Seasonally Affective Disorder, but same difference
Essentially light levels cause the onset of depression, so in the winter people tend to feel depressed.
Symptoms are
* a desire to oversleep and difficulty staying awake, but in some cases, disturbed sleep and early morning wakening;
* feeling fatigue and an inability to carry out normal routine;
* a craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, usually resulting in weight gain;
* feelings of misery, guilt and loss of self-esteem, sometimes hopelessness and despair, sometimes apathy and loss of feelings;
* an irritability and desire to avoid social contact;
* a tension and inability to tolerate stress;
* a decreased interest in sex and physical contact
* and in some sufferers, extremes of mood and short periods of hypomania (overactivity) in spring and autumn.
*reduced immune system(personally I get asthma and eczema too but only for the three months from Dec to March. Again very odd to only get something at a particular time of year.
I used to get sever pains in my fingers and some joints right up until my mid twenties, I put it down to growing pains, it was quite acutely painful though. Have you tried a light box Erin? They're expensive but they certainly make my temper more easier to control, the meds do the rest.
That's a tad difficult in the midst of winter El machinae, and especially difficult when the general weather conditions in your country are cloudy and grim especially in winter. Thus I recomened light boxes, according to studies they are as effective as antidepressants in combating the winter blues, a milder form. In many counties in the UK you can get them on the NHS, but not in mine unfortunately
in my case though I reckon only high doses of meds could keep me from hibernating
I'm just thankful I only take them for 6 months as the side effects take a while to manage effectively. At least they did with me.
