such_heights | ~winter is coming~

The nights are drawing in, I've dug out coats and gloves and put the heating on, and I think I spent more of the weekend asleep than awake. It is once again autumn, and time to batten down the hatches against this year's round of seasonal depression.

Which is annoying, because I'm pretty happy right now and would like to stay that way! In order to maintain that as much as I can, here's my to do list.

None of the below is remotely prescriptive - what works for me could be ineffective or even disastrous for someone else. And sometimes great plans come to nothing and all you really want to do is hibernate and wait for spring to come around again, and that's okay too.

Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness, says Terry Pratchett. My flamethrower looks something like this.

+ Light box. I have a big one at home that I need to start using already, even though that means getting up earlier in the mornings, horror of horrors. I am also looking into finding some room in the budget to get a portable desklamp style light box for work so I can use it for longer. I will also do my best to go outside for a bit on every day that the weather's passable.

+ Keeping an eye on my mood. I'm usually pretty in touch with how I'm feeling, but it's only when I sat down to write this that I realised that oh, yes, the sleeping all weekend thing was a bit of a giveaway that it's started. I've started up an account over at MoodScope, which charts your mood every day by giving you a series of emotions like 'proud', 'jittery', 'inspired', 'upset' etc and asking you to say how much you feel of each.

+ Keeping mentally busy. I'm stocking up on creative projects at the moment - fests, exchanges, initial plotting for my third attempt at NaNo next month - to give me happy-making and engaging things to think about when it's tempting to just sit and stare into space somewhere.

+ Support system. My GP, my flatmates, my friends, my family - there are a lot of people I can call on should I need help. I'm very lucky that way. The trick is, when I do need help it's hard to remember that it's okay to ask. (Curse you, brain weasels!)

It'll be fine.

If anyone would like to share their own strategies and what works for them in tackling SAD/related issues, please do. And to everyone else in the northern hemisphere who's ramping up for this, good luck. <3

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanks for that Moodscope link, that looks useful and interesting. And good luck with everything you're doing. Too bad I have no advice to offer, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

good luck! <3 :) (also, this will be my third attempt at nanowrimo too! so good luck with that, too! :D)

thanks for the Moodscope link, it seems very useful.

and my strategy... well it usually involves lots of sleeping, reading, writing (that always cheers me up), taking long walks if the weather permits, and drinking worrying amounts of hot tea with honey. :)

I am just here to say: you and me both, omg. And YES on the creative projects. One of the (many) reasons I adore Yuletide and Festivids is that they give me something joyful and creative to do during the loooong dark evenings of fall and early winter...

Curse you, brain weasels, indeed. :-)

Thank you for the MoodScope link. I am having a really bad day, so today was a good day for this post to pop up.

I have a Phillips goLITE that is portable & has its own little case and everything -- this is the current model, though I have the older one. I know that site lists it as £205, but you might be able to find one significantly cheaper. (My brief search turned up a few that were about $100.) Mine works really well, provided I get up early enough/remember to use it!

I usually just try to be extra nice to myself, and do sometimes end up letting myself sleep more than I would during another time of year, so long as that's helpful. Also, lots of hot cocoa. :P The transition always seems hardest for me, but then I have Major Depressive Disorder that's exacerbated by the seasonal stuff; it seems that if I can go into the winter time feeling generally good, the whole thing goes a lot more smoothly.

*battens down hatches* Ah yes, SAD time. I will clutch Wintersmith to myself and visualise The Wheel of the Year and remind myself that all must die to be reborn.

For some reasons, metaphors really help me get through the concept of winteriness. Also the SAD lamp and meds, but- metaphors.

I've never tried a SAD lamp, but maybe this year will be it!

I try to keep up with regular exercise/physical activity. Of course this is more difficult in winter weather, but even indoor stretching/yoga and lifting some hand weights helps.

This year, I'm trying to stay excited about autumn by cooking lots of soups and other things involving fall vegetables. I've also been talking on and on about all the hot cocoa and tea I'm going to drink this winter, though I haven't actually gotten around to buying the former yet.

Winter holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas for me) help, and this year Festivids should as well!

But fall hasn't fully started yet in Seattle. The leaves are changing and the days are getting short, but the weather's been unseasonably warm and sunny for the last 8 weeks or so.

*hugs*

you are wise and tough and nano will be amazing.

i have found moodscope incredibly helpful and quite shocking, honestly. it is not work like journalling, which is why i think i can manage to stick with it.

unrelated, but i did want to say thank you so much for all your ponds posts since a week past saturday. i have been so super sad that i haven't been able to process (even though i was spoiled to death!) but i did find your journal an enormous comfort and i wanted to let you know <3

I'll just barge in though really, who the heck am I to say anything, when I do not know you at all except as a wonderful person who is creative and likes a lot of the same things I do. Good, sound data show that moderate walking exercise, in daylight, with a support group of friends is a very effective management tool for moderate depression. If, for whatever reason you do not want to try medication to manage it, some people swear that St. John's Wort provides some mood support as they say here in the States. I've not looked at that data recently but the purity and potency of herbals are always a concern and that substance can significantly effect your body's ability to metabolize other drugs, should you be on them.

So, good luck and remember that a part of the symptom of the disease is the belief that you can't do anything about it -- which puts a person in a horribly bind. You've come up with excellent strategies!

Does your light plug in? Would it be useful to have one of those timer lighter switches? I had never seen one til I was in England, but I thought they were brilliant devices. They should make portable ones so you can have the sun on your shoulder while you're out and about.

I do love the phrase brain weasels! It seems to have the appropriate sneaky and insidious connotations while being something a little… ridiculous?, or at least conceptiually separable from the brain. Mine are kept in bay by my hormones, which is mostly a relief (except yay, medical dependence.).

Good luck. I was going to say with surviving, but I know you will survive. I hope that your flamethrower is effective and you can enjoy winter.

I tried a daylight lamp and found that it helped me deal with winter blues in Vancouver, although it was a bit irritating to sit in front of it as per the instructions. I use Moodscope, too, and find it a good way of checking in with myself. Plus the facility to add labels on particular days is helpful insofar as you can track things that lead to sudden ups and downs.

I've also been going to Buddhist meditation (pretty much a mindfulness meditation) once a week and it seems to help me feel less insecure, self-doubting, anxious etc. although I'm not wholly sure why. I think there are studies indicating it's good for mental health, so that might be worth a try. Personally I lack the discipline to meditate on my own at home regularly, but I have a rule that I need to go to the group every Sunday and that seems to work (plus, it means hanging out with nice people, which is also good).

I have no advice, just lots of hugs and support and an ear that's always willing to listen!

I hope you'll do holiday cards again--that cheered me up, and I hope it had the same effect on you!

Ahh, curse the brain weasels, indeed. It does always seem to be so hard to ask for help, even from people you'd give your arm for in an instant.

I don't have SAD, but I have an anxiety disorder and some recurring health problems, and what's been really important to me lately is remembering the things that got me through last winter when things got bad. My roommate helped me realize I was allowed to flake on some things and stay home if I really was sick, and she was always pushing food at me, which was annoying at the time but in retrospect I finally appreciated because it meant she loved me and wanted me to be okay. So just trying to hold onto those things--that I don't have to be a clockwork me, and that there are people who care, has been a big thing.

*hugs* Best of luck with your flamethrower-lighting, and I hope your many projects help to keep your mood up. And if you ever need cheering up, just give a shout! I can always use an excuse to write fluff, provided I am not being swallowed up by midterms or some such, and if that is a thing you would like I would be happy to make you some at such time as you need it. :P

Sounds like an all around fantastic plan. I like the fannish plans to keep the mind busy!

~winter is coming~

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