Depression Learning

bipolar and S.A.D.

Question:

Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

Response:

I have both bipolar and the SAD.  I usually cycle down in winter and spring. c

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

Response:

I have both bipolar and the SAD.  I usually cycle down in winter and spring. c

I really feel it Colleen. It’s ridiculous! I do pretty damn good in the summer but if a rainy day comes I’m back to major depression. And I might as well be hibernating in a cave in the winter. I’m going to try a mood stabilizer.. maybe it will help even out things a bit. If that doesn’t work I’m moving to Arizona!! Gabe

Response:

I get some of the same – my mood drops when it’s overcast and grey. Thunderstorms don’t do this, though.  The brightness and energy of the weather seems to be related to my mood. The seasons also affect me.  Not so much during December, much more in February and March, when winter is just dragging on and you want it to get warmer but it doesn’t.  This almost inevitably leads to a severe crash into depression in April – I’m still recovering from this year’s. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

– Life is eternal and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon… And a horizon is nothing, save the limit of our sight. – Carly Simon

Response:

I used to hate the summer.Outside people were having hot fun in the summertime while I stayed indoors with the air up and my grey coat on.but I got to admit it’s gettin better.harry

Response:

Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

I’m annoyed when it snows, because I have to shovel/snowblow the driveway, the porch, the back deck and, the path for the Oil Guy, but an ice storm is worse. I’m miserable when it’s 80+ degrees, shorts are a must, paisty white legs, steering wheel burns, sheets for sleep, morning chills I meet. I’m happy when it’s crisp. when my breath is a fog, A nice sweater in the morning, T-shirt at noon, still light at supper. Seasons flavor the taste of life. natures variety, a bit of spice. Like Doritoes cool ranch, nacho cheesier, spicier nacho, toasted corn Me?  I’m a nacho cheesier kinda guy. -derek!

Response:

Before you pay attention to what I’ve written, know that I am not a medical professional. I would suggest you consult the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition). It is published by the American Psychiatric Association and you can probably find it at your local library. Look up the "Mood Disorders" chapter and read it very carefully. This contains the information upon which psychiatrists/therapists would base a person’s diagnosis. I am bipolar, and my cycle meets the criteria for the "Seasonal Pattern Specifier" listed towards the very end of the chapter. This is what some people are talking about when they refer to "S.A.D." So far, my moods have cycled in the same pattern–at the same time of the year–ever since I can remember. I’ve been with my current psychatrist for about 6 years now–so it’s been carefully documented in my chart for over half a decade now. Like clockwork. From what I understand, a majority of the population *does* feel differently during different seasons. However, this is not the same thing as suffering from an actual mood disorder. I think "S.A.D." seems to be more of a colloquial term that is thrown about in a very vague, inaccurate manner by a lot of people. It is not a word I hear being used in a clinical sense. An "affective disorder" is simply another term for a "mood disorder." People who experience clinical depression (either unipolar or bipolar) can have it recur in a seasonal pattern (usually in the winter–though for the rare patient it happens in the summer). These episodes of major depression are triggered by the change in light, not the weather. Note that this is not the same thing as simply feeling a bit "down" or a bit "up" depending on whether or not it’s a sunny day. If you truly experience hypomania (mild mania) or mania alternating with these seasonally recurring, major depressive episodes–then you are in fact "bipolar." If you only experience episodes of major depression in this seasonal pattern, then you are "unipolar." As far as treatment goes, know that anything with an antidepressant effect (antidepressant meds, light boxes, speed, or even lack of sleep) can trigger a manic episode in a bipolar person. Beware. I must take a mood stabilizing medication in conjunction with an antidepressant medication and use of a light box. I also attend regular therapy sessions (which help reduce my stress level), exercise, and try super-uper-duper hard to keep my sleep-wake cycle on track. All of this has finally brought a good deal of relief from my suffering. By the way, my light box is the 10,000 lux Apollo IV ("full-spectrum light" is *not* what you should purchase despite companies claiming otherwise). Even light boxes can have side effects. You can e-mail me if you have questions or want some info referrals about any of this. Good luck. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

Response:

Light stimulates optic nerve which activates hypothalamus to produce melintonin which is a precursor to seritonin which is the neurotransmitter that most anti-depressants work with. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone notice that their mood depends very much on the weather? For example, when it’s sunny out I don’t feel so depressed, I have energy, I feel great but when it’s rainy and dark I get depressed and anxious. During the summer I come alive but then if it is cloudy and dark for a few days–even a day–I’m a completely different person, weepy, anxious, sick. Is there any connection between bipolar and S.A.D.? Do mood stabilizers help with this? I have a light box and it helps a little but not so much. Maybe I should just move to Brazil once I recover! TIA Gabe

I definitely feel affected by weather: today I’m feeling low, (wet and windy), 2-3 days ago a bit up (sunny, even cloudless). Also strongly affected by things like thunderstorms. So things like air ionization and electric field seem to be important for me at least. I feel better in summer but don’t claim clinical S.A.D. – that would have to be more marked, I think. Greg

Response:

Moving to another area is not as crazy as you may think. Just do your weather research, then look for suitble employment (online even!). Good luck. :::kato::: ::::kato:::: one of olivia’s girls

Response:

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