to stop my mind from thinking that I am screwed up. I could go on and on....is there any hope of being healed of all this?

I think that you may be right. It is so easy to explain winter depression with the symbolic lack of sun. I really had no idea that so many other people experienced this.

i didn't know much about this, but prgressingly my depression every spring worsens, I'm getitng worried,

wow, didn't rally know it existeddeanna

 I'm glad that there are others that have this. If you find something that works make sure you let us know!

I decided to google spring depression tonight . I've been trying so hard to figure out why I have been so down. I am glad to know it is not my imagination that things get worse in the spring.

Does anyone have any idea why?

Lee

 I found this website the same way you have, It feels like a weight off the shoulders just to not feel like such an odd ball.

 

I was  thinking that it may be a good idea to ask a friend or family member to go on a weekly walk or something.

 

Usually I just want to curl up in bed and relax with a book and hot bath... trying to hang onto the winter comforts and then the guilt sets in.

 

Maybe actually getting out could help one adjust to the changes more easily and  be able to see the beauty in Spring from a different light. Plus if you make a plan, you may be more likely to feel like you have to do it! And like exercise, it's not so bad once you go out and do it! It is the motivational factor that is such a drag.

I have a theory that very sensitive or empathetic people may be more prone to such depression. When it is winter time, all people in general tone down quite a bit. This is a safe place, as another blogger mentioned earlier. Things feel calm and quiet around you.

 

Once Spring comes about, the calm of winter heats up and there is (scientifically speaking) more energy all around you that is being expended. If you are sensitive to your surroundings, this sudden rush of energy can seem over bearing and oppressive. By the time summer rolls around,  we may be able to adjust, things calm down a bit again-being that the extreme heatexhaust and slows things down.

 

I really wish you the best of luck this year. I agree with the previous bloggers use of a good multivitamin as well as boost of vitamin B, C and Magnesium (you should take 2x's as much Magnesium as calcium in order for it to be effective.  A good ratio is 1000 Mag:500Cal) Also, chocolate is a dopamine booster! Just a piece will do.

 

Also! Sometime just embracing the sadness is more effective than trying to fight it (beyond nutrition). This takes the guilt out and leads to a more loving self acceptance.

 

I wish you the best of luck this year!

Sincerely,

Nksan

I Googled "spring depression" as if I didn't know by now and here I am with the rest of you sick puppies, pleasure. My guess is if we all get an early start at spring cleanup and chores, the sooner we will feel better, I'm guessing it's the mess that winter leaves behind and our inherant responsibility as humans to clean it all up has us bent out of shape on a subconsious level, that's my bet. Glad you feel better Sybil, to be honest I think I feel better after reading this too.

Yes, April is a tough one for me too.  As many others have written here, I googled Spring Depression, and I am also "pleased" (if one could say so) to see I am not alone in this.  As to why?  It just dawned on me reading this that my mother died on March 3 way back when I was only three years old.  I did not even know this until my brother passed away on March 2 this year and people commented how if he'd waited a few years more he would have had the same death date as our mother.  (Interesting because he shares his BIRTHDAY with our late father and came down with the same kind of cancer at the very same point in his own life.  But I digress.)

 

A couple of people mentioned the indoor comforts of winter or being kept indoors a lot as a child.  I have Asperger syndrome and have never been a big outdoor-activity person, anyhow.  But the older I get (I am 51 now), the more the bright glare of the sun burns my eyes and makes everything seem somehow kind of naked and exposed.  I much prefer a diffuse light, such as on a partly-cloudy day or in the shade of trees.  But at the same time, day after day of rainclouds or fog will depress me too...

 

Anyhow, once again I appreciate knowing I have some company in this particular malady of springtime depression.

HI , I JUST CAME ACROSS THIS AND WOW, I,M NOT AS CRAZY AS I THOUGHT. IN FACT, SOMEWHERE ON THIS SITE I POSTED HOW I FEEL ABOUT SPRING OR ACTUALLY SUMMER. I JUST HATE..HATE..HOT WEATHER. WHILE EVERYONE ELSE I KNOW ARE HAPPY CAMPERS, BUYING NEW SWIMSUITS...SHORTS AND TANK TOPS.GOING TO TANNING BEDS TO GET A HEAD START ON THE PERFECT TAN....I DONT KNOW WHEN I STARTED TO HATE THIS TIME OF YEAR...BUT, I AM HAPPY TO KNOW THAT I,M NOT ALONE...I HAVE HAD SKIN CANCER REMOVED 4 TIMES, SO I KNOW I,M GOING TO STAY AWAY FROM THE SUN AS MUCH AS I CAN....GOD BLESS YOU ALL....JENNIFER

I have this too.  Starts in March and peaks around Mother's day and slowly gets better after that.  Would moving to a place like Phoenix help?

Like many people who've written here, I'm just AMAZED. 40 years of spring depressions, worst in March and April, lessening and finally fading out by the end of June. Not fond of the "loudness" -- brightness and tyrannical activity -- of warm sunny weather, but I seem to become acclimatized to it by then. Feeling "safer" in winter resonates strongly with me. I wonder if those of us inclined toward introversion in an increasingly extrovert world feel "righter" in weather that allows inwardness and "wronger" in weather that insists on getting out. The contrast between those weathers is strongest when spring breaks through. The suddener, more "violent" the advent of bright spring weather, the earlier and quicker I seem to descend. I have lately also been exploring that it's the time I was conceived. This may seem an odd angle, but I have found myself helped lately by a counsellor skilled in pre- and perinatal psychology. I'm guessing, however, that the birthdays of those who've written with spring difficulties would be all around the year. Yet, as someone insightfully pointed out, we may each have different baggage heaped upon a generalized spring difficulty. In any case, thank you all, I'm profoundly grateful to find -- after all this time -- that I'm not alone. May your depressions lift. Eloïse

Yes, I agree about the "tyranny" of brightness and loudness which increase markedly in the spring, and one does tend to acclimate as the warm weather months progress.  Everything does seem more in your face.  And if you think a "regular" introvert feels discriminated against in our (yes, you are right) extrovert-oriented society...try being on the autism spectrum.

Yes, depression in the spring does exist.  I've been married to my husband for forty years.  He used to take off in the spring to East Texas to help his father at the ranch.  I was left alone to look out for myself.  He would come back around October.  I never knew what was wrong with him.  I was always blaming myself for this and that.  Then I learned it as not me.  He just needed some time alone.  Right now he is in East Texas.  He told me he was going to visit his Dad at the grave.  He had not gone to East Texas since his brother died in 1994.  We were not allowed to attend the funeral because according to his step mother he was not dressed properly.  His father died around 1996 and needless to say he did not attend the funeral.  My husband left around June 5.  It is now July 8 and he finally told me that he was suffering from depression.  He is now 59 years old and he finally confesses to me that he has depression.  On memorial weekend when I was with him he was extremely angry at me.  He told me I was very mean and if I continued he was going to call the sheriff and have me removed from his property.  I did not want to tell him that I had paid for the property.  I knew something was wrong with him.  He left in June 5 and I left him a message on his cell phone.  If you feel bad check yourself in the hospital and left me know where you are.  I normally do not take the time to add comments to anything on the computer but this just might help somebody.  After my mother died, my sister claimed she went through a depression.  I did not believe her because she was still going to work.   When my mother was alive, I remember she was depressed around December and she went buying presents for her grown up children.  My mother was really poor so really she just did jot have money to be buying presents.  I mention my sister and my mother because I guess depression hits everybody differently.  I have been feeling sad this month because I find myself not being able to do anything to help my husband.  He is on 4 medications from the VA for his arthritis, anxiety panic disorder.  To top if off last year he began suffering from erectile dysfunction and this is just about killing him.  He said he checked himself at a hospital, got some electrolytes and is earting properly.  He is working somewhere at a health farm in East Texas.  After this experience, I think I need to join a support group because my husband depression is really bothering me.  I have been walking every morning for about an hour.  Yes my husband got some vardenafil (Levitra) from the VA.  I love him dearly.  But, there is just so much you can do with someone who is depressed.  I have just left it all up to God.  Most of the medications to treat depression cause depression.  Two years ago he was put on Zoloft only to discover this medication made him think of suicide.  It has only been in December of 2007 that he told the VA he was depressed.  If yo read my comments, pray for my husband and my family and I'll do the same for you because depression is really bad.  DO GET YOURSELF TO A DOCTOR.  I'm glad my husband has sense enough to take medication.  I just with he had let me know about his depression a lot sooner in my marriage because I just learned about his feelings about depression in December of 2007.  I wouldn't have blamed myself for this and that.  I just might write a book and have the profits of my book go to help people who are depressed to get help.  Thank you.  Just call me THE EMOTIONALLY PHYSICALLY AND TEMPORARILY UNAPRRECIATAED WIFE (I say temporarily because after one on his empisodes he would always thank me for remaining his wife and being behind him) BATTERED WIFE, Margie-Little Flower in El Paso, Texas

I am responding to my message.  I just wanted everybody to know that life is just tough.  On July 16, 2008 I found out my husband was back in town.  He was found joy, peace, love, and a new style of life.  He has found "Sunshine".  He claims his dead father told him to "be happy".  He told me he had made up his mind to die before December this year.  That is the reason why he was not eating.  However, he has now gotten his his health back.  I'll leave you with this thought.  He has found "Sunshine" , ANOTHER WOMAN.  During his whole trip to East Texas he called me and told me he had depression.  Then he called me again to let me know he was MANIAC DEPRESSIVE.  Well, continue praying for him because with his erectile dysfunction, I don't know how long his new "Sunshine" is going to last and then he will be depressed again.  I'm trying to analyze the whole situation about Maniac Depressive.  I guess this is what this illness causes.  Ups and downs. Highs and lows.  Risky sex, spending sprees, etc.  He claims he bought a Harley for this RENDEZVOUS. It is just terrible. I hope this is my last entry.  Thank you.  I just know that when he comes back, he'll probably say nothing happened, there was no woman, he just needed to get away etc. etc. I have been through this before.  But this is the first time that he called me to let me know that he was depressed that's why I just fell so worry for him.  I still do feel sorry for him. Is it depression or his life style of lying.  Thank you. Margie from EL PASO.

Hi Margie,

I sympathise with you, but there is hope, and keep looking for answers, they are available. As far as I know, (I am no professional psychologist), but what you describe about your husband sounds familiar, like something the pro's call Borderline personality disorder, or something in that line. Sometimes it helps to know that the person's behaviour has a name, and there is information avalable, which makes it easier to cope with.

Good luck and keep looking out for the light.

(I truly respect you for your faithfulness toward your husband!)

Hanna

 

 

hi margie,

 

i wish i had something encouraging to say, but in truth, i really don't.  i spent the last seven years trying to make something workwith a man who is bipolar.  your very first message made me think he was bipolar and not just depressed.  the sudden hostility and "i'll call the sherriff" stuff sounded very familiar.  the regular trips away, the anger directed toward you.  you have just found out that he has another woman.  i am willing to bet any amount of money that the further you dig into this, or the more he stops trying to hide it from you, you will find out there have been numerous infidelities and other deceptions.

 

the good news, however, is that he is taking medication.  if he is committed to taking his meds and accepting responsibility for the dreadful behavior, maybe ya'll can fix the damage.  but keep in mind that his illness is NOT an excuse to treat you badly.  you still have the right to expect a certain amount of decency and respect from your husband.  he may never really be capable of that.  i KNOW he has a real, genuine illness, but be honest with yourself about what you are willing to put up with.  don't be afraid to ask yourself, "would i put up with this treatment if he didn't have his illness as an excuse?"

 

i just hate the idea of another woman going through what i have been through, trying so hard to love someone who is really two different people, and you never know which one you will get on a given day, or when the one will turn into the other.  if he doesn't remain on meds, his illness will get worse: more rapid and extreme changes and a higher chance of suicide.

 

good luck to you; i really hope you find the happiness and stability i am sure that you deserve.  i certainly do hope your husband gets better.

Dear Braxy

 

I will write again when I have time.  My husband filed for divorce August 2008 and it is still going.  He wants spousal support after 40 years of marriage.  I guess the 40 years of supporting him was not enough.  Pray for me.  Margie from El Paso, Texas

I have often wondered if the two have something to do with each other.  I do fine all year long but around late April beginning of May I get horrible allergies and very depressed.  Each year my allergies get worse and each year my depression seems to get worse.  Makes you wonder if it's a chemical reaction to either allergy medication or our bodies reaction to our allergies. 

Of course this would not be the case for people who don't have allergies.  So maybe we are dealing with depression and than not feeling well because of allergies just makes the situation worse.  How many of you have allergies this time of year??

I feel relieved to see that other people suffer from this problem. Four years ago, I was hospitilized for severe anxiety and depression in March. Ever since then, I start having a lot of negative self-talk and brooding in mid-February, which culminates in a series of anxiety attacks and other problems in mid to late March. By the end of April I'm usually back to normal and I always feel great in the summer, fall, and winter.

 

I've often thought that my spring depression had to do with my schooling and career choice. I'm a teacher, and joined this profession right out of college. The school year runs from August to June, and I've wondered if I just get overwhelmed at work or school at this point of the year. Any theories?

I love the fall. It has always been my favourite time of year.  Spring however, makes me very anxious. It's a season I just can't make the most of which leaves me feeling unproductive and useless. So much talk of renewal and "yay summer is on it's way!"  I start to panic over what I'm going to wear. I feel exposed.

 

I don't have great memories of spring or early summer as a child.  I just started to notice this pattern of spring depression in the last few years and it has been getting worse.  I had the first rumblings of despair a few days ago.  Objectively speaking, life is good but from my darkening perspective I'm a failure in every way. I spoke with a very close friend today about my feelings and she said "it's about that time of year isn't it."  She is a family doc and suggested that perhaps there was a correlation between my seasonal depression and my mother leaving me as a child. Who knows? Maybe my mother had the same thing.

 

I've been training for triathlons for about 8 months and I'm hoping my training will help me this year.  It's a great suggestion to book time with friends and to try to have some fun. I'll try to do that too.

 

I just went online tonight to do a search for Spring depression and there you all were.  Thank you for sharing your pain.  It's nice to know that I'm not alone after all.

 

Good luck!

This entire discussion is good for one huge thing, to let people know they are not alone. There is one factor that is not so great though. We are all lumped into one group. The issues that all teenagers go through could be a large part of what your son is going through. Add to that the potential for a seasonal disorder and you have a more difficult situation for your son. 

 

Look at all of the pressure your son has: peers, his own perception of self, ever changing levels of responsibility, school, hormones, sleep debt, a need for independence and all the scary stuff that goes with it, sexuality, and a developing ability to use abstract thought that makes him question his beliefs. Damn. That is a heavy burden. Now add the seasonal stuff. If that is allergy related he will have headaches, constant pressure of the sinuses, sore throats from post nasal drip, more sleep debt due to sleep pattern disruption. I mean, yuck!

 

Activity, quality diet, fluids, fluids, fluids, naps, and a nice long car ride with an understanding adult to talk stuff out CASUALLY. That's the key. The sneak attack to communication. The kid picks the music, then you ask (after a short time has passed) "who is that?", "I don't mind (or do mind) them." Talk, talk, talk, about nothing much. Then ask a couple questions like "how are you feeling lately?", "How is school, swimming, karate?" Whatever. Start to draw them out. It doesn't have to go anywhere, just let them vent if they need to. 

 

With my daughter it was going 45 minutes away for Starbuck's. The coffee and drive cost a lot, sort of, but the money has been well spent. These trips have also given her an outlet. The outlet reduces stress. The lines of communication are re-established in a parent-"adult" child manner but the support is clear. This reduces more stress. Hopefully the next step is the more acceptance of parental advice. 

 

Of course, all of this is a guess without knowing specifics. Just remember that anytime we reduce negative stressors we are doing a great thing. 

Well, I have spring depression as well. I have gone through it for at least the past 35 springs. It started again last week. I have noticed a new pattern with my spring depression. It now comes in short bursts of deep, dark, bottomless depression that passes after a few hours. After this, I feel like I was hit by a truck, exhausted and spent. Right now I am just waiting for the next round.

 

June cannot come fast enough.

Hi.  Well here I am, too.  I also googled spring depression and found this website.  Every year beginning in March, I begin to get really depressed and exhausted.  I'm on antidepressants, which work the rest of the year for me, but in the spring I just start to feel really down.  I think I'll talk to my doctor about increasing the dosage on my Celexa, at least for the next month or so, and see if that helps at all.  Fighting the urge to just give in to it, is difficult.  But I will also try to get out and around other people, and see if that helps.  I feel sympathy for all of us.  It is tough to feel this way.

This may be a completely daft idea. But is it possible there is natural natural reason for people in the Northern Hemisphere to be depressed in Spring - in that there may be a dampening down of libido and all other related things so as to discourage mid-Winter births?

This idea seems far from daft! It actually seems to make a lot of sense that there could be an evolutionary link. Thank you for pointing this out to me, I think that this is a very interesting idea, and if you know of any published articles in relation please let me know!

Sincerely,

NKS

 

Sorry to say it was a chance thought. It is just that I had never heard anyone mention it that I raised it. But someone somewhere is sure to have pursued it!

PS. I just wanted to add that I have depression all year round, but it's managed fairly well with anti-depressants, healthy eating, daily exercise, and trying to balance work and family life so there's a little quiet time at the end of each day to read and be quiet. This spring depression just wipes me out in ways the depression doesn't the rest of the year.

Just another thought. Does anyone else ever notice that food tastes weird during this time? Especially meat and dairy products...they taste kind of bad, like they're on the verge of spoiling.

The milk tastes funny because the cows are eating different things like spring onions.

Meat... I don't know.

Usually it is a few weeks before it gets to your table from the field, unless your buying fresh meat.

For the last 35 years, I've been depressed in the spring.  I've never understood it.  I've lived in Michigan my whole life, I HATE winter, I LOVE spring.  It starts around the end of February, and peaks in mid-April, early May.  Then it gets better. 

 

But I wait so impatiently for spring every year, for that first daffodil, for the forsythia to turn yellow, I can't understand why I'm always so sad.

 

I've thought maybe that the winter blues just accumulate and accumulate until they finally break me, just at the end of the winter.  But maybe it's because I think I SHOULD feel better because spring is here, and I don't.

 

I've always survived it so far, but some springs are so awful, that I don't think I'm going to make it. 

 

This is a bad one, it seems pointless to fight it.

 

 

YOur comments definitely struck a chord with me. I couldn't have said it better myself.

The idea that spring is here. All is well, we should be happy. I love the flowers but hate the misery that comes into my head with it. This year has been more acute for me too.

I am glad each day that passes will bring me closer to relief.

On another vein, the correlation between suicides, murder-suicides, mass murders (like Tech and Columbine) all have spring in common.  It can be a very mean time of year for looking so pretty.

Best wishes to all

I am truly amazed to read that so many people suffer their worst depressions during spring.  Like so many, I thought I was "the only one."  I have had a depressive disorder since I was a child (I'm now 46).  I could never understand why, when nature is renewing itself as the season of spring, and everyone seems to want to "do things"- I feel like I'm dying - in fact, cannot seem to stop focusing on death and loss.  My mind is mired in it and my body feels like I am "curling in" on myself...even moving my eyes is an effort.

 

While reading the posts here, it popped into my mind that the two times I was hospitalized for depression in the past was once in April, the next time in late March.  Both times in spring!

 

Strangely, I take delight in gardening - the flowers blooming and the trees and wild animals flourishing - yet the longer days of sun and warm weather are sheer torture to me.  I feel "exposed", unprotected, overstimulated, trapped, no safe, dark, friendly place to recharge in.

 

I finally decided, 3 days ago, to bump up my ssri - at least for a week or 2 - and see how I feel.  Last night was my first more normal night of sleep, pleasant and insightful dreams, and real rest since "spring sprung."  It seems, so far, that the increase in antidepressant is offering some relief.  I think of times in history when people didn't have any such thing as an antidepressant and I wonder how they survived the torture of depression.  Ugh.

 

Anyway, best to all; clearly, none of us are alone in this.

Mr Spazm,

 

You be careful. I've been dealing with this for a while. I'm a stubborn guy so I just get angry and "suck it up." It's kind of stupid but it works for me. For now.

 

When a close friend takes his life though, well, I think it puts another similarly affected friend at risk. Keep going with those journals and read that bible if you are a true believer, but, if you keep hunkering down you need to talk to a pro. Just for solid support if nothing else.

 

My guess is that most people experience depression more often than they admit. The sunniest dispositions experience the lows more acutely. People misinterpret this though. We put a backward spin on it: "They were so happy and even they couldn't handle it. What hope is there for me?" That isn't taking into account how precipitous their drop is. Sunny people fall farther than the average Joe so the pain has to be worse for them. 

 

Anyway, just force yourself to form supports for this time of year to work in conjunction with your journal, bible, and understanding that it will end in June only to come back next year.