Author Topic: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?  (Read 5505 times)

undercover

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 992
Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« on: June 05, 2019, 12:16:53 PM »
I live in the mountains of NC. All things considered, the weather is pretty good.

But this year...constant rain. To be fair, we had about 3 good weeks of solid sunshine this past month but now the rain has came again and when it comes, it just comes and stays. It's here for the foreseeable future if you believe the forecast. And if it's not rain, it's cold and snow. We had a particularly long winter last year which also drove me crazy.

I don't know what's wrong with me but I just can't be productive in bad weather. I guess I lean towards being naturally depressed so a huge part of my day is getting out driving or biking for an hour a day in good weather. It just makes me glad that I'm alive.

But when the weather sucks...everything sucks for me. I just become an unproductive slob that doesn't care about anything because I can't get my hour in of warmth and comfort.

Am I crazy? Do I just need to suck it up? I mean I know that for me the best place to move is out west (SoCal or NM/AZ) but I just think that sounds a little drastic.

I keep telling myself I'm at least going to take 2 months out of the year and go somewhere to stay sane but I end up never doing it. It's not really a permanent solution in the way moving would be but I just feel like a wimp for even wanting to move. And thus the cycle continues.

Anyone feel the pain or ever come up with a solution?

Clever Name

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 141
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2019, 12:26:51 PM »
You're not crazy, but you are the opposite of me. I also live in the NC mountains and I absolutely love all the rain we've been getting as well as the winter weather.

It sounds like your climate preferences simply don't align with where you currently live. There's nothing wrong with that and it certainly doesn't make you a wimp.

LifeHappens

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 12158
  • Location: Tampa-ish
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2019, 12:30:20 PM »
You're not crazy. I'm a solar powered human as well. I need sunshine so much I moved from a very cloudy, grey place in the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Turned out to be an instant cure for seasonal depression. I still get a little down if we have a cloudy day or two.

If moving isn't an option, read up on ways to deal with SAD.

John Galt incarnate!

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2038
  • Location: On Cloud Nine
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2019, 12:38:28 PM »
I live in the mountains of NC. All things considered, the weather is pretty good.

But this year...constant rain. To be fair, we had about 3 good weeks of solid sunshine this past month but now the rain has came again and when it comes, it just comes and stays. It's here for the foreseeable future if you believe the forecast. And if it's not rain, it's cold and snow. We had a particularly long winter last year which also drove me crazy.

I don't know what's wrong with me but I just can't be productive in bad weather. I guess I lean towards being naturally depressed so a huge part of my day is getting out driving or biking for an hour a day in good weather. It just makes me glad that I'm alive.

But when the weather sucks...everything sucks for me. I just become an unproductive slob that doesn't care about anything because I can't get my hour in of warmth and comfort.

Am I crazy? Do I just need to suck it up? I mean I know that for me the best place to move is out west (SoCal or NM/AZ) but I just think that sounds a little drastic.

I keep telling myself I'm at least going to take 2 months out of the year and go somewhere to stay sane but I end up never doing it. It's not really a permanent solution in the way moving would be but I just feel like a wimp for even wanting to move. And thus the cycle continues.

Anyone feel the pain or ever come up with a solution?


You may be suffering from SAD.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seasonal affective disorder


Other names
Winter depression, winter blues, summer depression, seasonal depression
Light Therapy for SAD.jpg

Bright light therapy is a common treatment for seasonal affective disorder and for circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

Specialty
Psychiatry

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder subset in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year exhibit depressive symptoms at the same time each year, most commonly in winter.[1][2] Common symptoms include sleeping too much, having little to no energy, and overeating.[3] The condition in the summer can include heightened anxiety.[4]

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV and DSM-5, its status was changed. It is no longer classified as a unique mood disorder but is now a specifier, called "with seasonal pattern", for recurrent major depressive disorder that occurs at a specific time of the year and fully remits otherwise.[5] Although experts were initially skeptical, this condition is now recognized as a common disorder.[6]

wenchsenior

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3789
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2019, 07:34:59 PM »
Nope, not weird at all.  SAD is painfully real. I am incredibly affected by gloomy, dark weather.  I've had several severe depressive episodes during my life, and all were combos of life issues that happened to coincide with a sudden reduction in my exposure to bright sunlight.  I struggled with depression as a teen in the Midwest, but then was 'magically' cured during my 8 years in Tucson.  Then I moved back to the Midwest during midsummer, and by December I was in deep trouble again.  I love where I grew up...I just can't handle the winters.

I will try not to ever live in a dark or gloomy climate again. I actually enjoy rain and don't mind snow, but it's the clouds and the short days I can't handle.  I wish I could, but I live in a sunny climate right now, and STILL I have found I must 1) actively go outside and get at least a half hour of bright sun every single day...my mood will actually fall within 12 hours if I don't go outside; and 2) I use full-spectrum light boxes and take supplemental vitamin D any time we have a cloudy stretch that lasts more than 3 days.  Being proactive on those two points has really helped me.  That, and proper diet, and I haven't had a severe depression in about 15 years.

mspym

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9748
  • Location: Aotearoa
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2019, 09:42:09 PM »
Definitely sounds like SAD to me. My solution was to move countries to a sunnier clime and and even then - we just finished 5 straight days of dark gloomy rain and between the lack of sunshine and the lack of outdoor exercise, I was both climbing the walls and not able to get out of bed.

EricL

  • Guest
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2019, 09:49:04 PM »
Seasonal Affective Disorder is definitely a thing.  I have it and it's one reason I moved to a sunny climate.  There are ways to combat it though.  If it looks like it's going to keep raining, consider getting UV lights designed for alleviating SAD. 

expatartist

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2270
  • Location: Hong Kong/Paris
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2019, 10:11:44 PM »
Yep - there's SAD and there's the opposite - where too much light and sun and long days will not allow quality sleep / drive you nuts. I tend to get both, exacerbated in areas where there's a big disparity between winter and summer day lengths.
I chose to immigrate to Hong Kong for many reasons, one is the relative consistency of daytime sunlight throughout the year keeps me much healthier mentally.

Parizade

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1028
  • Location: Variable
  • Happily FIREd
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2019, 11:32:47 PM »
but now the rain has came again and when it comes, it just comes and stays. It's here for the foreseeable future if you believe the forecast. And if it's not rain, it's cold and snow. We had a particularly long winter last year which also drove me crazy.

This horrble winter convinced me I have SAD or some variation of it. On bad days I used Google maps street view to take a "walk" on a Mexican beach, and I had a few favorite youtube travelogs I would watch. I've decided winters in Mexico will be an essential aspect of my post-FIRE self care routine.

powskier

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 382
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2019, 12:36:20 AM »
Not crazy, but you should maybe take some time and learn to manage your thoughts and reactions to them. This is at least as helpful as Vitamin D and full spectrum lights. You can't change the weather but you can affect your response.
SAD is real, I suffer from it, but I also live @ 61 degrees North, it's gray and rainy a lot. North Carolina sounds pretty easy.

Linea_Norway

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8569
  • Location: Norway
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2019, 01:50:03 AM »
My DH has suffered from SAD in the past. He also has a dream of moving further up north after FIRE. We currently live at 58 degrees. Where we live now, we have daylight from 9 am to 3 pm on the shortest days. In the far north, this is of course much shorter. His theory is that when FIREd, you can go out on a trip in the middle of the day when it is light, like we now do in the weekends. But I wonder whether that will be enough? Would it not be smarter to stay further south?

I find rain necessary for nature, but constant rain and the accompanying grey skies also work negatively on my mind. Therefore, living in a climate with not so much rain, would be an advantage.

Tris Prior

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3012
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2019, 08:04:47 AM »
If you're crazy then I am too! I am seriously thinking of fleeing my hometown, which I otherwise love, because I just can't take the cold and snow. We're still having relatively cold days here and there now and it is June! This is not OK!

Sun helps, but I've come to the conclusion that my seasonal depression has more to do with temperature than light or sun. I'm one of those people who shivers under multiple layers when it's less than 70 out - and no, I don't have a thyroid problem! It's just how my body is. If I cannot go outside and soak up heat, my body is unhappy. So clearly I'm living in the wrong place, and I'm starting to take steps to figure out what the right place might be.

I try and force myself to do productive indoor stuff when it's shitty out, like working on my side hustle or batch cooking, stuff that I don't want to do when it's nice outside and I would rather be outdoors. Spending time with my cats helps, too. We adopted them last fall and I swear I would not have made it through our polar vortex winter if not for them - watching their crazy antics was definitely a mood lifter.

StarBright

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3270
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2019, 08:13:00 AM »
Nope- not crazy! In fact your post just reminded me to turn on my light therapy box.

It has been a particularly cloudy 2019 so far.

But no joke - I never realized I had seasonal issues until I moved from the piedmont area of NC to NW Ohio. I might get a bit down in Feb when I lived in NC but it was generally still nice enough to get outside and hike on a regular basis.

We moved to Ohio and I'm a mess from December until April (and currently May and June since it is still raining almost every day).

wenchsenior

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3789
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2019, 08:52:07 AM »
If you're crazy then I am too! I am seriously thinking of fleeing my hometown, which I otherwise love, because I just can't take the cold and snow. We're still having relatively cold days here and there now and it is June! This is not OK!

Sun helps, but I've come to the conclusion that my seasonal depression has more to do with temperature than light or sun. I'm one of those people who shivers under multiple layers when it's less than 70 out - and no, I don't have a thyroid problem! It's just how my body is. If I cannot go outside and soak up heat, my body is unhappy. So clearly I'm living in the wrong place, and I'm starting to take steps to figure out what the right place might be.

I try and force myself to do productive indoor stuff when it's shitty out, like working on my side hustle or batch cooking, stuff that I don't want to do when it's nice outside and I would rather be outdoors. Spending time with my cats helps, too. We adopted them last fall and I swear I would not have made it through our polar vortex winter if not for them - watching their crazy antics was definitely a mood lifter.

I need both sun AND heat! I get cold in the tropics...it's crazy.  Also, my hands do this (see pic) if I get too cold, which is not very cold by normal peoples' standards. 

cats

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1232
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2019, 09:25:26 AM »
Yep - there's SAD and there's the opposite - where too much light and sun and long days will not allow quality sleep / drive you nuts. I tend to get both, exacerbated in areas where there's a big disparity between winter and summer day lengths.

Yes, I find that both the shortest and longest day times of year are challenging for me.  Mostly the short days in the winter, but sometimes very long days can also feel like too much ("I want to go to sleep! Why is it still so bright!").

I had a big a-ha a few years ago when I realized that my current job hours and location result in me missing any sort of halfway decent morning light for a good chunk of the year (I start work at 7AM, my office is on the west side of a high rise building surrounded by much taller high rise buildings).  Some changes that helped were:

1) switching my morning commute so I was  coming in by bus (above ground) rather than train (mostly underground) and also buying a daylight lamp for my desk, which I use for 10-15 min each AM.

2) Installing some different lighting in our apartment.  My husband put in some overhead lights that are very bright, which is good for winter days that seem too dim, but I also found that using a smaller and softer light in the early morning felt "cozier" and that having that on for a bit helped my morning routine feel more like a special time for myself.

3) Getting some time outdoors every day.  Easier said than done when working.  Movement also definitely helps to warm me up and be less bothered by the cold.

4) Trying to continue to eat a healthy diet--when I'm feeling down stuff like a big plate of cheese on toast for dinner sounds like a great idea, but I feel like it ultimately makes me feel worse the next day. 

Longer-term, I am hoping that FIRE will allow me to deal with winter in a better manner.  I do think that working a FT job in an office with mediocre lighting is the big reason I get winter blues, and that all the stuff I do to combat it would either be easier to do or just not necessary if I weren't in this particular job/office set up (hmmm, maybe I really do need to find a new job...).   I don't recall being anywhere near as sensitive to the winter blues during times in my life when I had more freedom to control my schedule.  i.e. when I was in university/grad school, it was easier to get outside during the day, or to sleep in or finish up with work early and then have some time to spend doing something fun or relaxing (either outdoors or something indoors like reading, meeting up with friends, working on craft projects).  And when I was a child/teenager, school would be done by mid-afternoon (plus you always had 2-3 weeks completely off in December/January!) so it was also easier to get outside.

Tris Prior

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3012
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #15 on: June 06, 2019, 09:43:49 AM »
Reynaud's? My friend has that. That looks really uncomfortable. My hands don't turn colors but they do get painful and achey and stiff in temps that most people don't think are that cold.

Longer-term, I am hoping that FIRE will allow me to deal with winter in a better manner.  I do think that working a FT job in an office with mediocre lighting is the big reason I get winter blues, and that all the stuff I do to combat it would either be easier to do or just not necessary if I weren't in this particular job/office set up (hmmm, maybe I really do need to find a new job...).   I don't recall being anywhere near as sensitive to the winter blues during times in my life when I had more freedom to control my schedule.  i.e. when I was in university/grad school, it was easier to get outside during the day, or to sleep in or finish up with work early and then have some time to spend doing something fun or relaxing (either outdoors or something indoors like reading, meeting up with friends, working on craft projects).  And when I was a child/teenager, school would be done by mid-afternoon (plus you always had 2-3 weeks completely off in December/January!) so it was also easier to get outside.

I agree with this completely and the ability to go outside whenever I wish (and not have to stay inside when it's nice out on evenings weekends because "dammit, I have to meal prep so that I have food to bring for lunch at my damn job") is a major driver of wanting to FIRE.

I recently got approval to work from home 1 day a week. So far, every WFH day has been torrentially rainy or cold, but this week the afternoon turned sunny and warm so I took the laptop out on my back deck and OMG, was that a game changer for me.

katscratch

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1055
  • Location: Minnesota
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #16 on: June 06, 2019, 12:54:25 PM »
I too am very dramatically affected by the amount of sunlight I see each day. My office has no windows and I have all the bright white lights by my desk turned on as soon as I get in. Nobody else in my office uses them at all.

I find myself literally sad on days that are cloudy and grey, which has been very hard this year. We normally don't have many days per year that don't have at least an hour of bright sun, and this spring has been brutally gloomy and cold.

Things I try to remember to use - not all of these work for everyone, and I'm not sure they all work well for me, but I do feel better overall when I am consistent:

SAD rated sunlamp during the time of year I wake before sunrise (6-8 months)

Vitamin D w/levels checked yearly

Vitamin B supplement (this was prescribed for a genetic predisposition to a health issue but has made a noticeable difference to my mood and energy)

GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP (this cannot be underrated in my life but wow is it the hardest thing to make happen regularly!)

Writing positive intentions (I'm not consistent with this, but for me taking the time to physically write something banal before bed like "I will get good, restful sleep tonight and wake feeling refreshed" does work)

Physical exercise but not too much in winter or I get even worse

Eating well for my body and avoiding things my body doesn't need/want

BTDretire

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3074
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #17 on: June 06, 2019, 01:43:48 PM »
Agreed, SAD is real, on the other hand I have a SIL, that says we must turn off our ceiling fan or any other fan because she will catch a cold
if she gets in a draft. I think it is all in her head, among a few other silly ideas.

startingsmall

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 837
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #18 on: June 07, 2019, 05:52:53 AM »
I'm in the foothills/Piedmont of NC and I'm with you on the weather. I realize it could be worse, but I grew up in Florida...land of quick thunderstorms and immediate return to sunshine!

After 13 years in NC, I STILL can't believe how many prolonged dreary periods we get here. I hate it.

AlotToLearn

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 113
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #19 on: June 07, 2019, 06:44:17 PM »
You aren't alone. I suffer from SAD myself and am contemplating a potential move to an area where I wont deal with cold dark winters.

Freedomin5

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6483
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #20 on: June 07, 2019, 10:41:06 PM »
Vitamin D helps me survive the gray, dreary winters. I take it on non-sunny days, and it makes a huge difference.

It was really interesting because I thought everyone just became down during the winter, but then I moved to Southern California for four years and did not experience a single down period. When I moved to China, the down periods returned during the fall and winter.

11ducks

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 573
  • Location: Duckville, Australia
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #21 on: June 08, 2019, 05:36:07 AM »
The last month in my normally sunny state has been unseasonably grey and wintry, and it has had a huge impact- I'm exhausted, unmotivated and eating and sleeping poorly.

Rural

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5051
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #22 on: June 08, 2019, 07:49:42 AM »
I had real issues with SAD, also in the mountains, and we did not move, but have basically cured it for me by building a house with giant south-facing windows. It's designed for passive solar heating, with the roof overhang calculated for the sun angles so we get direct sun in on the concrete floor all day in winter and only see but don't have sun come inside in summer. Obviously, no covering on the windows. It's let me continue to live in the area we love instead of moving to a sunnier climate.


Now on rainy days, I look out at pretty green filtered light reflecting off all the trees.

Milizard

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 769
  • Location: West Michigan
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #23 on: June 08, 2019, 11:59:18 AM »
I live in West Michigan, and I kind of expect to get a little SAD in the winter, but this spring was worse!  It was just awful, especially May which only had a couple days without rain.  Also, I've never experienced so much fog in my life as the last week or 2.  I don't even know what was up with that.  I felt like I was in London or something (even though the weather when I actually visited London was sunny and warm for the most part).  That weather absolutely affected my mood like never before in my lifetime living here.

We just skipped over spring, and summer arrived a couple days ago.  I'm happy about that, but feel robbed this year.  It really seems like the weather was so much better here all the way around a couple decades ago and before. Damn climate change...

Linea_Norway

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8569
  • Location: Norway
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #24 on: June 08, 2019, 01:39:58 PM »
I live in West Michigan, and I kind of expect to get a little SAD in the winter, but this spring was worse!  It was just awful, especially May which only had a couple days without rain.  Also, I've never experienced so much fog in my life as the last week or 2.  I don't even know what was up with that.  I felt like I was in London or something (even though the weather when I actually visited London was sunny and warm for the most part).  That weather absolutely affected my mood like never before in my lifetime living here.

We just skipped over spring, and summer arrived a couple days ago.  I'm happy about that, but feel robbed this year.  It really seems like the weather was so much better here all the way around a couple decades ago and before. Damn climate change...

Yeah, fog is one of worst for your mood. We have always lived in houses with great views, but fog takes it completely away. It feels depressing. Yesterday morning we had fog, but at least I had an appointment with a friend to go out hiking. That helps to get out of the door.

Tris Prior

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3012
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #25 on: June 09, 2019, 05:51:16 AM »
Fog sucks! I live in Chicago very near Lake Michigan and sometimes the fig will totally obliterate the high rises along the lake. Always weirded me out and I find it depressing when I can't see what is supposed to be there! I guess it's worse for folks who actually live in those high rises though and see nothing but fog outside their windows.

Milizard

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 769
  • Location: West Michigan
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #26 on: June 09, 2019, 01:00:45 PM »
And it's rainy, cooler, and foggy yet again today!  This weather is just nuts this year.  I have two boys in Little League baseball, so I've been spending a lot of time outdoors, and it actually makes it worse.  I hate feeling chilled.

Funny thing about fog in Chicago.  I live about 4 hours away and have visited many times, but the one and only time I checked out the top of one of the skyscrapers there, it was a foggy day.  I obviously wasn't thinking that day--doh!

Body Surfer

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 101
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #27 on: June 09, 2019, 02:12:37 PM »
Seems you'd be happier if you moved to or at least spent considerable time in the Phoenix, AZ area. We did just that. We love waking up to sunny weather virtually everyday.

Arian

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 28
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #28 on: June 12, 2019, 08:05:40 AM »
I live in Wales, UK, and am also dramatically affected by the seasons. I have been aware of having SAD since at least 2012, when my daughter was born. My father also seemed to suffer from this.

I feel fine in the spring and summer. Then, in the autumn, I start to feel very anxious and this feeling tends to last throughout the winter until about February when it starts to get lighter in the evenings. I find that vitamins and light boxes do help, but I have to remind myself to use them.

Based on some of your suggestions, I think I will start to sit in the front of my house to do my work, which has more sunlight. I also may start using my lightbox before autumn arrives so that I don't experience that massive transition from light to dim light, which seems to set off my anxiety.

PDXTabs

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5160
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Vancouver, WA, USA
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #29 on: June 12, 2019, 09:14:36 PM »
You're not crazy. I'm counting the days until I can move somewhere sunnier.

Linea_Norway

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8569
  • Location: Norway
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #30 on: June 13, 2019, 12:32:49 AM »
I seem to be the opposite and run screaming from the heat and sun. I just spent a clue of weeks trying to get out of the heat by driving far far away looking for dense cold fog. But otherwise I am the same as the OP. I feel a tremendous sense of dread and depression when its too sunny or hot to go out all day. I totally lack motivation and just want to sit at home. When things cool off or get foggy and especially get cloudy and foggy I feel renewed and excited about everything. I want to go out and do things. My happiest times were when I lived in colder, cloudy, snowy and foggy areas. Although I don't like rain. I guess this is a kind of SAD. I live in coastal SoCal and I can't stand it from July to Dec.

I don't tolerate hot weather either. Then I rather spend the whol day inside. Last summer we had the warmest summer ever and it didn't rain for about half a year. It was disastrous for plants, agriculture, forest fires etc. The worst heat it what I expriences in southern Europe in France and Italy. Clammy, suppressing heat. It is a little better when the wind blows.

But I don't like cold fog either. It just looks depressing. I like normal weather with nice temperatures (20 degrees C or so). But it may also be temperatures below 0 degrees C, with fresh snow.

Dicey

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 22319
  • Age: 66
  • Location: NorCal
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #31 on: June 13, 2019, 12:46:57 AM »
Has anyone figured out a frugal way to do lightboxes?

Linea_Norway

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8569
  • Location: Norway
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #32 on: June 13, 2019, 01:03:41 AM »
Has anyone figured out a frugal way to do lightboxes?

Bright LEDs?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dimmable-LED-SAD-Treatment-Lamp-Seasonal-Affective-Disorder-Light-Therapy-Box-/323570898574

It is smart to have lights that you can change in strength. Our bathrooms have that. In the morning we screw them bright, in the evening we srew them low.

StarBright

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3270
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #33 on: June 13, 2019, 01:46:42 PM »
Just looked at last year's weather compared to this year's.

In my neck of the woods it is 64F today and totally cloudy. Last year it was 82 and perfectly sunny.  I have found myself running outside anytime the sun peaks out for a minute (sometimes it is already gone again by the time I get outside). What a weird spring it has been.

May we all have sunny days soon!

remizidae

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 289
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #34 on: June 14, 2019, 01:48:21 PM »
Has anyone figured out a frugal way to do lightboxes?

I see several light boxes on Amazon for less than $40. You could also ask around and see if anyone is willing to let you borrow one. But really it’s a small expense.

Bernard

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 247
  • Age: 66
  • Location: Ojai Valley, Calif.
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #35 on: June 14, 2019, 03:55:28 PM »
I lived in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy before moving to Florida in 1986 and California in 1991. For me year-round great weather is way on top of the list of attributes my place of residency needs to have. Since 2001 I'm living in California's Ojai Valley, about 30 minutes south of Santa Barbara, which is as good as it gets.

Sadly, I will not be able to retire here, due to the cost. Cost of everything, from real estate to dry cleaning. The wife and I have been searching high and low for something with great weather, and Asheville, NC ended up in the crosshairs. Our daughter lives there, and while it's a bit hotter and more humid in the summer, a bit more rainy in general, and a bit colder in the winter, its weather beats most of the other US states'. Even we have sometimes rainy winters (El Nino) here where it never rains, but I think you could do a great deal worse than NC.

jim555

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3235
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #36 on: June 17, 2019, 08:47:11 AM »
Just looked at last year's weather compared to this year's.

In my neck of the woods it is 64F today and totally cloudy. Last year it was 82 and perfectly sunny.  I have found myself running outside anytime the sun peaks out for a minute (sometimes it is already gone again by the time I get outside). What a weird spring it has been.

May we all have sunny days soon!
haha so funny. 65 and cloudy is perfect for me - especially for doing outdoor activities - but once it's over 75 and sunny I cower inside like a vampire. I structure my day so I get all my outdoor exercise, recreation and chores done by 11 or so and then do inside stuff or gym the rest of the day. Hot sunny weather really does depress me and looking to move out of SoCal eventually. Now I'm in the lovely foggy cool Bay area on the coast which is my "reverse light box" of sorts. Is anyone else like this too? Sometimes I do feel like the only one.
I'm the same way, 60s is perfect.  August and hot/humid is brutal.

Just Joe

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6720
  • Location: In the middle....
  • Teach me something.
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #37 on: June 26, 2019, 01:37:45 PM »
Just looked at last year's weather compared to this year's.

In my neck of the woods it is 64F today and totally cloudy. Last year it was 82 and perfectly sunny.  I have found myself running outside anytime the sun peaks out for a minute (sometimes it is already gone again by the time I get outside). What a weird spring it has been.

May we all have sunny days soon!
haha so funny. 65 and cloudy is perfect for me - especially for doing outdoor activities - but once it's over 75 and sunny I cower inside like a vampire. I structure my day so I get all my outdoor exercise, recreation and chores done by 11 or so and then do inside stuff or gym the rest of the day. Hot sunny weather really does depress me and looking to move out of SoCal eventually. Now I'm in the lovely foggy cool Bay area on the coast which is my "reverse light box" of sorts. Is anyone else like this too? Sometimes I do feel like the only one.

The SAD problem is real. once upon a time I was working on Navy ships and NEEDED to get outside (topside) for a while each day to soak up some sun. Otherwise I was working in windowless areas with potentially zero awareness of the weather or hour.  Its one reason not to volunteer for sub-duty. If I didn't get outside then my mood could take a turn for the worse. Didn't understand it back then very well, no formal awareness of SAD. Just knew I was happier seeing the sun a little.

Now later in life DW and I can appreciate cloudy, rainy days for the ease on our eyes. SAD not an issue. Stages of life I guess. As we have aged, we prefer a siesta type lifestyle in the summer months here. Up early, get everything done before the heat sets in, and then retreat inside until the temp starts to fall late in the afternoon. 

John Galt incarnate!

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2038
  • Location: On Cloud Nine
Re: Am I crazy because the weather affects me so much?
« Reply #38 on: June 27, 2019, 04:48:54 PM »


 haha so funny. 65 and cloudy is perfect for me - especially for doing outdoor activities - but once it's over 75 and sunny I cower inside like a vampire. I structure my day so I get all my outdoor exercise, recreation and chores done by 11 or so and then do inside stuff or gym the rest of the day. Hot sunny weather really does depress me and looking to move out of SoCal eventually. Now I'm in the lovely foggy cool Bay area on the coast which is my "reverse light box" of sorts. Is anyone else like this too? Sometimes I do feel like the only one.

I like sun and heat.

In the winter I don't mind a  cold, foggy day every now and then.

Foggy days evoke the Witches' chant at  the end of Scene 1 in Macbeth:

 Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
 Hover through the fog and filthy air.


On  foggy days I  like to use the woodstove to cook hearty,  homemade soup.