I’d forgotten about them completely. Last year, my winter / Christmas season was all about my dad, who was, at the time, slowly dying on hospice from congestive heart failure, diabetes, and a few other things. Now that that is over, and things have smoothed out a bit in my life, I’ve noticed them this winter: the winter blues. In October, when things were still fairly sunny and at least mildly warm, I was fine. Life was good. There were, as usual, rough spots here and there, but on the whole, things were nice.
Then November rolled around and things got darker, literally. A few weeks ago the clocks rolled back for Daylight Saving Time. It was only a change of one hour, but damn has it made things seem different. It seems to start getting dark now at around 6 o’clock. By 7 or a little after, it’s completely dark. The weather around here as of late hasn’t helped much. Since around Halloween, it’s been rather gray here. Very gloomy, with clouds covering the sky, or rather, one giant cloud stretching across the sky as far as you can see. It’ll drizzle some rain every once in a while. It’s cold and windy. All in all, it sucks. It’s the type of weather and enviroment that makes me want to hide under my blankets in the morning and go back to sleep for the rest of the day. Or perhaps just curl up on the bed with a few blankets, turn on the lamp, and read all day. It’s like this time of year, combined with the weather that accompanies it, just sucks the energy out of me.
I think that perhaps the title I used is misleading. I’m not really blue; I’m not experiencing any sadness. It’s more like just tiredness and sleepiness. To give a concrete example, I hate naps, and I very rarely take them. However, in the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken two or three naps, simply because I couldn’t stand not to. I’d look outside and it was like someone hit my sleepy switch.
I think once this cloudiness passes I’ll be a bit better. What with the clouds and it getting darker much earlier, the past few days have felt like it’s been dark around the clock, like I’m in Mordor or something.
Comments 9
Oh dude, I always say that I’d hibernate during the winter if I could. I’ve caught myself taking a few naps recent as well, and I’m like you, I detest naps, there’s normally so much more I’d rather be doing with my time than sleep in the middle of a day, or early evening in my case.
We do what we gotta do, eh? :S
Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 12:57 am ¶Do naps usually make you groggy as all hell? That’s one of the reasons I hate them. I generally feel WORSE after taking a nap than I did before doing so.
Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 10:39 am ¶I’m having the same problem! I can’t stop napping! I’ve taken a nap once a day for the last few days, and it’s making me more and more sleepy!
I saw something on this general subject on Lifehacker here: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/depression/ask-the-readers-avoid-the-wintertime-blues-211945.php. It focuses more on feeling depressed than feeling sleepy, but some of the advice in the comments apply to both.
Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 1:11 pm ¶Yeah, I often do feel worse, and I usually nap for longer than I intended to in the first place. I aim for 20-30 minutes, but end up laying there for an hour or more (time permitting). I try to only nap if I really can’t keep my eyes open any longer.
Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 2:10 pm ¶LearningNerd: Thanks for the link! I checked it out. I was surprised to find that there’s an actual medical term for this! Seasonal affective disorder. I’ll try some of the suggestions that were given to keep it in check.
Jay: While I’m sorry you have the same problem, I’m glad I’m not alone in my post-nap grogginess. It doesn’t seem to matter how long my nap is. Half an hour or three hours, I still usually feel worse.
Posted 13 Nov 2006 at 5:04 pm ¶sorry, but naps are the best! i love napping, especially when the sky is dark during the day or if it’s raining – lovely!
the only after effects of napping i hate is i can’t sleep at night until after 2. grrr.
Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 6:25 am ¶Never move to Sweden
Winter is just too long and dark. No wonder we need so much ligth therapy in this country…
I hate naps too, so sometimes I literally fall asleep in front of the computer! *lol*
Posted 19 Nov 2006 at 10:29 am ¶Thanks for the tip, Mrs. Lifecruiser.
I’ve never fallen asleep in front of the computer, but I fall asleep while reading books quite regularly.
Posted 19 Nov 2006 at 10:50 am ¶Try heading outdoors when the sun is shining exposing your forearms. Face toward the sun so it can shine in your eyes, but not directly at it. Even 10 min, longer if you can, will make you feel much better. If too cold sitting in a sunny window helps.
Posted 03 May 2008 at 12:50 pm ¶Post a Comment