Work and SAD

Hi all

For many years now, well in fact 3 8) I decided to put on any application form that I suffer from SAD in the Winter times. It may be just me but since that time I seem to never get interviews or even the only one I got at last December was 150 miles away at 09:00 in the morning and I had to be up at 05:00 to to it.

I know its the time of year 8) :shock: but I oftern wonder if I will get or ever work again as I'm now 52, despite having two degrees I still find been honest with prospective empoyers sometimes is depremental..

:evil:

Hi Old Hippy! I'm 52 also and I don't even begin to consider myself as being old! Let's hope you just mean 'old' as in 'used to be a'... !!
Bring back Flower Power!

Right on there Guest, its what freaks me out some what had over 30 years working with about 15 days sick during that time, spent 4 years at uni and got a great degree and these twerps called personal officers see one word SAD relate it to us all be manic depressives or ready to flip out like some deranged escapee from the straight jacket. Im more alert now then i ever was back in time. lol I got drunk far to much, indulged in things perhaps I should not have done, followed loose woman about and traveled the world. :shock: :shock:

Hey you are as old as you want to be in this life, you pass this way only once, if you pass on a little happyness on your travels its all been worth it, regardsless of whatever it is.

Live Long, Live Happy Die Fantastically

Hi 'student',

Probably the easiest way to find out how SAD affects people would be to set up a new post with some specific questions.

SAD affects people's lives in different ways and depending on how recently diagnosed and how well they respond to treatment you will find out different things.

I can talk for hours and hours about how SAD affected me before I knew it was SAD, how it affected me getting used to treating it and now how I manage it day to day.

SAD has affected my ability to study effectively, my ability to socialise, my figure, my self esteem, my confidence, my family, my work...

What do you want to know?

amy

how did you realise what it was

My mum happened to be reading an article. They pop up now and again in magazines often due to the work of the SAD Association (details can be found knocking about on the forum). She read the article and matched the symptoms to me. It was all the more obvious that it was SAD because there is a distinct change in my behaviour. From April to September I'm me and then from September to March if I didn't control it it's like packing parts of me away in a box, putting them into winter storage. The really hard thing is that it is usually my favourite things about me that I struggle to maintain.
The main differences in behaviour for me were a
lack of energy
erratic, but very long, sleep patterns e.g. I might sleep from 11 pm to 1pm the following day but then stay up till 5am.
poor memory and concentration
weight gain (due to carb craving)
not wanting to meet people or even chat on the phone
irritability
crying
feeling low, very low self esteem, inexplicable regret, remorse and sadness

I can't actually list everything because when I'm feeling fine I forget some of the bad stuff


how did you deal with this, to stop feeling the way you did what sort of treatment did you recieve?

For me it was my lightbox that fixed it. I know people get annoyed at the price but mine has been more than worth the money. I love it. A hour long dose in the morning while I'm eating my breakfast or sometimes half and hour at home and half and hour at work set me up for the day. I started using my lightbox on Monday (about a month late!) but I can feel the benefits already. It restores me to my nearly summer self. The funny thing is I don't hate winter, in actual fact I love it- apart from the SAD.


what time in your life did you realise this was affecting you?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I now realise that I was affecting me from my early teens. It really made an impact on my life around my late teens. Most of the academic year takes place in SAD season and I found it increasingly difficult at college and university to concentrate and study and deal with people etc. It was around then that my mum found the article and decided that hiring a light box might be the way forward. It took a long time for me to get used to using my light box and it's only in the last 3 years that I have really appreciated its value. It involves routine and I'm not a natural lover of routine (especially when it involves leaving my lovely warm bed!)

is it something that will always affect you?

Yes. Unless I move nearer the equator apparently.
If you imagine that before artificial light people used to get up with the sun and go to bed with the sun. There was less food in the winter and less work to do (if we're looking at agriculture). So people semi hibernated. The food available was largely carbo laden starch which helps one gain weight to keep warm.

Basically SAD folk are very sensitive to these patterns of light. My body responds to light and is sensitive to the levels of light available.
I hope that is useful.