Feeling Depressed; Seasonal Affective Disorder

[bell]

@Ayesha, I don't have SAD, but I just wanted to say I understand that fear of having it all come crashing down on your head again.

Along with PTSD, I get what's called double depression, which is cyclical. Knowing that it's going to come soon and/or getting the signs that it's about to come, makes life that much harder. So sorry that you have to deal with that, too!

A close friend of mine has SAD and she was put on Cymbalta, which helped for awhile. I think for her, it stopped working, but it did help her immensely for a bit. Good luck! :)

 

[Tinyflame]

@Ayesha.. I understand that fear of having it all come crashing down on your head again.

Along with PTSD, I get what's called double depression, which is cyclical.

Bell, what is double depression?

Ayesha, could you have pain fatigue or a trauma anniversary? Hope it is improving even a little bit. :hug:

 

[bell]

@Junebug, double depression is, according to psychcentral, "a condition that occurs when an individual suffering from mild depression falls into a major depressive state. New research identifies hopelessness as a key feature of double depression."

So each time I think that I'm done with it, it comes back to bite me in the arse.

 

[Venusian]

Nobody on here has suggested vitamin D yet. I used to live in the arctic in Canada and a lot of people had this disorder, so much so that a lot of companies began to invest in the lights placed where the employees work most often and in break rooms SAD can also be caused by a vitamin deficiency because some vitamins are produced through an interaction with sunlight, vitamin D most notably, which is part of the reason that light therapy works, If you start to increase your vitamin D intake remember that it takes time, it will take a few weeks to notice a difference and longer if you are extremely deficient.

I don't think I have SAD because even though I get depressed around this time of year, it disappears when the snow starts to fall. The trauma that happened to me happened sometime in the fall and I only just linked the depression to PTSD and the anniversary issues. I did a lot of research on it though and there are other factors that are really individual that can make it hard to treat in some people. Have you spoken to a medical doctor about it? There may be some tests he can do to see if it is caused by a vitamin deficiency and that could be why the mood disorder medication doesn't work.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

Nobody on here has suggested vitamin D yet.

I do take vitamin D. :)

Ayesha, could you have pain fatigue or a trauma anniversary?

I am nut sure what pain fatigue is, can you explain?

I don't believe I have trauma anniversaries.

I get what's called double depression

Do you mean, feeling depressed about being depressed?

 

[Tinyflame]

Dear Ayesha, pain fatigue is depression that is induced (occurs) after dealing with chronic (often severe) pain. It's true (accurate).

Am amazed re: bell's description above.

Totally agree with the Vitamin D business- I've been craving exponentially larger amounts than the 'recommended daily allowance'; they believe it's preventative for the types of cancers that my family all had, too.

Venusian, fellow Canadian here, eh. :) ;) My dad's hair was greying, in the High Arctic 24-hours-sunlight time it would all go dark!!

 

[Tinyflame]

..research identifies hopelessness as a key feature of double depression."

Wow Bell, thanks. In other words, cognitively-affected more than biochemically?

PS Ayesha, I can't identify always trauma anniversaries (some are obvious), but because it has fallen at the same time of year, in one case I have to ask myself if I've just blocked it out. Because it has been very severe/ I was suicidal. But I too can't really know why. Except I "can't remember", which might be a sign in and of itself I should look 'why'.

:hug:

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

I have been having depression like this for a long time, much longer then I have had my major PTSD causing trauma's.

 

[bell]

Do you mean, feeling depressed about being depressed?

I guess, but it's the combo of a cyclical disorder that gets hit with a more permanent one. The two together add up, making things even worse. :(

Wow Bell, thanks. In other words, cognitively-affected more than biochemically?

I guess so? It's just that having both at once, well, sucks so bad you just wanna give up sometimes, if I'm perfectly honest about it. (Thankfully, I'm on the right meds that this isn't a problem anymore.)

 

[stephanie44]

I am sorry you are struggling. I have SAD and use a light in the morning. By winter, I use it for 60 minutes a day. I also take prescription Vitamin D and am looking into buying a weighted blanket to help when I am depressed.

 

[presentjoy]

I've always associated the term double depression with dysthymic disorder + major depressive disorder. I have a dysthymia diagnosis. It's basically always there. Most likely there is a cognitive component to it. The double depression happens when a major episode comes on top of it.

Sunlight works well but yes just like with SSRIs it's important to be careful if you have a bipolar pattern.

The middle of winter and into spring is when the worst is for me. I live about an hour earlier in the same time zone now, and I definitely notice a difference. When it gets dark at 4:20pm here it's the worst. I tend to want to sleep with the drapes open and wake with the sun, just to get as much daylight as possible (wake up with sunrise).

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

I have noticed for the last month that I have been making a lot of mental health notes in my calendar; depression, more aneixty then normal, irritably, restlessness. More then I have since spring.

It's getting that time of year again where I fight major depression and try my best to keep my head above water. This time a year my therapist aims the sessions at preparing me for the depression that we both know is going to come.I hope this year wont be like last year. I think last year was about 12 solid weeks of depression.

It's time to get my light box out. Get to the gym a bit more. Try to be active and useful.

I hate watching myself fall apart. It's a terrible feeling. It's like I can watch it from the outside. I can watch myself just slowly unravel, watch my brain be less and less rational and know there isn't much I can do. At some point it will hit. I just hope this year there is more help and barriers in place and that it will be more bearable.