Winter is here: so I’m cold and hungry and miserable
SAD sufferers: I sympathize.
Winter has arrived in the South Hemisphere. It’s damp and cold, and it brings me to borderline Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Sometimes I think I was supposed to be a bear…
Hibernate is all I feel like doing right now.
I can’t overestimate how much I hate Winter.
I hate the short days, the cold and damp weather, and how I can’t keep my feet warm no matter what I do. Add to that the fact that I’m hungry all. the. time. and I just have myself a recipe for being miserable.
The greatest injustice of it all is that this is my second Winter this year, since I moved from the North Hemisphere to the South in March. Two Winters in a year and no perspective of warmer weather until at least November. What fun.
For anyone who thinks Winter is not so bad, a little context. Here in south Brazil we don’t have central heating, and most homes are not properly insulated. I felt less cold when I got -27ºC in Canada than anytime it’s below 8ºC here. (And this is juts the beginning. Deeper in the Winter, the negative temperatures invariably come — we get frost and, sometimes, snow). In Canada, it’s cold when you go outside. Here, it’s cold anywhere all the time, unless you’re willing to drop half of your paycheck with the electric company.
The short days also don’t help. Need I repeat this is my second winter this year? It’s hard to keep you energy level up when it gets dark by 5pm not for just 3, but for 6 months out of your year. (And that’s also why I couldn’t possibly live in Norway).
I’m not saying I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (at least, not officially)
I was never formally diagnosed with it, and I’m not saying I’m qualified to diagnose myself, but in past Winters, it wouldn’t have surprised me if it were true.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons — SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you’re like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, SAD causes depression in the spring or early summer. — Mayo Clinic
Oh, my symptoms have started all right. Getting out of bed is a struggle, getting out of the house is next to impossible.
The cold makes me recoil like a snail into its shell. It stiffens my muscles and keeps me uncomfortable all. day. long.
Feeling cold all day is like being a victim of the ancient Chinese torture of water slowly dripping on your forehead. The constance of it eventually breaks you.
(For some reason, this time the early nights are not draining my energy as they used to. I have gone to bed at 7pm in past Winters simply because the early sunset made me feel like 6pm was actually 11pm, and by then I was completely drained.) — It’s a miracle!
What I’m trying to say is, I get it
I understand how the lack of sunlight can drain one’s energy. How the constant cold can transform a mild lack of comfort into permanent torture.
SAD sufferers: I’m with you.
I understand your depression is more than simply “feeling a little down”. I understand that you have no control over how you feel, and I know you wish you were just as happy, upbeat and productive during Winter as you are during Summer. (Or vice-versa. It’s not because your depression comes in the warmer months that’s any less validated).
Weather has power over us. Seasons have power over us.
And being more sensitive to them is no reason to be ashamed. In my non-expert opinion, it just means you’re more sensitive to the world around you in general, more attuned with nature. (Not so unlike a fairy or a faun when you think about it…)
So, whether you’re a mystical creature paying the toll for being so damn cool, or a human-bear eating and sleeping your way through the colder months, try to remember: Summer is coming.
