Up and down with the seasons

[vilakins]

A depression test that petlunatic did gave me this result. Warning: they don't know how to spell "occasional", which I found annoying.

Disorder	Your Score
Major Depression:	Slight
Dysthymia:	Slight
Bipolar Disorder:	Slight-Moderate
Cyclothymia:	Slight-Moderate
Seasonal Affective Disorder:	High
Postpartum Depression:	N/A
Take the Depression Test

I knew this already, but although people get SAD here, you can't get those fall-spectrum lamps for it that people in other countries can buy. It's as if they want to deny that we have winters (which is why there's also no double glazing or central heating). On the good side, I get the opposite of SAD in summer. Even when it's really hot and humid, summer gives me a feeling of happy anticipation which I always thought dated back to childhood and those wonderful, seemingly endless six-week holidays, but maybe it's the quality of the light. Certainly, the lack of it depresses me, as I found one summer when it rained non-stop for a month.

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Can you order one of those lamps from overseas? I imagine the shipping costs would be ugly, but it might well be worth it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Bulbs blow. I'd have to keep getting bulbs from overseas too, so I'd rather wait till someone here realises there's a need. I may have a look again next winter.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should talk to a doctor about it. If nothing else, I'd think it's more likely that it'll become available if people in the medical profession perceive a local demand for it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I should. Maybe they have access to stuff ordinary people don't have.

[grins at your icon]

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's possible they might be able to hook you up. Definitely worth a shot, I'd think. :)

[grins at your icon]

Hee! Here, have another doctor. I have several. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I have any.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Spock is good enough. :)

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

My lamp is several years old now, and I've never had to change the bulb, so it wouldn't be something you needed to worry about that often

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Do you find it helps? When do you use it, and for how long?

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

It's odd, because often I feel much better in the winter *because* of the darkness. The summers are so light here that they make my insomnia worse. The short days and long nights make it easier to catch some zzs, so I get more rest in the winter.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yet I can often fall asleep easily in the afternoon (which I just did over a book) and not at night. The afternoon nap thing is probably why people have siestas, apparently 12 hours from the mid-point of one's main sleep.

I would be so depressed in your sort of dark winter. I was fine in Germany though because they get a lot more sun in winter than we do.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

This is a NZ company that offers full-spectrum bulbs. Would this help?
http://www.wellness-shop.co.nz

eek. 1:25 am. I'm off to bed.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It doesn't say they're for SAD, but maybe. I'll have to look around again next autumn.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Here's one of the pages of the manufacturer's website. There's a contact link if you want to ask them anything.
http://www.viva-lite.co.nz/what-is-fullspectrum-light.html

Here's a fluffy ad which seems to say they do mean it for SAD (but without actually *Promising* to be medically effective).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6F3FjNSmKw

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

They have spectrum lamps for it? What are those? I did the quiz and got 'high SAD' too. I miss the light the most and flat I live in has a tiny window and you have to keep the light on even in summer to see much. Hence why my room and everything in it is BRIGHT colours. Shiny! And I have a bright orange coat and a bright blue one which cheer me up ;-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you can find them there! Don't just get any though; get one especially for SAD sufferers.

I like bright colours too, and pale walls to reflect the light. :-)

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

What I really want is fairy lights like Kaylee's in Firefly but I think they'd annoy me after a while.

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

Hm. I did the test and scored high on SAD too. Are you thinking of trying the lamps?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Not in summer. Maybe next winter if I can find any here.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I really need to open a SAD light, central heating and double glazing shop...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

There are a couple of places offering double glazing now, but it's far too expensive to be viable. For us, anyway.

Your card and the chocolate orange bars came today! Thank you so much! It cheered me up, and I've already eaten one bar. :-P A card would never get to you in time now, but I'm sending you something in the new year. :-)

[luinielle.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you have such a hard time in the winter. Maybe one of those seasonal light lamps will help you. Are your winter months long?
I'm the opposite of you (and probably everyone else lol ) - I get SAD in summer, especially if I'm somewhere that has high humidity and temperatures. It's the inability to go outside and walk/do things that gets me down - and I can't do any of those things in high humidity. The lack of light in winter doesn't depress me - at least I can get outside and enjoy long walks. All of which is a little amusing considering I was born and spent most of my childhood in Hawai'i. :o)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

SAD is purely related to lack of light; I had it once one summer when it rained for a whole month. We get killer humidity here all year round, often 90-100%, so summer often isn't that pleasant, but if the sun's shining, I feel cheerful anyway. It's got to be light quality. A couple of weeks ago, I couldn't do anything physical without feeling ill, it was so bad, but it's only 70% this week which is very nice.

Winter is horrible here: grey, wet, and moist. Now we have a heat pump, along with the dehumidifier, our house is a lot nicer to be in in winter--and summer.

[luinielle.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure if it was completely light related or not - thanks for clearing that up for me.
I don't think I would enjoy your summers. :o)
In winters here, we need a humidifier - especially if the heat is on. It just sucks all the moisture from the air. When I pet the kits, I sometimes end up zapping them.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

See, I'd like winters if they were so cold, they were dry. Our air is still moist so it's just miserable, and clothes don't get that insulatig layer of dry air that keeps people warm elsewhere. I loved the winters in Germany, and for that matter all the seasons.

We use the dehumidifier all year round. No one would want a humidifier here.

[Edit] I must admit, I've sometimes zapped the cats, but that's fairly rare.