Seasons

Loadsabob

Exlibris - do you have a lightbox? My boyfriend has one, and he thinks he's noticed a positive difference since using it.

Loadsabob

I ADORE Autumn, I love the feeling it gives me that the cold weather and cosy dark evenings are on their way. I'm an August baby, born in the heatwave of 1976, so something has gone wrong somewhere!! I love wrapping up warm, and long evenings in. So far I've looked out some basic knitting patterns for hats, and I'd like to make a more creative scarf than just the normal plain knitting.

I adore all this up until about the week after New Year, and then I start looking forward to Spring, and to lighter evenings so I can get out in the garden and geta bit of colour on my face (not a lot though, I don't sunbathe).

I'm also stocking up on lots of dried pulses to make big wintery stews and soups, still preparing as per the Christmas thread, and already I'm starting to feel like nesting. My Spring Cleaning always seems to take place as we go into Autumn, that's when I want the house streamlined and tidy and brutally prepare bags of stuff to take to the charity shops!

Ooh - lovely. I agree though, the seasons don't seem as defined as when I was a child. But in South Wales we always got snow in the Winter, and here in Cornwall it's a rare event!

I agree with Jo (I think it was Jo), that first bite of Autumn in the air is fabulous. There's just one day when you go out in the morning, and the smell is fresh, a hint of cold, and probably a whiff of the first chimneys from real fires starting to be lit. Oh, I adore it! Nice thread! Seasons are VERY OS!

exlibris

Loadsabob

Yes I have one, not entirely sure it works for me, but I do use it each year. I am thinking of getting a daylight alarm clock this year too. I take Fluoxetine during the winter and wean myself off in Spring.

Fortunately my doctor believes in SAD, the last one didn't!

I am also a member of SADA though I am not able to go to their meetings. The newsletter in useful though.

I try to motivate myself to go for a walk about 12 noon every day. It was much easier to do this when I was working as it got me away from hassle at lunchtime.

New Autumn Resolution - get out at noon into what light there is!!

Loadsabob

This is great, it sounds as though you're doing everything you possibly can. My boyfriend's depression is more general, though it's worse in the Winter months. He handles it all so well, through diet and supplements, too. Your walk is a great idea, to get whatever light there is. Also, exercise is good for depression generally. And I'm really glad you have a smart doctor! I can't understand people who don't believe in it; the depression and suicide rates in countries with limited daylight are siginificantly higher than elsewhere.

I feel terrible looking forward to Winter when it can bring misery to lots of people. But I am one of the lucky ones.

Ruby_Pudding

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who longs for the autumn and winter! I get tired of having to justify myself when all around me are real sun worshippers, but I'm just not a sun person. I'd rather be cwtched up (there's my welsh side coming out ) in front of a roaring log fire with a big cup of hot chocolate watching the snow outside anyday over lying on the beach.

Thanks so much for all of the replies :T

jazzyjustlaw

I have SAD and a lightbox. I have used it and it doesnt seem to work. I think the problem is that you need to use it early in the morning and I dont have half an hour to use it in the morning.

Someone said that they were born in August and could liked Autumn well I feel that is the start of the nights drawing in and my SAD starts now.

SomersetPrincess

I third (or fourth?) the motion that winter babies love the colder months. I am a January baby (New Years Day!) and long for Autumn to come now. Boyf thinks I am mad - he is a winter baby too (December) but loves the hot long days of Summer. I have had about my fill of the heat now and am looking forward to Autumn. I cant wait to start wearing long boots, wooly jumpers, hats and scarves again - how many days do we have to go now???

Kirsty - wishing her life away!

Loadsabob

jazzyjustlaw wrote:

I have SAD and a lightbox. I have used it and it doesnt seem to work. I think the problem is that you need to use it early in the morning and I dont have half an hour to use it in the morning.
Someone said that they were born in August and could liked Autumn well I feel that is the start of the nights drawing in and my SAD starts now.

Apparently the guy who discovered the technology behind lightboxes recently said he doesn't think they work. But some people do seem to feel the benefit, so I guess it's hard to say. The light visors seem to get good reviews, so you can wear them whilst doing other things. I think there is some concern over the strain it may have on your eyes though. It's difficult to find the time to stay still. My boyfriend uses his while he has breakfast, but it's still a bit of a pain. I really do feel for you. I love Winter, and being cosy indoors, but I see I may feel differently if I suffered from SAD.

kingshir

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

I have to say that every September /October I have this irresistable urge to nest build, (it's a bit like in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind where everyone is drawn to the mountain)
I don't know if it was because the children were both winter babies but it's a very definate annual thing where I long for the weather to go cooler and all the things that go with it like russet leaves on the trees and cobwebs hung with hoare frost.
I know that I'll crave casseroles, dumplings, rice pudding, jacket potatoes and I'll stock my cupboards until they groan, the freezer will look fit to burst and I'll feel compelled to knit and make things that are useful.
I also like winter clothes, and the idea that if you are cold you can add more, whereas in the summer if you are too hot you are stuck with the heat
I will make mincemeat, mince pies and Christmas cakes

I love the autumn!

Ooh Me too. There comes a stage in every summer where I start longing for cold weather, dark nights, etc. I don't know if anyone will remember a Barny Bear cartoon where he is getting ready to hibernate and is stocking up with logs, filling the larder etc and it is snowing outside (there's a lot more to the story but it's not relevant to this post ) and that is what I long to do! I want to fill up, stock up and pull up the drawbridge Probably sounds daft but it's my fantasy!

ps I'm not a winter born baby either

Cullumpster

Ruby_Pudding wrote:

I'd rather be cwtched up (there's my welsh side coming out ) in front of a roaring log fire with a big cup of hot chocolate watching the snow outside anyday over lying on the beach.

Thanks so much for all of the replies :T

Ruby Pudding you sound just like my b/f he's always saying let me have a big cwtch.
I always thought it was spelt Cutch though.