🙁 SAD - are you feeling down, depressed, tired from the weather? 😩
🙁 SAD - are you feeling down, depressed, tired? 😩
Summer is just starting, but here in San Diego, many of us are faced with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), or at least the start of it. SAD is characterized by depression that occurs at the same time every year. Symptoms are usually self-diagnosable and include: fatigue, depression, lack of concentration, loneliness, bummed-out. Why would such a thing occur in America's Finest City, in the usually sunny southern California?
A common weather pattern in May called "May Gray" occurs because the climate creates a marine layer of low-altitude clouds that form over the cool ocean water, and the air currents blow them inland to cover the costal cities. It is usually most prevalent in the early morning and then burns off to a beautiful sunny day around mid-day, only to return in the evening just before sunset. This often means we miss out on seeing cool celestial happenings like the full-moon, or the planet convergence on June 3. This past May, we rarely got the burn-off sun, and it stayed cloudy and cool most days.
And then, "June Gloom" arrived! This weather pattern usually lasts a couple of months. The temperature inversion causes warmer air to get trapped above the cooler air, trapping the marine moisture close to the surface. As we moved into the first two weeks of June this year, that brought cooler and even denser cloud cover. In fact last Monday, mid-day brought light drizzle instead of clear skies and sunshine. I and everyone that I spoke to on Monday and Tuesday last week were feeling the effects of the weather: tired, irritable, lethargic, down.
What to do about it? Phototherapy (light therapy) is one of the most effective treatments. I know that as soon as that sun comes out my whole mood and demeanor changes. My advice is take a few minutes, fifteen if you have them, to get out in that sunshine when it does come out. On days when I am working inside all day, I sometimes miss the few glorious minutes of sunshine in the afternoon, so I have been making it a point to stop for a moment and go outside to soak it in when it comes out. Sometimes I just stand in the parking lot of my office between clients and eat my snack in the sunlight.
If no sun, then buy and install somewhere in your home a "full-spectrum" or "grow" light bulb that gives off the same kind of light as the sun. Spend at least 10-15 minutes in front of it. Another strategy to deal with the gloomy feelings is to Exercise. Be thankful for the early morning cool weather to get your workout on. Go for a brisk walk or a run or a bike ride. Fresh air and movement are excellent remedies for depression, no matter the time of year. Talk therapy is another common approach, even talking to a friend can help. Let them know how you're feeling; just the act of acknowledging the feelings, has been shown to lessen the symptoms. Sniff some uplifting scents. In aromatherapy, Sweet Orange, Bergamot, Lemon, and Grapefruit are all known to help.