SADness

Very tired tonight and still have a lot to do before I can flop into bed, so I just wanted to write a few words about seasonal affective disorder or SAD. Of course, most people have heard of this, so I'm not going to say much about what it is. There is a pretty good description of it here if you are interested. My SAD is not very severe and in fact I really don't suffer from depression so much as low energy. It is interesting that one of the symptoms of SAD listed on the NIH link above is weight gain, though what they really are describing are the symptoms of depression. Of course, we know why weight gain is one of the symptoms. It is the drug we use to treat our low energy or feelings of sadness this time of year.

I live in Seattle, which is no help, of course. We not only are far enough north that the days are shorter than further south, but we famously have very little sunshine for about eight months a year. But I have taken some measures, including vitamin D, thyroid medication, adequate protein intake, lots of sleep, and drinking plenty of water. Previous years I have used bright light therapy, but have chosen not to do that this year as an experiment. I have read some research which casts doubt on the efficacy of bright light to help and blames the problem almost entirely on vitamin D deficiency. So, I am using myself as a guinea pig to see how that goes.

This blog is not about SAD, so I won't be writing a great deal more about it here. But I did want to mention that it's part of the whole constellation of what makes up my world. I am here to be honest about who I am, and that's definitely part of me.

Pray for the sun to return. I am told it will some day.