04-04-2012, 12:05 AM
How do I do it? One letter at a time! :biggrin:
Honesty, I am a 'slow thinker'. Usually I type a little, get up and do something else and maul it over - erm I meant mull
right now I am also washing dishes....
Face to face, good luck getting a word out of me. Talking is too fast for me. I don't do chatting either, too fast. I need time to think before I speak/write.
Nick is right. I can tell you why your depression sucker punches you in winter. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, I go on and on and on about it in many threads :tongue:
Now I am not a doctor, but I suspect that this cycle is due to Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) I have this peculiarity. I actually have both sides of if - sad in winter - hyper (manic) in summer. My life is an elevator, ups and downs. :biggrin:
Good new, there is a non-drug therapy that one can use. Light therapy. It has been clinically proven to be very effective, so effective that once you get a proper diagnosis it is the first prescribed therapy option in SAD cases.
It works rather well for me - when I use it
The whole wasting time in front of a bright light box is inconvenient. There are other ways to get your dose of light. For instance we have three strings of cord lights (Christmas lights inside a clear plastic rubber tube) over the head of the bed one turns on about 30 minutes before I'm supposed to wake up, then 15 minutes later the next string comes on, then 15 more minutes later the next string turns on. Its a poor man's way to simulate a dimmer/timer switch. It gives me a 'false dawn' that takes place at a constant time each day, tricking me into thinking its perpetually spring time.
We keep the thick curtains on the bedroom window year round. Ignoring the real sunrise/sunset and make my own.
I'd say its effectiveness is about 40% perhaps better. Might be better if I had a constant sleeping cycle.
I have figured out other things to do, such as minor changes in my diet through the year. I tended to force myself to eat a 'normal' diet - the same sort of food regardless of the season. In reality I crave lighter foods in summer, lots of salads, lots of 'cool' foods and heavier in winter meats, grains, dense foods. Instead of forcing myself to adhere to the 'traditional diet' I now go with what I crave, it seems to help a lot - I feel better (physically).
In summer I limit my 'outside' time to limit how much bright light I get. We keep the inside of the house dark/dim. In winter we have tube lights inside the house (for the plants - yeah, riiight) and I go outside and potter around even on the gloomy, cold days.
Oh I don't lay out in the sun to get a tan - Tanning bad for me, very bad and not because of such pretty sounding things as carcinoma and melanoma.
Since there is the FtP issue here I am uncertain how you would go about getting diagnosed. I do not know if SAD is on that long list of 'nos'.
You might want to research the subject. Doctor, heal thy self
Honesty, I am a 'slow thinker'. Usually I type a little, get up and do something else and maul it over - erm I meant mull
right now I am also washing dishes.... Face to face, good luck getting a word out of me. Talking is too fast for me. I don't do chatting either, too fast. I need time to think before I speak/write.
Nick is right. I can tell you why your depression sucker punches you in winter. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, I go on and on and on about it in many threads :tongue:
Now I am not a doctor, but I suspect that this cycle is due to Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) I have this peculiarity. I actually have both sides of if - sad in winter - hyper (manic) in summer. My life is an elevator, ups and downs. :biggrin:
Good new, there is a non-drug therapy that one can use. Light therapy. It has been clinically proven to be very effective, so effective that once you get a proper diagnosis it is the first prescribed therapy option in SAD cases.
It works rather well for me - when I use it
The whole wasting time in front of a bright light box is inconvenient. There are other ways to get your dose of light. For instance we have three strings of cord lights (Christmas lights inside a clear plastic rubber tube) over the head of the bed one turns on about 30 minutes before I'm supposed to wake up, then 15 minutes later the next string comes on, then 15 more minutes later the next string turns on. Its a poor man's way to simulate a dimmer/timer switch. It gives me a 'false dawn' that takes place at a constant time each day, tricking me into thinking its perpetually spring time.We keep the thick curtains on the bedroom window year round. Ignoring the real sunrise/sunset and make my own.
I'd say its effectiveness is about 40% perhaps better. Might be better if I had a constant sleeping cycle.
I have figured out other things to do, such as minor changes in my diet through the year. I tended to force myself to eat a 'normal' diet - the same sort of food regardless of the season. In reality I crave lighter foods in summer, lots of salads, lots of 'cool' foods and heavier in winter meats, grains, dense foods. Instead of forcing myself to adhere to the 'traditional diet' I now go with what I crave, it seems to help a lot - I feel better (physically).
In summer I limit my 'outside' time to limit how much bright light I get. We keep the inside of the house dark/dim. In winter we have tube lights inside the house (for the plants - yeah, riiight) and I go outside and potter around even on the gloomy, cold days.
Oh I don't lay out in the sun to get a tan - Tanning bad for me, very bad and not because of such pretty sounding things as carcinoma and melanoma.
Since there is the FtP issue here I am uncertain how you would go about getting diagnosed. I do not know if SAD is on that long list of 'nos'.
You might want to research the subject. Doctor, heal thy self
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
, and now we have been learning about non-pharmacological treatment options (CBT and IPT as adjuncts for prophylaxis, and light-therapy for SAD), as well as all the monoamine transmitter enhancing drugs typically prescribed for treatment.
I think I would be worried about doing/saying something wrong. I am trying not to think about what can go wrong right now. Think positive :tongue:![[Image: vampire-smiley-19.gif]](http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s125/AlexButterflyAngel/vampire-smiley-19.gif)
:biggrin:
