How do you prepare/deal with SAD?

[baby-makes-3]

If you have Seasonal Affective Disorder, how do you prepare for the winter months (besides lot of Vitamin D)? Do you have a lightbox and does it help? What else?? tia!

[VillageMom6]

I do have a lightbox and I find that it makes a major difference in how I feel. It's best if I start using it in the mornings beginning in September/October, rather than wait until winter when I'm miserable.

Another thing I do (that I realize isn't an option for everyone) is to travel south in February. Seeing the sun again is such a respite from the six months of unending greyness that is Michigan.

For what many families pay to spend a week at the beach in the peak season of summer, we can spend to rent a modest house for a month in cooler (but still sunny) Florida.

There are years in which finances just don't allow for that, though, so I cope with my lightbox and maybe even some Zoloft.

I try to have spring/summer babies because combining winter depression with post-partum depression has not gone well for me.

Best of luck to you!

[rhiOrion]

I have a light box.

My worst year was the year I was in Rochester, NY where there was no sun and it was not above freezing for months.

Back home in NC I have to watch myself closely, but I've only had one bad year here. But by the time spring gets here I'm ready to weep with joy.

[baby-makes-3]

Thanks for the responses.

Can I ask about the light boxes? Where did you get them and what's your routine for using? I mean, during the day?

Last year, i planned a beach trip south in December to help, and it did, but I crashed so incredibly hard in January because that was over - and we had several 24in snows last winter too! I wish we could afford a winter home, anything, I'd live in a cardboard box to escape the winter.

[laohaire]

Just subscribing since this is the first year that I have not only not looked forward to, but actively dreaded, autumn. I have been dreading autumn since, well, last winter. Even when spring came I was thinking "thank god it's spring, but it's all going to be so short and then it will be autumn again." Fall used to be my favorite season, the season I had the most energy and good feelings (fresh air, nice temperatures, lovely light).

I purposefully got a lot more sun this spring/summer than I ever used to (here's hoping that was the right move and I don't die of melanoma in 5 years). Does that help? I'm assuming not, only a healthy person has enough Vit D to last through the winter, probably.

[karlin]

Since I've started taking lots of vitamin D and eating well, my SAD doesn't bother me as much. What I mean by eating well was a complete change of diet. I now eat paleo/primal, and while I did it for other health reasons, my SAD got way better too. I have a light box, but it doesn't help that much. Having bright lights on in the house after sundown (which in the winter is as early as 4pm) helps more.

In the past 3 years I've developed a sun allergy, so I have a new perspective on winter. I can go out without a hat and sunscreen (I live in South Dakota, which is not really south at all...not much UV from October to March) and not worry about a rash. So I do tend to get outside more. Just seeing the sun makes me feel better. Another thing that helps a lot is scheduling activities in the evening (which is my worst time...I want to go to bed when the sun goes down). A yoga class after dinner can do wonders.

[Annie Mac]

I use a light box. You can buy them at most drugstores. If not, try a medical supply store. Get a good one, as they are not all equal. Also, just making yourself go outside and get a bit of exercise really helps too. Although, I know all too well, that winter weather does not look inviting. I have a friend who used to live in the north (like very north, North West Territories), and he said that doing outdoor activities in the winter was paramount to one's sanity.

[VillageMom6]

Not all light boxes are the same. I'd do some research, starting with anything written by Norman Rosenthal (he's got a great book on SAD that you can get through your library).

This is my light box: http://www.alaskanorthernlights.com/

It's not the cheapest one out there but it is medical grade and has lasted me eight years so far. Beginning in October I put it on my computer desk and turn it on in the morning while I surf the web.

I believe the standard advice is to use it for 1/2 an hour each morning but by January I've got it on from 8:00am to Noon.

Laohaire, I totally understand what you mean about dreading autumn. I'm the same way and it's a shame because autumn is such a beautiful season.

I think that getting lots of sunshine in the summer is great for helping mood stability in the summer. But unfortunately it does not seem possible to store it up for the winter.

Just like winter trips somewhere sunny... it's great for while you are there but it doesn't last once you return home. My friend once asked me if my February trips eliminate SAD. I said that it does wonders during February! But once I'm back north in cold and gray Michigan, my March sucks.

This fall/winter I'm going to try to spend some time outdoors every day but man, that goes against every instinct I have!