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Another side of coping with Oregon weather
The Advocate
I have a S.A.D. story to tell you.
As the Portland rainy season approaches I get apprehensive the way I did walking home from grade school. The neighborhood bully often hid behind a tree ready to pummel me.
In the same way, in the weeks ahead; dark, dismal days of drizzle are also lying in wait promising me a pretty severe butt kicking. The bully eventually got called home to dinner but sunless, gray skies and incessant rain will be around for months to taunt and torment me.
As you might have guessed, I am talking about living with S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) Commonly called "the wintertime blues", S.A.D. is characterized by a lack of energy, an increased need for sleep, difficulty finishing tasks and feelings of hopelessness during winter months.
I usually can make it to Halloween but it started early this year. It seems that last stretch of rainy days really set me back.However two weeks of Welbutrin and a few days of sunshine are pulling me out of the ditch.
When I get depressed ordinary tasks seem insurmountable. Depression is like golfing with three sumo wrestlers using a golf cart with four flat tires. There is still movement, but not real fast or very far.
I wanted to avoid taking meds this year because I felt so good this past summer, but it was not to be. There was either flunking out and feeling sorry for myself or taking the medicine.
There are natural treatments for seasonal depression like phototherapy where you use a special light every day to compensate for reduced available sunlight. At $250-300 I will wait for now.
Studies show that taking melatonin (found in the vitamin section) at a specific time every day helps.
Meanwhile, everyday get as much sunlight as you can everyday because every bit helps. Force yourself to take a walk even when you don't want to.
If you have these kinds of problems every time the sun says sayonara, get help. If it is mild, try the natural treatments. If it is debilitating, then see your doctor. Research S.A.D. for your self.
To friends of the depressed; sending out sympathy cards filled with kittens and bunnies can only do so much. Encourage your friend to get help.Antidepres-sants are not "happy pills". They help restore chemical balance to the brain.
In the future I will definitely look into natural treatments for S.A.D. A natural solution beats spending over $60 every month for a medication only to later find out that long term side effects include "blurred vision, seizures, perpetual diarrhea, growth of hair on the tongue and in some rare cases death."
So, just how rare and how much hair are we talking about here?
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