Any one else with reverse SAD?
 

I wrote this big long tome about why I'm sad that it's spring, but no one wants to hear me whine, so I'll just ask:

Anyone else with reverse SAD? I've read it's actually recognized as an actual thing now.

Note to anyone tempted to write about how I'm crazy and summer is awesome: the lack of understanding we get for the condition is one of the things that makes it so difficult to live with. So thank you for not doing so.

WebMD article about "summer depression."

http://www.webmd.com/depression/summer-depression

I know Munchy has talked about having this experience. Hopefully she will see this and post and share with you.

Thanks for sharing the link. I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. I typically experience traditional SAD, though this fall was much much better for me. I'm not sure if it was change in diet, change in birth control, light therapy, or what. Whatever it was, I was thankful to feel like myself this fall. I hope you are able to find a coping mechanism that works for you.

I'm sorry you have SAD - it sucks - but am glad you had a better experience this year. Thanks for responding.

I'm quite anxious about this upcoming year. Last summer was my first in a new region and it wasn't bad at all but everyone said it was a really mild summer. Then we had a really mild winter (for the region, anyway), so I'm quite nervous that's going to translate into a hot summer.

I've suspected I have this. I take Zoloft daily for depression and I will for life, but there does seem to be something about summer that can make it worse. Maybe it's like how the winter holidays can be especially depressing because everyone has such high expectations.

The heat where I live can easily be over 100 degrees for weeks on end so I end up with cabin fever because it's too miserable to go out and do anything. Then I feel like a bad wife and mom for not taking advantage of the summer and having more fun. And I noticed ever since I was younger that I tend to put on weight over the summer.

I love summer because I get SAD in winter, so I kind of get the concept. There is light therapy for winter SAD, is there...dark therapy? For summer SAD? Does it help if you use darkening drapes to make the daylight hours seem shorter like they are in winter?

I got that cabin fever really bad when I lived in NYC. Between the heat and humidity, I really didn't want to be outside and walking outdoors is one of my favorite things. It also kept me from cooking, which is another hobby. So I spent 3 months denied of two favorite activities. No wonder I get depressed! I started buying raw foods cookbooks just so I could engage in elaborate food preparation without turning on the stove.

When I was hunting down links to use here, I read about how reverse SAD is harder to treat than conventional SAD. Partly because they're not sure light is the cause. I read a short magazine article last year that I wish I had kept, as it summarized various treatments that some people have had success with, including brief exposure to very early morning light. Also, botox. (???)

I've never liked summer. I chalk the depression it causes in me up to:

1) Extended period of physical discomfort (sometimes it gets so humid that AC doesn't help and sometimes it gets so hot that my wall unit AC can't keep up.) It gets cold in the winter, but then you go inside and it's fine there.

2) Sleep deprivation caused by the noisy air conditioner, physical discomfort, noisy neighbors when I sleep with the windows open, and the Sudafed I have to take because wearing ear plugs aggravates my sinusitis, yet I can't sleep without them because it's too noisy. :dizzy:

3) Not being able to walk outdoors much or cook whenever I want because it's too hot and/or often rainy. These are two of my favorite hobbies.

I can relate to both types of SAD. Winter and Summer both dramatically worsen the cognitive and mood issues associated with my fibromyalgia, in addition to the pain and insomnia.

Any extreme weather is a symptom trigger for me, and the coldest and warmest days are the worst.

Best advice I can give is to use a symptom/food/behavior/temperature/weather log to help you discover your specific triggers.

Accuweather just predicted a hottter than normal summer for the Midwest. :(

This is good new for me, but I'm sorry that it will cause you distress. We had such a lousy, cool summer last year. But you know, the weather man is wrong so often. Perhaps it won't be so warm as they say. Whatever the case I sure hope there are less ticks this year!

Ha, here I am! Yep, I have it. I think it's a mixture of hating being uncomfortably hot, and also my body image. Summer = revealing clothing.

For what it's worth, Accuweather is...usually not very accurate. The Climate Prediction Center's outlook for May, June, and July shows equal chances in the Midwest. That means it should generally be normal, and it's equally as likely to be warmer than normal as cooler. Depending on where you are in the midwest, precipitation is equal chances to below normal.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/

I'm very sorry to hear about how the upcoming season will be affecting you, but hopefully the lack of warmer than normal forecast from a more trust-worthy agency will provide a measure of comfort.

FWIW, not that I get seasonal depression in the summer, but I will say my comfort improved significantly since I discovered moisture wicking clothing. If you're wearing cotton in the summer, stop. I promise you it will make you feel at least a few degrees cooler and you won't feel as gross as you feel when covered in sweat.

Can you also invest in a better or additional AC? I know it's hard when money is tight, but consider it the equivalent of spending money on going to the doctor or getting medications.

Also, white noise machines. And setting your AC to be on steadily rather than turning on and off all night may reduce the sleep annoyances.

Just some thoughts! Hope you are all able to combat this.

I rent. What I've got is what I get - central air in rental housing is nearly unheard of in this area.

I hate when I try to help and people just shoot down my suggestions, so I won't go into detail. And I appreciate your desire to help, but I've experimented with all manner of methods to deal with the noise issue (both AC unit and neighbors) and it just is what it is. Apparently I'm "really sensitive to noise." I kind of want to kneecap everyone who says that to me but the truth is I do have misophonia (selective sound sensitivity disorder.)

I'm looking into buying but am also worried about doing so because I love and crave peace and silent tranquility so much that I fear the only home that would ever be quiet enough for me only existed before the Industrial Revolution.

That's awesome news.

Violette, it's okay and I totally understand. I do that a lot, too, except I don't feel bad about it and neither should you! I did mean additional window units, but it sounds like you've done your due diligence. I'm sorry you haven't found a solution :(

I get something sort of like this. Not exactly, I don't think. I get more anxious and feel more down and less happy when it's nearing summer. But for me I think it's because a) when it's warm enough to lose layers but not hot enough to really need it, I feel self-conscious being exposed; b) I feel a lot of pressure to do things with my relatives, and I HATE IT. If I don't do it, it's a H.U.G.E deal. Honestly, I dread it. I need to move.

Those feeling carry through for most of summer.

As far as the weather, I actually like it. I like that it's warmer. But the rest weighs on me a lot.

I haven't heard anyone bring this up before. I didn't even know it was a thing.

I am really sorry this is a terrible thing for you! I have the regular version..if you dread the upcoming months as much as I dread November through March, complete empathy from me, Violette_R.

It sucks when you know it is going to happen, and do try to deal with it, and it still does it's best to destroy you. I die a little bit every year during my trouble months.

If you have misophonia, is it possible that getting to see an audiologist and getting some adaptive hearing aids will help you cope better? I have a friend with it, and his life has been way different since getting the HA's. Many places will accept adaptive payment plans... might be worth looking into, no?

Instead of earplugs, how about noise cancelling headphones for night time? That way you won't piss off your sinuses... (I hear you on that one- my right side ear/sinus goops up and I get "thunder ear" every few weeks... any object or pressure in the ear makes it way worse!)

Ever seen someone to discuss the reaction you have during change of seasons? Perhaps a chance for some cognitive reframing learning or something would help you cope with what you don't have control over... I know just heading to counseling and taking it head on was what I needed to do last year when I had a mental health belly flop.

Hope things go decently for you, sending you good energy and vibes! :)

Yes, darkness therapy exists, though I seem to be the only one calling it that. It's partly about making sure you sleep in perfect darkness (a good eye mask and a nicely dark room does the job there), but mainly about avoiding exposure to blue light during the night, and for a few hours before bedtime. You know how there are always articles about how smartphones and such will disrupt your sleep? This is because blue is the wavelength of light that stimulates serotonin (you can get blue LED lightboxes for treating SAD and also non-seasonal depression, they're more effective), and it also suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone. So if you block out blue light, your body thinks it's in darkness and starts producing the right amount of melatonin. I have circadian rhythm disorders, Non-24 Sleep-Wake Cycle to be precise, and I have them under control due to using first light therapy, then darkness therapy. There are a few orange lights dotted about my home, and I put on orange tinted specs at 9.30 every night. I ended up writing a website about it all.

However, it sounds like this probably isn't the main problem with reverse SAD. (Working night shifts, on the other hand, oh yes. Triples the breast cancer rate, for starters. Melatonin affects a lot of things in your body, not just sleep.) Although so many people are affected by too much evening exposure to blue light these days that it can be worth a shot, since if it improves your sleep, that will have a knock-on effect on everything else.

Interesting that you have misophonia. I was diagnosed with hyperacusis, which seems to be the same thing. The hearing therapist said that earplugs were the last things I should be using, as it was just making the problem worse. Instead, she prescribed in-ear white noise generators. They were partly to use in noisy places like shopping centres, so that I could cope better, but also I had to use them for an increasing amount of time every day, in order to train my brain to cope with a louder level of sound. It worked, and it helped the tinnitus too. This was years ago, I don't even know where the little things have got to by now. I use a white noise app on my tablet when there's building work happening near by my bedroom window, it's great that there are so many choices for those these days.

I still have to be careful in noisy places, they make me exhausted pretty quickly (I have severe ME/CFS). Sensory overload is a problem for me in general, and I've found that cutting down on the input from one sense can help with the overload to all of them. So I will close my eyes if everything gets really overwhelming, and have grey-tinted specs to wear if I'm going to spend a lot of time under fluorescent light, which I'm sensitive to. The grey specs seem to mean that the noise doesn't affect me as much, for instance if I'm in hospital.

Hmm, I get the traditional SAD thing. The opposite, will have to think a bout that.

I spent 5 years, working a grave yard shift, it was ok, but never got over it.

I get, the darkness thing, if you work nights and need to sleep in the day.

When I worked nights, I put the tv, on something boring, and turned on the fan, and ditched the phone.

I was so glad to get off nights. :D
As time progressed, I ended up with excema. Which I discovered, is most of the time, caused by a lack of vitamin D. I figured this out. Bugs me up the wall in cold, no sun, as soon as the weather gets warmer and the days are longer, the itching, rash, drives me up the wall goes away.:D

That said, We all have what ever things we have. It's up to us, to choose how to deal, with what ever!:hug::D

I also have misophonia - it took years of actively resisting my urge to kill people who were chewing for me to realize it. Interestingly, I also hate summer for the heat and blindingly bright sunlight. My eyes have always been sun-sensitive to the point that on a high-altitude backpacking trip, my vision went dark for several days. Now I've invested in the darkest, most polarized sunglasses I can find and I wear them religiously in summer, usually with a hat or visor for extra shading.

I also sympathize with feeling trapped by the heat. When I lived in the central valley, the hours from 8 am to 9 pm were too hot for outdoor exercise. My air conditioner was loud and not very effective, and drove me bonkers. Also having to get up at 5 am to run outside, then having to stay awake until nearly midnight until it was ok to open the windows and try to cool the house down overnight.

I don't have any awesome solutions, but the two things that helped me were 1) taking an ice-cold shower then going outside. The heat and sun feel much better when you're frozen to the bone. And 2) getting out the house when the heat and the rattling AC are just too much; I would ride my bike (very slowly) to the nearby library or to Jamba Juice, and just a short little outing would make me feel less trapped.

Sorry I disappeared from the conversation for a bit - I came down with a terrible bout of stomach flu. :(

Can you recommend a brand of dress socks?

I've always disliked summer and first used the phrase "some kind of seasonal affective disorder but for summer" in the early 2000s. I just read about it actually being recognized in the medical community late last summer.

I wasn't aware that was an option. I've heard of noise therapy and have been doing a self-prescribed version for while, but I'd never read about hearing aids for misophonia. I've been saying for years that I should see an audiologist about my lousy hearing - I pick up noise far too well but often can't understand what people are saying. I should actually finally do it.

I would never try that before because I'm a side sleeper, but I just learned last night that sleepphones are a thing. I'm skeptical because headbands give me headaches (I'm just such a delicate flower, LOL) but they're not too expensive so I might try them.

That's a sore subject with me. Long story short, I had to teach myself cognitve behavioral therapy without even knowing what it was and save my own life because the mental health profession failed me miserably and I'm not giving them another chance to waste my time and money.

Thanks much for your input.

I went to college in Sacramento and my cheap roommate freaked out whenever I tried to set the AC at a tolerable level. One night I tried to wax my lip and couldn't get it off because the wax couldn't cool enough to harden.

I actually forgot about this additional stressor. I live next door to a large medical center and their AC is THE WORST. Last night it cooled down and I closed my windows - I could still hear the industrial AC working. It was like someone warming up their car outside my window all night. I had to turn on a white noise machine.

I really need to buy a house, guys. I have money but a messed up credit score - I have to get this fixed and get a mortgage. I shouldn't have to live like a flower in a hothouse, needing protection and insulation from all affect of the outside world. That's insane.