It's 4:00 p.m. and it's dark...

[Stacy's a freak]

... and snowing

 

[Cinderella89]

Welcome to Winter. *sigh*

 

[exwdwcm]

I hate that I have to turn on the porch light when I leave for work in the am. It's so dark when i get home at like 5:45.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I'm really affected by the loss of light (since I work outdoors until Nov 1, then I'm laid off). It seems like the light starts fading around 2:30 or so. I need a little Florida sunshine right now...

 

[wilde_oscar]

the sooner winter is over the sooner I can get back to sunlight

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I feel the same way. Especially out here in Southern California, where it is sunny all the time. This year has been especially bad for me with the change from Daylight Savings. That extra week of dark (from the official adjustment of the dates this year) was hard to get through.

I'm a little better now, but it still has been pretty rough. I'm finding it helps to turn on as many lights as possible at around 4:3pm. That way I have the extra light to prepare for dusk.

 

[simonkodousek]

Here in Wisconsin, it doesn't get light out until 6:30'ish AM, but gets dark at 4:30-5:00 PM.

I love winter, but I hate being cooped up inside.

 

[LeesyUD]

On top of having a form of bipolar disorder, I have severe SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and the winter changes me into a completely different person at the same times every year, late October until about end of March or April. (You can imagine how fun I must be ) This year I am doing things different....I am trying to get daylight wherever I can....They just moved my desk at work and I now have a window - yay! so that was lucky for me. The light through the window is really helping in the late morning. And I just bought a small portable light therapy box on Amazon by Phillips. They are expensive but I got a good deal. I am supposed to use it at least 30 minutes a day and it helps to reset your body clock and trick your body into thinking you are getting actual daylight. Supposedly daylight affects your circadian rhythms which effects your sleep and appetite, and also your melatonin which affects your mood. We will see how it works out. I have the Winter Blues big time!

 

[alebisi]

same here 4pm and it's already dark... here it isn't snowing because is a sea city... but here it's FREEZING!

 

[BRobson]

Dark here by 3.30 pm and it is getting harder to get up in the mornings when it is dark It is freezing here too

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I went tanning yesterday to prepare for my upcoming trip and it really helped! I know that many people aren't a fan of it ... and I can certainly understand the health risk fear, but it perked my mood quite a bit. I'm now finally getting excited for my trip! I couldn't understand why I was so blah but I think it really has to do with the late change of daylight savings like a PP said! I bet the portable light thing another PP mentioned helps a lot!

Here's a little sunshine for all of us stuck in the dark

 

[kafitty]

i miss the sun too, and i'm too broke to afford to go tan. bad for my mood, AND my vanity.

my friends refer to me as "the kodiak bear" during this time of year...because i tend to just hibernate and sleep all the time.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I'm on that $20/month tanning special. It definitely pays for itself in the summer when I have to get these English/Irish/German skin of mine some color. Sadly, I burned by chest area this time - OUCH!

 

[LeesyUD]

So I have started using that light box I bought, and I am already noticing some difference....I am finding that I have more energy in the morning and afternoon and my mood has been better on the days I use it. (about 15-30 minutes in the morning) However, I am still finding that by about 5pm I feel worn out (But that is much better than being worn out by noon). So I think I am going to start using it in the afternoon at work for a few minutes, bc it is portable Or as soon as I get home....just to give me an extra push. (Again I have severe SAD, so for others, once a day might be enough.) Here is the one I got: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JPJM5K They are expensive though. I was able to get mine on a special sale for $149, which convinced me to buy it. It is so tiny but it is very powerful. It is extremely lightweight too. It folds open and is a little bigger than a CD case just thicker. It is wireless so you can use it anywhere and it also has a timer so you can set it to go off after a certain time, as well as an alarm you can set to remind you it is time for your treatments. You can also adjust the brightness on it. I sound like an infomercial right now. Oh well, just thought I would share, as it seems to be working for me and it is something that is just for people like severe SAD like me, anyone who is affected by the seasonal changes, I think it could be very helpful for.