Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!drutx!rnt
From: rnt@drutx.ATT.COM (Bob Thomas)
Newsgroups: alt.recovery
Subject: Re: Those winter blues
Message-ID: <4871@drutx.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Jan 90 21:30:33 GMT
References: <1990Jan16.154431.8304@hriso.ATT.COM>
Organization: AT&T -- 1200 W. 120th Street, Westminster Colorado
Lines: 36

in article <1990Jan16.154431.8304@hriso.ATT.COM>, merkel@hriso.ATT.COM (Thomas Merkel) says:
> 
> It is getting to be my least favorite time of year.  It seems
> that every year in early January I start to slow down,  lose
> energy and interest,  and generally go into a slump.  
> This state of mind usually persists until the days start
> getting warmer and spring is at hand.

A lot of slips, relapses, or whatever you want to call them seem to happen
this time of year -- even more so than the rest of the year.  Whether it's
depression, or fighting the urge to hibernate, who knows?  For me, it's
doubly important to keep up my attendance at meetings and to make sure I'm
doing my daily spiritual maintenance stuff.  I also try to sit in the sun
for five or ten minutes each day; although it may or may not combat
depression, it's relaxing.

> 
> I'm bringing this up as a general topic because it seems to
> affect a small group of people strongly,  while other people
> don't seem bothered by it at all.  I've heard mild to severe
> winter depressions described as a Seasonal Adjustment Disorder,
> an actual physical malady that can be helped by exposure to
> strong light.  I don't go into a deep depression,  I'm not even
> sure that what I feel can be described as a depression,  but
> I have a lot of difficulty with feeling good in February.

I get the blahs too, sometime during the winter.  Not "I want to end it
all" type of stuff, but I tend to whine a little more, to be more
irritable, and to catch colds easier.

> 
>               ..... I'm dreaming of May flowers already!

And pilgrims landing at Plymouth rock too, no doubt.

Bob Thomas