What I have learnt about SAD...

Thanks for that Piglet, it is a great help.

What have I learned........

That it only lasts for about 6 months and I will start to feel better.

That I have to accept that this is me, I have to learn to live with this condition cause this is as good as it gets.

I have learned that it's perfectly OK to come home, make a mug of hot tea, take a hot shower and go to bed now and then.

It doesn't do me any good judging myself for feeling tired.

Amalthea, you've hit the nail on the head. It's ok to come home and sleep the world away. i've learnt to stop feeling guilty for my symptoms. i work hard to minimise them, but i cannot feel guilty for something i cannot control. I control what i can, and accept what i can't control.
Could happily go home with a cup of tea and go to bed right now!

Some really good points here guys and girls, keep them coming!

Hadrian - I think it's really common in those of us who have SAD, I used to expend energy looking for cracks and picking at them to prove I was right and that it was a bad relationship. I now try to remind myself that it's just me and I try to spend the energy working positively on my relationship and valuing it rather than ripping it apart.

Hadrian/Piglet, I can totally empathise with you both. My relationships suffer during my SAD time. I always ended my relationships at this time.

What have I learned..... it's not that there is anything wrong with the relationship it's just my insecurity, low self esteem and paranoia kicking in.

I convince myself that I want to be on my own because it will be easier than having to worry about upsetting my OH.

Like Piglet, I've realised that I start to overthink things, my relationships (in all forms) suffer because I get paranoid and almost invent problems. When really I just want to be alone, even just for a couple of hours, without someone asking me if I'm alright, telling me to cheer up or making some comment about me being lazy!

I do have support but it seems to put a strain on my family. And they say I'm intolerant!

Oh, and the other thing i have learnt about living with SAD. I may sometimes live in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here!

I have read all the comments and now understand that I am not going through this troubled time alone.
I thought I was doing very well this year so far, until a week ago i broke down and ended my relationship. Looking back, each relationship I've had has always turned sour around this time of year.
Only recently did my GP acknowledge the fact that I have the condition SAD. So for me at the moment my life consists of struggling to get up for work, coming home and going to bed about 8pm and that's it! I'm struggling to make the effort and just want to hibernate! It is such a struggle at the moment :-(

Hi Sleepy Bear
I can't sleep in the day either because I work full time. I feel absolutely shattered all day and find it hard to concentrate. When I get home I go to bed and sleep about 8pm, but then I wake up early every morning and the cycle starts all over again.
I have also gone off my food and have stopped socialising.
Yes, I have been taking Prozac for a year because my GP thinks I need to continue on with the medication so that SAD doesn't hit me so hard in the winter. I also use a light box, but find that it gives me a headache. I seem to have tried everything, eg relaxation, exercise, making sure I go out in the day for some daylight, eating different foods, but so far I haven't found 1 thing in particular that helps.
What do you do to help yourself?

Right Suzie, it's often easy to cope with some aspects of the winter, but when the symptoms and situations all come at once, that's when the trouble starts.... I can't keep all my balls in the air at once!