Winters End And Seasonal Affective Disorder
Without Prejudice
I was so excited when I could celebrate the end of Summer by getting into my first pair of sweat pants. Now as Winter comes to it's end I am celebrating the fact that I don't have to wear them as they are too itchy and hot. 20 degrees today in Melbourne and the brown boronia soaking in Seaweed Concentrate can finally be planted in the ground.
The end of Winter also celebrates the end of my Seasonal Affective Disorder. Thank you, God. Every year as far back as I can remember I have had it. The June, July, August period, looking back is one long dark season of limited light, cold and drawing the curtains at 4.30 in the afternoon. In the U.K. It can be 3.30 after not opening them until 10 am.
I have known seasons of lying like a sloth in front of a heater, after eating an entire pot of Tuna Mornay with pasta, ( those longed for carbs) and passing out for a few hours. The ennui and listlessness knowing no bounds and wearing my treasured track pants so often my children took one pair and burnt them in the backyard.
Dancing around the bonfire they created like little loons.
I was born in the Northern Hemisphere, Edinburgh, Scotland. An iron grey cold city in Winter. And because of this, my ancestral DNA should allow me to cope with Winter. Be hardened to icy winters. Not so. My parents emigrated to Australia when I was 2. I don't know if that triggered my seasonal disorder or that it is just genetically linked to depression. S.A.D. is linked to depression and means that for three months of the year you mainly want to hibernate like a Bear.
You feel sleepy all the time, everything is an effort. You crave carbs, you eat anything to feel better. An explanation from Better Health Channel.
SAD is a mood disorder that has a seasonal pattern. The cause is unclear, but may be related to the variation in light exposure in different seasons. SAD is characterised by mood disturbances (either periods of depression or mania) that begin and end in a particular season. Depression in winter only is the most common.
SAD is usually diagnosed after the person has had the same symptoms during winter for two or more years. People with SAD are more likely to experience lack of energy, sleep too much, overeat, gain weight and crave carbohydrates. SAD is rare in Australia, and more likely to be found in places with short winter days such as Scandinavia.
So it's rare in Australia, ( well I know amongst my friend and family) that it is not rare in Melbourne as we mimic U.K. Weather. Cold arctic winds that feel like they are coming straight off the Russian
Steppes, limited daylight, not getting outside for weeks as the weather batters our homes, bodies and psyches. They say the hibernation feeling comes from our ancestors, (once again) and goes back as far as cave days when the Winter Period heralded a time of limited food.
The body would shut down and go into a somnolence state to expend less energy therefore requiring less food. Like a Yoga Master that can suspend his breath, hunger you plow on through Winter while all the while you want to sleep, sleep and sleep some more.
Preferably of course in front of a fire, somewhere and a big fur bear skin covering you, soft and smelling sweet and not of blood and guts.
I once spent three months in the Summier clime of Queensland ( which can be an aid to S.A.D., it is said ) Ha, not for me. I stayed at my brothers and as soon as I waved him off to work I would watch Foxtel and sleep most of the day, everyday. Be awake when he came home and go to bed at 11pm and sleep. I had a set routine that I adhered to but the tiredness never ever changed.
The good thing about S.A.D. Is that you know it ends. It is not forever. It tends to be genetically linked and you don't suffer it the minute Spring hits. It disappears over the rest of the year.
The start of Spring and warmer weather bring an intense feeling of euphoria. It's over, you can retire the sweat pants and ugg boots and drag out your shorts, bathers and pretty Summer dresses. Legs are cleared of their unsexy mohair stockings and exfoliated. I need a whipper sniper on mine.
I don't even have the energy for that today as the Earth warms to a remarkable 20 degrees Celsius. The sun shines, the birds are tap tap tapping on my tin roof calling me to the garden, swooping in and out of the giant eucalypt in next door but ones yard. They mock me, chattering on branches, eyeing off the bonkers German Sheperd girl pup, Bobo.
As a last slap in the face from Winter I have been gifted with the flu. It's horrid. This year it comes with nausea, vomiting, diaorrhea, clogged sinuses, tiredness and a cough that makes you sound like an old mans death rattle and catches at your breath so you choke. Then you retch up long swinging trails of mucous that seem to come up out of your feet. It is truly disgusting. Also disgusting are the three crusted cold sores on my lip and they hurt like a Son Of A Bitch.
My daughter told me to pop them last night as the lower edges had turned green. That volcano they are freaking about exploding is a big fat nothing compared to my bottom lip. I look like Pete Burns from Dead Or Alive after his botched lip surgery. He oozed white pus from his lips that exploded and
wept at will.
I was so excited when I could celebrate the end of Summer by getting into my first pair of sweat pants. Now as Winter comes to it's end I am celebrating the fact that I don't have to wear them as they are too itchy and hot. 20 degrees today in Melbourne and the brown boronia soaking in Seaweed Concentrate can finally be planted in the ground.
The end of Winter also celebrates the end of my Seasonal Affective Disorder. Thank you, God. Every year as far back as I can remember I have had it. The June, July, August period, looking back is one long dark season of limited light, cold and drawing the curtains at 4.30 in the afternoon. In the U.K. It can be 3.30 after not opening them until 10 am.
I have known seasons of lying like a sloth in front of a heater, after eating an entire pot of Tuna Mornay with pasta, ( those longed for carbs) and passing out for a few hours. The ennui and listlessness knowing no bounds and wearing my treasured track pants so often my children took one pair and burnt them in the backyard.
Dancing around the bonfire they created like little loons.
I was born in the Northern Hemisphere, Edinburgh, Scotland. An iron grey cold city in Winter. And because of this, my ancestral DNA should allow me to cope with Winter. Be hardened to icy winters. Not so. My parents emigrated to Australia when I was 2. I don't know if that triggered my seasonal disorder or that it is just genetically linked to depression. S.A.D. is linked to depression and means that for three months of the year you mainly want to hibernate like a Bear.
You feel sleepy all the time, everything is an effort. You crave carbs, you eat anything to feel better. An explanation from Better Health Channel.
Summary
Depression is a medical condition characterised by feelings of extreme sadness and dejection. It is not just feeling sad. There are different types and symptoms of depression. Early detection is important, as untreated depression can lead to suicide.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
SAD is a mood disorder that has a seasonal pattern. The cause is unclear, but may be related to the variation in light exposure in different seasons. SAD is characterised by mood disturbances (either periods of depression or mania) that begin and end in a particular season. Depression in winter only is the most common.
SAD is usually diagnosed after the person has had the same symptoms during winter for two or more years. People with SAD are more likely to experience lack of energy, sleep too much, overeat, gain weight and crave carbohydrates. SAD is rare in Australia, and more likely to be found in places with short winter days such as Scandinavia.
So it's rare in Australia, ( well I know amongst my friend and family) that it is not rare in Melbourne as we mimic U.K. Weather. Cold arctic winds that feel like they are coming straight off the Russian
Steppes, limited daylight, not getting outside for weeks as the weather batters our homes, bodies and psyches. They say the hibernation feeling comes from our ancestors, (once again) and goes back as far as cave days when the Winter Period heralded a time of limited food.
The body would shut down and go into a somnolence state to expend less energy therefore requiring less food. Like a Yoga Master that can suspend his breath, hunger you plow on through Winter while all the while you want to sleep, sleep and sleep some more.
Preferably of course in front of a fire, somewhere and a big fur bear skin covering you, soft and smelling sweet and not of blood and guts.
I once spent three months in the Summier clime of Queensland ( which can be an aid to S.A.D., it is said ) Ha, not for me. I stayed at my brothers and as soon as I waved him off to work I would watch Foxtel and sleep most of the day, everyday. Be awake when he came home and go to bed at 11pm and sleep. I had a set routine that I adhered to but the tiredness never ever changed.
The good thing about S.A.D. Is that you know it ends. It is not forever. It tends to be genetically linked and you don't suffer it the minute Spring hits. It disappears over the rest of the year.
The start of Spring and warmer weather bring an intense feeling of euphoria. It's over, you can retire the sweat pants and ugg boots and drag out your shorts, bathers and pretty Summer dresses. Legs are cleared of their unsexy mohair stockings and exfoliated. I need a whipper sniper on mine.
I don't even have the energy for that today as the Earth warms to a remarkable 20 degrees Celsius. The sun shines, the birds are tap tap tapping on my tin roof calling me to the garden, swooping in and out of the giant eucalypt in next door but ones yard. They mock me, chattering on branches, eyeing off the bonkers German Sheperd girl pup, Bobo.
As a last slap in the face from Winter I have been gifted with the flu. It's horrid. This year it comes with nausea, vomiting, diaorrhea, clogged sinuses, tiredness and a cough that makes you sound like an old mans death rattle and catches at your breath so you choke. Then you retch up long swinging trails of mucous that seem to come up out of your feet. It is truly disgusting. Also disgusting are the three crusted cold sores on my lip and they hurt like a Son Of A Bitch.
My daughter told me to pop them last night as the lower edges had turned green. That volcano they are freaking about exploding is a big fat nothing compared to my bottom lip. I look like Pete Burns from Dead Or Alive after his botched lip surgery. He oozed white pus from his lips that exploded and
wept at will.
