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Winter is coming

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Re: Winter is coming

#11

Post by fein »

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North.

I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March, but you get through it.

A winter in SF would be a vacation.

Edit: Didn't mean to be incendiary here, just wanted to put things in perspective.

Re: Winter is coming

#12

Post by MartinMcGirk »

jdmitch wrote: post #3

Does taking vitamin D3 supplements really work for the OP? There have been a number of HN posts about how the vitamin fad started by Linus Pauling has not been backed up scientifically, such as this one: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitami... but maybe there is more to it when it comes to SAD...

For further information about vitamin D, I always recommend one particular episode [1] of the TWiT Security Now podcast where the host Steve Gibson talks for about an hour on his research into the effects of vitamin D and how he thinks that taking it is important.

I can't vouch for the medical accuracy of what he is saying, but he does tend to research things pretty thoroughly before broadcasting them, and I generally trust his conclusions.

[1]https://www.grc.com/sn/sn-209.htm

Re: Winter is coming

#14

Post by jaf12duke »

fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

The important comparison is not the cause but the outcome. I've lived in Boston, New Hampshire, Scotland, and San Francisco. And in each, I've suffered from seasonal depression.

A winter depression in any city is no vacation.

Re: Winter is coming

#15

Post by sdoering »

Living in northern Germany (read Hamburg) I can only agree.

That last winter here was very difficult for me, too. Especially the long, grey and dark weeks, without so much than a glimpse of sunshine.

Not very good for me. What has helped me, at least a little bit, was, that I started dancing again. Having someone else, who's "training" depends on you makes it less likely, that you do not go. And dancing is quite actually really strenuous, if done right and a lot of fun.

I learned to listen to my body, learned to feel my body better and now have at least two days a week, when I come home relaxed, lucky-exhausted.

But not everything is good. I feel, that "winter is coming". I can feel the energy withdrawing to a place deep inside me. I feel like curling up and preparing for hibernation. But that is not possible. I have to do my best at work everyday. So hibernating is not an option ;-)

So I wish all of you out there well. Be it SAD or be it "just" the "winter blues" be well and take care of yourself.

Re: Winter is coming

#17

Post by fein »

jaf12duke wrote: post #14
fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

The important comparison is not the cause but the outcome. I've lived in Boston, New Hampshire, Scotland, and San Francisco. And in each, I've suffered from seasonal depression. A winter depression in any city is no vacation.

My sister has issues with SAD, and she lives in Texas. I don't know if it just went unrecognized while she lived here, or everyone else is just so bitter during that time that it's just the norm. It seems the folks I know with SAD issues are from very temperate zones, which makes no sense to me when I know what I have to do the next day: trudge through 17 degree F temperatures at 7 AM on a bicycle.

Re: Winter is coming

#18

Post by pimeys »

I have the same problem, but this winter I decided to fight it and take a six week vacation to Thailand in the worst months. I hope this helps to fight the depression, because I've never tried to take a vacation that long in the middle of winter.

Re: Winter is coming

#19

Post by euphemize »

fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

Will have to agree here. As someone who's working from Canada, this post is semi-funny.

I've worked from SF October to January, and let me tell you that biking around town in a t-shirt is not winter.

Re: Winter is coming

#20

Post by vonmoltke »

aboodman wrote: post #7

I grew up in Southern California, and feel like that might be part of why the two long grey winters in sf each year affect me worse than my friends. I found that a good antidote to the second winter was making snowboarding a more serious hobby. It had been something I'd done a few times when I was younger, but it was too far away to do regularly. Here in the bay area though, a weekend of sun, beer, adventure, exercis…

I had a similar experience moving from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas. The contrast was made even more interesting because many of the people I worked with when I moved out here originally came from northern climes, with a few coming from places where snowfall is measured in feet instead of inches. I have adapted to it, mainly because North Texas winters tend to be sunny and dry. I would still rather be back in South Florida, though. Winter was actually the best time to be outside there.
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