Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
such_heights) wrote2012-10-09 12:57 pm
such_heights) wrote2012-10-09 12:57 pm
Entry tags:
~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
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
no subject
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!