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How I Learned to Cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder
I want to be alone.
I don’t want to talk to anyone. Only my dog. ‘Don’t talk to me in the morning’ is now extended to my whole day.
I just want to read and play melancholy acoustic music. I feel depressed by the weather, see no end to the dreadful winter, and am irritated by every noise and person I hear. Please let it be over.
This is how Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), known as the “winter blues” affects me and it’s a real, diagnosable mental illness.
Alone, depressed, and irritated is how I feel for most of December through March. I dread these months because I know seasonal depression is coming to set up house.
I have to work hard to stabilize my mood. It’s difficult to muster the energy for big events and I usually emerge from holiday social gatherings exhausted, which just pisses me off even more. If you also have SAD, know that you are far from alone in dealing with it.
After crawling through 20 awful winters, I’ve figured out a few ways to lessen the burden of seasonal affective disorder and make the most of those dark and lonely days.
What is SAD?
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD in the DSM-5, is a type of recurrent major depressive disorder in which episodes…
