What is it? Well I didn't do brilliantly at science in school, and worse at psychology at college, but just because I'm not gifted doesn't mean I'm not interested in some areas. I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder which basically means I get depressed in winter when I don't as much daylight as my little brain needs to keep on an even keel (there's more to it that that, you can check out SADA for more). I used to suffer very badly from it, taking time of work, staying in bed for days on end only moving to eat and use the toilet. I was on medication from October till February year after year. And every year I gained weight which never came off!
Since having the kids I have had to find a way of dealing with it that didn't involve medication. My Dad bought me a light box some years ago and I still have and use that when required. But I have found that HAVING to get out and about DAILY with the kids has changed my SAD from near crippling depression to a bad case of winter blues. I still feel (and act) pretty awful most of winter, and I still over eat to compensate. But the more I make myself do the better I feel and the less junk I eat. And I put that down to serotonin.
Two weeks ago when I did all that walking and got all that exercise (serotonin) in the fresh air and daylight (serotonin) while carrying Freddie wrapped all snuggly and huggly (serotonin) in the sling I felt AMAZING! And didn't crave chocolate.
Last week I was ill, stuck on my bum, inside at home.... depressed and craving choccy. I'm no brain scientist (ahem) but that maths works for me. So while I am in NO WAY belittling other peoples depression, and I am NOT saying that because this works for me it will work for anyone else.... it bloody well DOES WORK FOR ME! Now that I know how to stop my downward spiral into SAD I need to haul my butt out of the door and do stuff. Even if I would rather curl up in a ball under my duvet and stay there till spring. Winter will pass a lot quicker if I go out in search of a sunbeam.
Science type people, feel free to pull me up and correct me on my choice of chemicals... I admit I don't know the difference between Dopamine, Serotonin, Endorphin, Oxytocin. Serotonin seemed to tick most of my boxes!
Facebook has changed it’s policy for posts to Facebook pages like mine. They are only showing posts to a few likers unless I pay to boost the views. Since I don't earn money from my blog (or at least not much, not even enough to buy one posh a coffee a week) I wont be doing that. The best way to make sure you will see my blog posts is to subscribe by email up there on the right. I usually only email once a week and include an invitation to my blog hop so you can share your posts too.
You can also go to my page, hover over the “liked” button and select get notifications. Then you will see my posts and status updates in your notifications. Mumma Walker on Facebook
Comments