Comments | friendly_crips: Summer s.a.d

vicki_t_veg in friendly_crips

Summer s.a.d

Jul 18, 2014 19:10

Am I the only person in the UK to suffer summer s.a.d?
I'm talking depression not just hating this current stupidly hot weather.
I want to hibernate in a freezer and come out in September/October

conditions: seasonal affective disorder, conditions: depression

Comments 12

lakmiseiru July 18 2014, 19:40:24 UTC

Well, I'm in the US, but I have summer depression (though, in full disclosure, I'm bipolar). Everyone else I know has winter depression, but in the summer I just can't get anything done - not extreme-sadness depression, just don't-care depression. Seems mostly to be due to a lack of structure, but I totally hear you on wanting to hibernate.

fallconsmate July 19 2014, 02:33:53 UTC

i don't, but i do know someone (online) who suffers from summer depression.

and unfortunately, they had to go through open heart surgery *and* their godchild passed away this year. they're suffering badly this year and not being able to tell if it's biological due to the cardiac issues, normal due to grief, or the "normal" SAD.

it's not the average SAD, and seems to be more difficult to treat, as the normal treatment for winter SAD is using the light fixtures to give more light in the darker months.

i hope you're able to find a good treatment!

rhodielady_47 July 19 2014, 03:15:51 UTC

Hmmmm.
I wonder what could cause a summer SAD? I've always wondered how they managed to figure out that lack of enough full-spectrum light caused the winter SAD.
I do know that allergies sometimes manifest as depressions. Is there any chance that you're exposed to something during the summer months that could be causing your summer SAD?
Back when I lived in the American Deep South, I always hated summer because it was so extremely hot and humid. The American Midwest where I live now isn't nearly as bad.
:)

lilacsigil July 19 2014, 04:59:46 UTC

There's a couple of theories on summer SAD, some to do with evening light exposure, but also do to with heat: unlike winter SAD, summer SAD is more common in warm to hot summer climates.

rhodielady_47 July 20 2014, 00:06:55 UTC

Isn't it strange that something like light--the amount or even just the quality of it--should be able to have such an effect on our health.
:\

renniek July 19 2014, 16:17:13 UTC

I think they worked out winter SAD partly through epidemiology looking at incidence in different areas and finding it corresponded to short daylight hours, also more common with indoor occupations

Thread 5

lilacsigil July 19 2014, 04:55:36 UTC

I have summer SAD, but I'm Australian, so it's winter right now and totally awesome.

kath_ballantyne July 29 2014, 02:25:27 UTC

I am also in Aus and have summer SAD. I get so depressed and unable to do anything in the heat. I also have dysautonomia. I can't control my body temperature and have no air conditioning so I get so hot I throw up in summer. I have to take a lot of cold showers and use ice packs and things. My blood pressure drops when I'm upright in winter but in summer it's so much worse and even sitting up can be a problem and my brain doesn't get enough oxygen.
I avoid sunlight because I burn in seconds and I get migraines.
Summer is just hell. We moved out west NSW though and the temperatures here are about 6-10c less than at the coast as we're up at 850m above sealevel. At night, other than a few bad weeks a year it drops in temperature. Not as much as I'd like but it's so good to be able to breath at night.

So I'm not sure if the depression is caused by the light and heat or by what the heat does to my body. I can't move or think at all but it could be because my brain is being starved of oxygenated blood.

kath_ballantyne July 29 2014, 05:05:36 UTC

lilacsigil July 29 2014, 05:13:15 UTC

I was reading about summer SAD (inspired by this post!) and the current thinking is that the heat is the prime culprit and light plays a lesser part. People with postural hypotension are known to be affected by heat (because it dilates blood vessels further) so in your case you have a very clear explanation for the brain fuzz and inability to move at any rate! I think that would make anyone depressed even without further possible SAD issues.

I wish there was some kind of scheme for people with POTS and similar conditions to get subsidised air conditioning. It can be literally life-saving.

finnyb July 20 2014, 06:37:52 UTC

Both myself and the husband do; we're in Canada, though. It's summer in Calgary, now, and miserably hot. We feel horrid, mentally and physically, until around October.