Winter Blues. Do you get them so badly that nothing is good?

[bertha katzenengel]

Nothing is good. Nothing to look forward to.

And crap keeps happening. Richard The Inappropriately Peeing Cat just peed on the leather couch. The leather's fine. His little pee pee somehow found its way into the crack made by the meeting of two cushion corners and the back of the couch, and so all the pee ran into the bottom part of the couch -- where fluffy fabric and springs are. How the F am I supposed to clean that?

I had a brief mental meltdown over this.

Then Harry The Cat barfed in Mrs. V.'s lap. And Mrs. V. is in so much pain today... so much pain. :cry:

Do you ever get the winter blues so badly that nothing is good?

[auntAgonist]

1. some days yes ...

I'm so sorry MrsV is in pain. It's hard to watch when someone you love is in distress. If I could, I'd make it better.
:hug: to you both!

Please tell MrsV I'm thinking of her too!

aA

[bertha katzenengel]

2. Thanks, dear friend. You know...

this is a misery-loves-company thread. Why don't you siddown next to Auntie Bert and tell her all about it? :hug:

j/k. It's kinda good to know I'm not alone. Although I don't want anyone to feel the way I feel.

[auntAgonist]

5. I would love nothing

better than to siddown with you and pour out all the icky stuff, but y'know? .. I wouldn't know where to start and when I try writing it down, it makes no sense and seems so trivial compared to things going on in the world, some days I just don't know why I'm so down, when I have so much to be thankful for. I just do, and today's a down day, and tomorrow may be better. we can hope.

You're not alone AuntieBert!!!! ( I could get used to that name for you!)

:grouphug: for all of us.


aA

[bertha katzenengel]

6. About "Auntie"

My given name is Kimberly - Kim, of course. I've never much liked it, but when my first nephew was born I REALLY loathed it. What sounds more inane than "Aunt Kim?"

My Sister the Brilliant had a simple solution. "He'll call you Auntie Kim." Drama averted. Everyone's happy. Of course, before he could speak well, it was "Auntie Tim," but who cares?

:hug:
:grouphug:

[LaraMN]

3. Oh yes! But I tend to be moved to extremes, in general.

I was bemoaning my mental fog and lack of general energy and spirit last week, and my son's speech therapist reminded me that I was in much the same way last winter. My mood is very much influenced by my environment. Music also gets to me- I'm very selective about what I listen to and when, because I find it so affecting.

:hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

4. Interesting.

What kind of music do you avoid when you're blue?

[LaraMN]

7. Pretty much everything that's not upbeat.

I spent all the years I can remember from childhood through my teen years, depressed more often than not, so I've fairly well trained myself to avoid anything that indulges an increasingly foul mood. Of all the diseases I dread my children developing, mental illness is the one I fear the most.

[bertha katzenengel]

8. thanks, Lara

now i'm visciously re-vamping my playlists

:hug:

[LaraMN]

9. I hope it helps.

I find it hard to dwell on my blue-ness, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing. Or the Ramones.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bertha katzenengel]

12. Oh?

Enlighten me.

???

[NNadir]

11. We really didn't have a winter here in New Jersey.

We had some snow and very cold days in late fall, but since then we've had an eternal spring.

[bertha katzenengel]

13. It's been that way here in Maryland, too (and global warming is a

myth, no such thing as changing weather patterns).

But the big problem is that I miss sunshine. I go to work in the dark and I come home in the dark. Even if it's warm enough to take lunch outside, that 45 minutes or so doesn't seem to be enough.

Next year I'll try full spectrum lamps. I am tired of relying on drugs.

[RevCheesehead]

14. Yeah, sometimes.

But the medication helps. Instead of being a complete mess, I just get kinda sad or quiet. Certain life issues are also interfering, and it's getting hard to keep a positive outlook. It helps to remember that this is February, and this, too shall pass.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

15. Not really.

I start to feel down, and I break out the jazz CDs--my panacea. :D :P I allow myself to wallow in disappointment very infrequently. :D ;)

Sorry you're blue, though, bk.

:hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

18. Thanks, Writing.

:hug: 'preesh.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

20. No prob.

;)

[redwitch]

16. I think we are supposed to hibernate.

we can't though, so we sort of shuffle through as best we can. Some of us have it worse than others. My good friend Susie told me one March that while driving home she spotted a dead raccoon by the side of the road- AND SHE ENVIED IT! She told me this with a straight face- a sad, miserable, won't- this- winter- ever -end? face. And I laughed at her. Couldn't help it. Laughed so hard I cried and suddenly she started to laugh and both of us could barely stand up. I think of her on dreary winter days and figure if I don't start envying roadkill, I just might make it to spring. :-)

Hang in there, the days are getting longer. Thumb through some seed catalogs. Watch funny movies. Share time with good friends that laugh at you!

[bertha katzenengel]

17. "if I don't start envying roadkill, I just might make it to spring"

LOL I like it. I'll try to keep that, and your advice, in mind.

[no name no slogan]

19. Seasonal Affective Disorder

I have it. It's a psychological disorder that affects many people in northern climates when the days get shorter and the sun doesn't shine as much.

I have a lightbox that I use that helps out somewhat. Some people have found relief with anti-depressives over the winter months.

If the feeling is persistent (over several weeks), it may not just be a case of "the blahs". It may be a treatable psychological condition. Screening for SAD is very easy, and it can be diagnosed and treated without too much trouble.

I'd check with your doctor. You don't have to feel horrible for three months out of the year.
:hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

23. Thanks a bunch, NNNS

I'm seeing the shrink next Friday. :hi:

[no name no slogan]

24. woohoo!

I almost forgot to mention-- if you get a diagnosis of SAD from the shrink, your insurance will usually cover part of the cost of a light box. Mine was originally around $300, but with the copay I got it for about $100, eight years ago.

Good luck to you!

[redwitch]

21. P.S. I forgot to say I am sorry you are feeling blue

and also that Mrs. V is in pain. Forgive my rudeness, please! :blush:

[bertha katzenengel]

22. not to worry, dear one

:hug: thank you.

today Mrs. V. is better. It's a little colder out -- but it's not raining. BIG plus.

[Fox Mulder]

25. I feel that way EVERY day...

even in the summer.

:(

No antidepressants help either. :(

[mdmc]

31. hang in there fox

I have no easy answers, but I do understand what your sayin.

The only hope that I can really give DU'ers suffering from SAD or depression is to stay the course. The only way to purge or get rid of negative karma is to burn through it - experience it.

A reminder that things are not so bad - we still won't vote for Bush. Imagine being so depressed that you vote or support Bush, just to punish yourself and make yourself more depressed. Imagine hating yourself so much that you betray your beliefs and principles just to FEEL WORSE! THAT is fucked up.

Every day we are sad is one less day that we can commit to fighting fascism.

There are no easy answers. I am sorry if this post depressed anyone or made anyone feel worse than before reading.

GOD blessed all those suffering from depression, especially myself and my buddies here at DU.

Peace and low stress!

[Flaxbee]

26. hi bertha - I think also, for us 'native' so-californians,

eastern winters can bring on the blues. SoCal, even in the winter, had a softer, gentler quality... and while this has been an unseasonably warm winter in the mid-Atlantic region, it still just feels different.

S.A.D. and just the difference of the east coast get to me too, sometimes.

I very actively limit my exposure to bad news, to potentially sad music, to sad movies, etc.

Though I have to admit - hubby and I moved away from the DC area a little over a year ago and being away from the black hole of DC has helped, too. I know you work in the city, and there is such bad-juju-energy from this administration that I think the whole area is tainted in a way.

I do hope Mrs. V feels better very soon. Have a small pre-spring celebration when she's feeling better - even something small to plan like that might make you feel happier.

:hug:


edited for clarity

[ScreamingMeemie]

27. I get them thinking about winter worse than when I am actually "in it"...

I get headaches so bad that nothing is good...that I can't see suffering through another, and then they are over, and life is good again. Perhaps that is very much the same feeling. :hi:

[fight4my3sons]

28. I was feeling like that for a few months.

I went to my doctor a few weeks ago because I couldn't take it anymore. She put me on an antidepressant and it has made a world of difference. (I'm not giving medical advice, just my experience) Not that I'm "Miss Happy Pants" or anything, but it really has helped. I felt like I was about to come apart or just go into the corner and start screaming. I had to do something , I care for my three young children all day. I don't feel that way now and it has only been two weeks. I hope you feel better soon. :-)

[Capn Sunshine]

29. Is that what it is?

Here I was thinking that it was BushCo and the spineless Democrats that had me down, but come to think of it, that's been happening for 5 years now, and I never felt this bad before...

[bertha katzenengel]

30. Well, I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV.

I'll tell you this, though: If the man in your sig line were in the White House, I think the winter blues would be a little less blue. :(

[mdmc]

32. feel better

I have no easy answers to SAD or depression. I will suggest that you make every effort "to follow your bliss". I know that it is hard, not easy,...etc. I don't know what else to say, except I do know how you are feeling.

Peace and low stress! Stay kind!

[TimeChaser]

33. It's not so bad this year for me

I've been a little moody and thoughtful, but otherwise I've avoided the winter blues.

[bertha katzenengel]

34. TC, did I ever tell you that you

make me think of my niece? It's kinda vague... has to do w/ your art, mostly. :hi: