Is this a weird season for depression?

HI, MY NAME IS JENNIFER, AND I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU ALOT OF PEOPLE GET MORE DEPRESSED AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. I AM ONE OF THEM. I LIVE IN S. CAROLINA WHERE THE SUMMERS ARE REALLY HOT. IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE 2 MONTHS OF WINTER-LIKE WEATHER, THEN, BAM-SAM, ITS 95 DEGREES IN THE SHADE. I GREW UP IN CHICAGO, AND A BLIZZARD WAS NOTHING MUCH, YOU STILL HAD TO GO TO SCHOOL OR  WORK, OF COURSE THERE WERE TIMES WHEN THINGS SHUT DOWN UNTIL THE MAIN STREETS COULD BE CLEARED.AT MY AGE NOW, JUST TURNED 64, I STILL HATE SUMMER...WITH A PASSION...I START DREADING SUMMER BACK IN SEPTEMBER...I STAY INSIDE WITH THE A/C ON. I DO HAVE A LOT OF HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT KEEP ME HOME ANYWAY. THEY ARE PART OF WHAT MAKES ME DEPRESSED. I HAVE NO MEDICAL INSURANCE, I GO TO A CLINIC, THAT GOES BY YOUR INCOME AS TO HOW MUCH YOU PAY. MY HUSBANDS INCOME IS SOCIAL SECURITY...I JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE DIABETIS..I COULD GO ON AND ON..THE ONE THING THAT REALLY GETS TO ME IS I AM LOSING MY VISION QUICKLY DUE TO CATARACS AND I DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO HAVE THEM REMOVED. I AM WRITING WAY TOO MUCH. JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE NOT ALONE. OH, I TAKE ZOLOFT FOR MY DEPRESSION....GOOD LUCK TO YOU......JENNIFER

I feel much the same lately.  I can be sitting at work and feel like the desk is getting smaller and that eventually if I am lucky it will just suck me in.  Feel like crying often and more than that just don't have any oomph or ambition.  I have been on 150 mg of Effexor for over a year, reduced it down from 375 mg at a time when I was so exhausted that I was unable to even leave the house and go to work.  The winter has seemed to drag on forever for me this year.  Every little disappointment seems to magnify itself 100 times over but I was helped a lot by talking to a therapist.  I am glad that I did it and at times miss it.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

LONELY LORNA...

Hi, I am new to this site.  Your comments about suffering with SAD struck a cord with me.  I was dx with Major Depression, and Panic Disorder at ages 14 and 21.  I am now 44, so Yes, I have survived, and YES, it has been an ordeal to say the very least.  I also have SAD, and I ALSO have issues with both seasonal changes; Fall to Winter, and Winter to Spring.  I had one Psyhiatrist tell me, she was emerging herself in research and found many people with a bipolar component???? to their Depression are considered linked to SAD.  I don't have bipolar, however, there is this belief roaming around out there, that the swing in moods during season changes are more likely due to biopolar.  I

firmly DO NOT LIKE getting INTO labels.  I think it can be a tool to help treat, however, there are too many swinging poles...LOL... from decade to decade on what people are, the cocktails of drugs and new thinking, AND LESS insurance on how to treat HUMAN BEINGS.  Mood Disorders are MOOD disorders, and to me, it becomes symptomology and what treatments and wellbeing changes can be utilized to help a person live with and through any mood disorder. 

So, in saying all of this, I am sure you know about the light therapies, and diet changes that can help stablize your mood during seasonal changes.  It is like the old saying, "Spring Fever."  Well, to me, it is like a fever; tired, slower, moodier, body feels out of sorts.  It can better or worse depending what area of the country you live in to.  This is due to environmental issues, such as pollen, dust, heat/cold.  Aghhhhhhh, our bodies are really machines; very complicated, yet machinery non-the-less.  So, we own them and therefore, we have to address them, personally..  Don't over-analyze why you feel the way you do, and OMG it all.  Learn to go with the flow of your body, and stop...STOP any negative self-talk that comes with changes in moods.  MOVE through and forward, and if it's slowly, than slowly.  Reach out to support, like I am to you and this group.... 

Intereseted,

SuzieQ