Wise Women of Age : seasonal affective disorder

February is finally over! I admit I’m not sorry to see this month go. Here in Pennsylvania, our temperatures hovered around 0^oon many days.

The good news is that birds are beginning to sing in the morning, and next Sunday, March 8 begins Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Whooo-hoooo! The following day, I will be going to Florida for a week. Whooo-hooo!

It’s been a great month on the Wise Women of Age blog. Readership increases with every month. For me, that’s a sign that you wise women relate to what I write about.

In case you missed them, here is your chance to catch up on this month’s subjects, ranked by readership. Click on any hot link to go directly to that blog:

Through a Mother’s Eyes – A story for those of faith about the crucifixion and a mother's love,

thoughts about this holy Christian season of Lent, and the crucifixion through the eyes of a mother and how it relates to us.

Here Comes the Sun – Just Not Soon Enough – Winter makes me SAD. I mean SAD as in Seasonal Affective Disorder. Could you be suffering from it too? I give you my take on it in this blog,

So Many Books, So Little Time - Winter is my time for reading, and I read A LOT! I read concurrently, and will often be working through a novel, some kind of non-fiction “how to” book, doing a Bible study, and my pile of periodicals to peruse. Nothing is better on a snowy winter afternoon than to nestle under the cuddle blanket my granddaughter made for me with my dog, a cup of tea, and a good book. In this blog, I share with you the titles of some of my favorite books of this month.

Punxsutawney Phil –Up Close and Personal - Here’s a little known fact about me: Punxsutawney Phil and I are BFFs. Groundhog Day means more to me than the lore of a rodent's shadow. It’s a turning point in my life. Read this blog to get the rest of the story.

Secret Spending – I Cannot Tell a Lie - We would all like to think we are not liars. I’m sure we all try NOT to be liars. However, sometimes we tell lies with our actions, not words. Secret spending and financial infidelity are destructive in relationships. If you’re committing financial offenses, you need to read this blog.

You Gotta Have Friends – Did you know that interaction with your coffee shop gang could add two and half years to your life? Check out this blog to get the story.

Senior Dating: Advice from Me and Willie Nelson -Widowed, divorced, separated, or single? Are you interested in dating in the September of your life? Do you know someone who is? Where to begin? In this February month of all things Valentine related, we will look at searching for love in the second half of our lives. Willie Nelson and I have some advice to help you out.

Heart of My Heart – Women and Heart Disease – What You Need to Know - 69% of women don't know that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. Do you know your risks? Do you know that women’s symptoms of a heart attack are different than men’s symptoms? Read this blog for information to put you in the know. You owe it to those you love.

Round, Round, Ready, Touch – The Death of Penmanship – Penmanship is disappearing in school. I remember making rocker and rainbow motions. I remember “round, round, ready-touch” as we oval-ed our full-motion arms across the pre-lined practice papers.

Think about those love letters your husband wrote, your mother’s recipe cards, and the Mother’s Day cards your kids made for you. Aren’t they a treasure? Where would we be if the signers of the Declaration of Independence couldn’t sign their names?

We need to keep penmanship alive. Hear me out in this blog.

There you have it. I’m looking forward to hearing more from my readers. Your comments are often the spark that generates this blog. So keep them coming!

If you know someone who benefit or enjoy this blog, please forward it to them.

I remember the first time I felt SAD. My husband retired, and we sold our urban home and bought an Amish farm. We moved during a snow storm, on Ground Hog Day, into a house that had no central heat, no running hot water, no shower, and an outhouse. Two makeshift electric outlets provided a place to plug in our coffeepot and pellet stove.

The snow that arrived that day never disappeared until around June (just kidding). Of course it melted with the spring thaw, but for months the two beautiful gardens, the grape arbor, fruit trees, and the babbling brook that lured us to this lifestyle change lay buried under feet of snow. I couldn’t even determine where they were anymore. Our narrow dirt road was trafficked mostly by buggies, so the township highway department paid little attention to the care of our only egress from our valley. We had no television, no phone, and couldn’t get a radio signal.

One dark day I stood looking out the windows at the lovely snow-blanketed rolling countryside and started to cry. Not sobbing. Not dramatic. I think forlorn would be the best choice of word. It felt like those were some of the darkest days. To the best of my knowledge, that was the first time I ever experienced the symptoms of SAD.

Are you a candidate for SAD? For those who don’t know, there really is such an ailment. The letters are an acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder. According to WebMD, anyone can get SAD, but it's more common in women and people who live far from the equator where daylight hours are short. They say the risk of getting SAD goes down as you age, but for me, I think it has escalated. Most people with SAD start to have symptoms in September or October and feel better by April or May.

If you are a SAD victim, you may experience some of these symptoms:

Feel sad, grumpy, moody, or anxious - I honestly am not a grumpy or moody person, but I do feel sad in the winter. I’m sad that the daylight hours are so short. I’m sad that sidewalks are for ice skating, and snow freezes in piles like granite. I’m sad that the temperature hovers at 0 degrees, and the only time I see my toes is when I’m in the shower. I’m sad that even my dog doesn’t want to go out. I’m sad that I can only see the fence around my garden and none of the lush greenery of the life force of nature. I’m sad that the only sunlight on my face comes through the kitchen window while I’m eating lunch.
Eat more and crave carbohydrates, such as bread and pasta - Who doesn’t want more bread and pasta? There’s not much else to do in these dark days except cook and eat. We can’t go outside and play. The roads are too miserable to just get out for a ride. It’s too cold to go to the ice cream stand for a cone. Let's go make a big fat chocolate cake! Why not boil up a big pot of pasta? Don’t forget the meatballs. How about a skillet full of pierogi with butter and onions? Let’s cheer ourselves with comfort food!
Gain weight – Doesn’t it go without saying? We’re stuffing ourselves with cake, pasta, and pierogi. We’re carb loading, but not running any marathons to burn it off. We can’t safely go for a walk. There’s no yard or garden work to do. I could do some housework, but that’s a blog left for another day. It’s too much effort. Piling on layers of clothes to drive three miles to Planet Fitness seems like too much effort too. The same goes for digging out some work-out DVDs. I’m not feeling it. Sigh….
Sleep more but still feel tired – As a menopausal women, I don’t sleep well on any given night. By 9:00 p.m. I’m inching toward the bedroom. My eyes generally don’t stay open past 10:00 p.m. However, after the first half hour, I wake and spend the rest of the night tossing and turning. That is until the last hour before it’s time to get up. Then I go into the deepest slight of the night, making it difficult to get up and greet the day at a respectable time. In my opinion, if you need to turn on the bedside lamp to help you wake up, then it’s not time to get up. I need the dawning sun to brighten my bedroom gradually.
Have trouble concentrating – Why wouldn’t I? My body is overloaded on carb energy with no way to spend it. I’m not doing any aerobic activity to pump blood or oxygen to my heart or brain. I’m not sleeping well. It all adds up to absent-mindedness. I feel the need to create list after list to keep myself on track.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not making light of SAD. It is a true form of depression. It can also be very debilitating for some people. I’m fortunate that I know about it. A few weeks after daylight savings time begins, I’ll start feeling energized and renewed.

How do you know if it’s SAD or something else? You need to talk with your doctor. It could be something else. Your doctor may choose to do some blood tests to rule out other conditions that can cause similar symptoms, such as low thyroid (hypothyroidism). A mental health assessment to be sure there are no other mental issues at play might be another recommendation.

Some ways to feel better are by doing the very things your body is trying to avoid. Regular exercise is one of the best things to do. Getting more sunlight can help too. Google the words “light therapy.” You’ll find multitudes of lighting products that simulate natural light. Some even have timers that will gradually illuminate like the sun and then gradually recede to mimic a sunset. There are herbal products too that may help the symptoms, but as always never use an herbal product without consulting with your doctor, especially if you are taking prescription anti-depressants.

It’s been a tough winter. It’s easy to be lethargic on these slow, cold days. Could you be SAD? If you’ve been feeling melancholy, but couldn’t put a name to your feelings, I hope you found this helpful. If you think someone else might find this article helpful, please forward it to them. In the meantime, keep your face toward the sun. It could be worse. You could live in Boston in this winter of 2015.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/tc/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad-topic-overview

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi

http://www.planetfitness.com/

http://www.webmd.com/women/hypothyroidism-underactive-thyroid-symptoms-causes-treatments

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/hypothyroidism

https://www.google.com/