I won't come out and say straight up that I have Summer Season Affective Disorder because I mostly just think my depression is year round with a few bouts of "normalcy". But, if I'm honest, this is the worst summer I've ever had (in terms of being non-functional). So it behoves me to look into what this phenomenon is.
Im not going to go too much into detail or education here because one can Google it and find various articles on the subject. Apparently it's relatively new in the field of psychology - which is weird. Suffice to say it's very similar to the winter version but with different symptoms; example with summer SAD one most likely eats and sleeps less, whereas in winter one might sleep and eat more. The result is the same, however, and that is you feel like shit. Ok moving on.
One of the coping mechanisms I was reading about involved surrounding yourself with imagery or anything else that would remind you of a more pleasant condition. So, for example, some therapies would suggest decorating your house with a winter theme in summer, especially if you can't get away to a cooler climate. This information hit me square in the face as I realized that I used to have similar practices in summer. Instinctively, I knew exposing myself to winter themes helped me get through the season.
For me, my summertime blues started between 5 and 10 years ago. It's hard to remember exactly because I automatically associate huge life changes with the birth of my eldest, who is near 10. Anyway, for several years in a row, once the weather started to heat up, I would place the third Harry Potter movie into the DVD player where it stayed, looping until summer was over. If you've seen the movie you'll remember it was filmed in Scotland, snowy, rainy, foggy, the coloring was very cool - it was just a great movie to allay my hot weather hatred. A few years ago (maybe around 3) this practice changed into the constant running of the Ice Road Truckers series. Hmmm, all that ice and snow and puffy snow jackets.
Obviously I recognized the joy and change of pace watching snowy and cold environments gave me. I just didn't realize how significant and HELPFUL it all was in keeping me out of a bad low. This year I have done NONE of these practices, and as a result (probably) I rarely leave my house and want to crawl under the covers and sit in the dark trying to escape the heat and sun. It's not that I don't want to be outside or doing the things I normally would have done - like go to the creeks and lakes that I so love - but I'm just in hiding. I could not figure out why until I did my little bit of research.
Of course there are other factors that can come into play. For me it is also my great displeasure of summer crowds, my aversion to wearing typical, yet cool, summer wear like tiny tanks and shorts out in public, dreading how tired and overstimulated the heat makes me. I just don't have the energy to deal with it, I guess. I think I'll go put on a movie ...
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