No Windows and Winter Blues
by Marybeth
(Rockford Il, USA)
Last February the Company I work for moved into a windowless building.
It did not bother me at first, but the longer we were there the more withdrawn I became. We got through the winter and into the next summer but I have noticed I have stopped talking to my family and go straight from work to home.
I always hibernate in the winter but it came even earlier this year, which I feel is due to the lack of natural sunlight. I am trying to make sure I leave the building at least 2 times a day to get some sun.
I do take a mild antidepressant, Prozac for anxiety 20 mg per day, which is very helpful. The biggest problem is that it is dark when I arrive at work and dark when I leave work due to shortened daylight hours.
So it is important to get outside if even for a few minutes when the sun is up. If there is no sun for several days it helps to go to a tanning booth, although I prefer natural sunlight if I can get it.
Snowboarding Saved Me from The Winter Blues
by Benjamin
(Hiram, Georgia)
When I was 18 years old I moved to Alaska to attend the University of Alaska at Anchorage.
Before I moved to Alaska from Georgia, I made sure that I had read up on most of the things that I would need to live in the far north, the only thing I didn’t grab was some Prozac.
You see during the wintertime in Alaska we have very long nights and what seasonal affective disorder kind of crept up from behind without me even knowing it. I started avoiding all my friends and the activities that I used to enjoy started to become boring and draining.
Well luckily, one of my friends started to realize what was going on, but I wouldn’t listen to him and just stayed holed up in my dorm for nearly a month, until I finally decided to go and talk with a school psychologist.
She prescribed me some antidepressant medication and told me to start doing things that I used to enjoy. So I started back snowboarding and I haven’t quit. For the first couple of weeks I had to force myself to go outside, but then things became easier for me.
I began to enjoy the activities I once loved again. The lesson learned about the winter blues, is that if you can keep yourself busy and active then you’ll be all right it just takes a little effort and the willingness to ask for help.
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