I'm always grateful this time of year that I don't suffer from the winter depression thing. But I have the opposite effect - always depressed in July, but feel great in January. I love the snow and the dimmer sunlight, it's beautiful! But I have several friends that go through this every year. I hope I can be there for them like they are for me in the summer. Hang in there, spring will come!

Up here in OR, we look forward to rain for kayaking, snow for winter sports, and grey skies for pale, cancerless skin.

All that got you down? Move south, and shut up with the victimhood thing. 

Good, useful article. Thanks.

The power of prayer and exercise combined is usually helpful for me during the cold, and less sunny days.

I'm afraid I might be one of those 10% that might have SAD. This winter certianly has its challenges...everything from higher heating bills to having to bundle up to head outside. All the stuff most of us like to do is in the summer...barbecues, swimming in the ocean, festivals in the park, bicycling. I also live in a northern state, but my hometown and the region I love nearby I wouldn't trade it for the places snowbirds flock to retire. The bit about "exercise, exercise, exercise!" is the best sidetracking advice for those wintertime blahs. The trick is to keep entertained and to always have something to look forward to. It's also a good time to do those extensive housecleanings and other activities you wouldn't have time for during the more active summer months. Once these are done, there's a great sense of achievement...so get right on it!

I've talked to some people about what their favorite seasons are...and it seems the ones who like winter more than summer are the ones ashamed of their outward appearance & would rather hide their physique under lots of heavy clothes..?!??

Winter Blue?

What this article doesn't go into depth about is the cloud factor. In western Michigan, on the leeward side of Lake Michigan, we only have about nine hours a day when the sun is above the horizon, but you rarely see it because of the perpetual thick gray clouds generated by the Lake. This imparts a very gloomy environment condition that has been called "the great gray funk"

Over the winter we seldom see direct sunshine, but over the summer we have almost constant sunshine when the sun is up, so I guess that sort of makes up for it.

Get 20 minutes plus of fun exercise (treadmill with a fire crackling in the fireplace/fave tunes or swimming/hot tub at a resort pool); take two dark chocolate truffles and call me in the a.m. These two diet and lifestyle keys help boost those feel-good endorphins.

-- happy author of The Healing Powers of Chocolate

I wish to speak from my propective as a mental patient for over half my life. On 1 occassion I was hospitalized I met a woman who was from PA. I live way down south so my next question was what on earth brought you all the down here? Her answer The Weather. She had attempted suicide & shot herself in the leg instead & it was time to go. This is a very real mental health issue & if you think it may fit you you may wish to talk to someone. Only friendly advice.

I live in Alaska which is one of the worst states to live in for SAD or any other type of depression. The darkness in combination with the extreme cold can make it very rough on people up here. On the longest day of winter we only have about 3 hours hours of daylight. In the summer it's the exact opposite with almost 23 hours of daylight. It's important to stay active by getting out of the house more often during the winter and having a good support system of people you can talk to.

I have had pretty severe seasonal affective disorder. I live in the Seattle area. Getting out and exercising whenever I can really helps. Also taking Vitamin D3 and I have bright daylight lights in my kitchen and in many of my lamps.

i knew a girl/woman who seemed to have SAD. We had a "sad" relationship for a few years until I couldn't stand her anymore. She took mood meds and was a general headcase. She moved to Florida and sent an email to me and others (turned out to be bs addresses) about "MY awesome life". I've later learned thru others that she is still a screwed up headcase with an enormous tendency to lie and be incredibley moody and deceitful but she has a nice tan. Maybe prozac, xanex, ibuprofin, mellaril, whisky and a SAD light will do the trick, but i doubt it. Good luck to her "awesome" husband, he'll need it. bet he didn't know just what he was getting with that "I do" statement. Some people just are head cases maybe complicated by underexposure to light. It might help if she ever got her behind out of bed before noon. I sure miss ya becky.....lol lol lol

I live in Illinois and I suffer from this every winter. This winter's even been worse. I think we've averaged about 1 sunny day a month and I'm so lethargic, sleepy, spacey and brain dead that I can barely function. The one afternoon we actually had sunlight last week, the next day I felt awesome and alert. I was going to try the tanning bed thing for light treatments and I think I still will try it. As far as exercise I try and get some every day. That's probably what keeps me from going into a full blown depression but I'm still so tired all of the time yet I'm sleeping well most every night.

Hi I suffer from SAD in a big way here in Minnesota where winters are long, cold and snowy with pleanty of cloudy days. I have found the SAD mini light (30$ at Wallgreens) has helped as well as keeping my MP3 player going during the day with my favorite music playing and keeping my social calendar as full as possible. If you have something to look forward to, it helps keep you going. I planned a Tropical party for friends in February and spent time making the invatations, complete with sand and a great picture of a large Hawiian lady in a hula skirt. Now planing for some fun food, drinks and activities will help occupy my time too. Excercise is hard for me because I HATE it but I do take a walk a couple times a week on the sunny days. Just some suggestions, hope it helps someone.

I spent years well above the Arctic Circle where the sun didn't break the horizon for months at a time (total darkness). All I can say is "Get over it".

It's the summer that I can't stand.  I won't say I get depressed, exactly. But, when June arrives, I cannot wait for November. Love the period from late October through mid-May, or so.  Detest the heat.  Also, don't like the time change in March.  Wish they would have left it the way it was a couple of years ago. 

WHAAAAAAA. Maybe we should go over to mamby pamby land and get you some feel good juice jackwad. You are pathetic

I'm surprised there's no mention of vitamin D supplements to help with SAD. It's not a perfect treatment, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper and more accessible than a light box.

I was diagnosed as being Bipolar in 1991 and having SAD. Have gone through the talk therapy sessions and to many drugs to name. Winter is the absolute hardest time of the year on me. Anyone who has never experienced SAD would have a difficult time understanding what it feels like. For me its like being in a dark hole in the ground. Reaching and hoping for light during those days when the Northern Michigan days run into weeks without sunshine. I do my very best to stay positive but there are days that it is just impossible.

SAD can also be very scary when it seems like the gray days will never end. Today is the first in 9 days that the sun has shown here. Yes, those of us who have SAD even count the days of when the sun last has shown through the clouds.

For those who have never experienced this medical condition, you have no right what so ever to be critical of us who suffer from it. This article is spot on with some of the symptoms but everyone who has this experiences it in their own way.

I am from South Texas and we are stationed up here in the Seattle area due to the Army. I thought SAD was some sort of made up diagnosis - nothing further from the truth. Nine months of dreary rain is just awful. I have never, ever had depression other than about 1 week of the baby blues after delivering my twins but since living here I cannot "snap out of it." I always feel down and have major lack of motivation. I had my vitamin D tested and it was really low but I have been on over 4000 mg a day and it has only raised it slightly and done nothing for my mood. Its beautiful here, but I cannot wait to move back to somewhere that has a lot more sunshine. I know its SAD because on nice cold clear nights the sun is out the next day...wow makes a huge difference. Feel like my old self again w/ some sun.

I think I get a mild case of SAD every winter: sleeping in, afternoon naps, feeling blah and tired all the time. This winter I started taking 2000 IUs of Vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) every day and I've seen a really big change in my mood and energy level. Apparently Vitamin D levels impact one of the main nuerotransmitter levels. Who knows if this works for everyone (or if it is really even the difference for me this year).

I was diagnosed manic-depressive (aka bipolar) back in 1980 and tried medication and then going off the meds, then going back on, back and forth for so many years. This past 12 years has been the longest that I have been med-compliant in my whole life (my daughter thanks the Lords every night!!). However, meds are not the magic elixir that we would like them to be. I also get sad when the weather is dark and yucky (I live in South Texas) which is right now. Also being a recovering alcoholic/addict has taught me a little about acceptance. Some things in my life I just can't change. I just have to get up every morning, make my bed (so I don't go back to bed!) and get ready for the day no matter how the day is. I take my meds and do the best I can. What more can I do??

Rob- 

I can assure you as a Portlander that Mike is a rare Oregonian!  

There have been some studies on coffee intake in Portland and Seattle - its not a coincidence that Starbucks was created in Seattle - we are a bit more sleepy here with lack of sunshine.  I try to focus on the positives that rain brings.  Its always green here, we do have great winter and summer sports that are products of that great rain. 

SAD is nothing to laugh about.  I have several friends with light boxes that are counting it down until they can retire and move to a sunnier place.

I realized I suffered from, SAD, about 34 yrs. ago the week or so after my wedding in February. We spent a wk in Jamaica & upon returning realized I felt better than I had in months. It was then I realized a wk in the sun had definitely improved both my health & mood for the next month or so. I also realized that the yrs. I was able to spend a wk in January skiing in the Colorado Rocky's usually w/lots of sunny days had the same effect. I have lived in WI my whole life so it was quite noticable to me the changes I was feeling, but didn't know they had come up with a name to describe the mild depression that many people, like myself, feel during long, cloudy winter months that exist in WI.

I haven't read all of the comments here. Most I DID read are positive, affirming to those of us who experience SAD. Thank you for that. I have been diagnosed as "clinically depressed" and within the past several years have noticed that my symptoms become more severe in the winter months. Yes, a lot of my emotional goo has to do with life situations (widowed this past year, family issues before that, loss of a child, financial hardships and a severe accident to cope with). To one writer (who obviously has no mental health issues.... or would never admit it), I don't percieve myself as a victim or a whiner. It is real, it hurts, it exaccerbates any physical illness or pain, as well. I believe that Chronic Fatique Disorder and Fibromyalgia were once thought to be "all in one's head", undefined, as well. So, please...if I hear someone tell me "sounds like LIFE to me....get a grip" one more time.......I just MIGHT get a grip, if you know what I mean. In the meantime, I put the shades up all the way during the day, use "daylight" bulbs in fixtures, try to MAKE myself go outdoors....and take prescribed meds, see my councellor.

OH! And I want to mention that the BEST remedy I ever had was an old-fashioned stone and brick greenhouse attached to my kitchen (in another home). Grow bulbs in the cieling supplemented natural light from the glass roof and sides. It was humid, green and wet, with wonderful earthy aromas. Even with a foot of snow on the ground, all I'd have to do was put on a pot of tea, open the french doors to that space, relax and read or do my work! Respite from worry. It helped.