Seasonal Affective Disorder - San Diego,CA

I get 'down' around the gray time of year, or on a stretch of gray days. It's a challenge.

Some things that really help:

Get out for walks. Every day, rain or shine. Buy a raincoat and boots for yourself, buy the kids raincoat/rainpants/boots and get out. It's totally worth it. Portland is pretty even on a rainy day, and if you can get out to a more natural setting like a forested or treed park, even better.

Keep a routine. It's easy to just want to 'do nothing' on those grayest of days. Having a routine to stick with--and deciding to be disciplined about it-- helps.

Good music. On rainy days, I try to make the mood warm and cozy, a little bebop for me feels good. So does a cup of tea. I sometimes build a fire, and it gives my day purpose, so that I'm mindful of the woodstove. The dry heat also keeps the damp off our old house as well as my middle-aged bones.

Plan outings, both with kiddo(s) and for the adults. Having a place to go to during the day is good. If you have no place you really want to go, walk to the local bus stop and take a ride somewhere. The kids will love the undivided attention and you'll get to show them interesting things. My son *loves loves loves* taking the bus places and now notices the different aspects of the route.

The adult part of it: get a babysitter every so often (at least once a month if you can afford it, or try to arrange trades with other couples with kids). We have found that an afternoon out works better in most cases than an evening--people are more likely to want to do playdate swaps in the afternoon than evening, and you still get some time together.

Get out on your own, too. Out for a haircut, a cup of coffee, just shopping. Meet a friend a couple times a month for an evening out. It's worth it.

Maybe read a book with a friend, so you have something besides parenting to focus on and discuss. (Good to do with your child-free friends.)

Eat lightly and more healthily than you might normally. I know it's the time to crave carbs, and it happens to me too, but the heavier diet seems to exacerbate the entropy, if you catch my drift.

Find time every day to relax. I'm not even going to say "do one thing for yourself" because for half of us, it's probably getting the laundry folded just so we don't have to see it tomorrow. I'm talking about relaxing, if at all possible. When you turn on the tv, consider eschewing the heavy-duty intense suspense shows and finding something that makes you laugh.

If that all doesn't work, sell the house and move to San Diego.:) My dad did that...only he moved to Santa Rosa, then central Oregon. He was sick of his SADD.

If you are inside most of the time, S.A.D. can get to you any time of the year no matter where you live.
I try to get out in the sunshine when I can (your skin only needs 10 min sunlight exposure to make adequate vitamin D), but if I can't I have a desktop SAD light which shines in my face as I work and take a supplement.
I want bright during the day, but I like it pitch dark in my bedroom at night.

I bought full spectrum light bulbs for the whole house about 18 years ago and I keep replacing them as needed.
I take vitamin D 5000 units every day winter and summer. Sometimes more in winter.
I take a long trip every fall so I don't feel trapped. When the kids were young I just needed to go camping for the weekend with husband and children to be in nature.

Are you in San Diego or the Pacific NW? I grew up in Portland, and I didn't realize how much the gloomy weather got me down until I moved to Los Angeles for college. After spending a winter in So Cal, it dawned on me that I wasn't depressed like I normally was in Portland.

Now I live in the Chicago area, and I definitely get the winter blues here. Now I plan a yearly vacation to some place warm in the winter. Two years ago, it was Orlando in January. Last year it was So Cal in November. It doesn't make the winter blues go away, but it's nice to have something to look forward to. Even a long weekend in a warm place helps to recharge my batteries too.

On the home front, I try to get as much sunlight in the house when I can in the winter. If the sun is shining in through a window, I sit in the sunlight and read my newspaper. I figure maybe I'll get a tiny bit of vitamin D that way. I also try to make my house as clean and cozy and possible, and have lots of stuff for the kids to do. (Bounce house and tricycles in the house to let the kids burn off energy.) This way, I don't get TOO stir crazy when I see three feet of snow outside my window.

We currently live in Spokane, Wa. and my husband absolutely suffers from S.A.D in the winter time...which always makes for a less than exciting Christmas :( It took us a few miserable winters to realize that he wasn't just a bah-humbug but he was depressed when he doesn't get enough sun! We now make sure he eats healthy, takes his vitamins, gets enough sleep or NOT too much sleep and gets enough exercise during the winter.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the winter and the snow and all things that go along with it...the snow, the cold, the gray skies, the cozy fires, etc.

Demographically, people in rainy, dark states, have higher stats of depression/suicide. Or during certain seasons of which the dreary no-sun dark weather goes on for months.

We used to live in a rainy gloomy area.
My Mom got affected by it.

We now live in a sunny area. She does not get affected by the SAD now.

There are lights, that you can buy. To help with this.

I've never been diagnosed, but I can promise you I suffer from it.
Part of the problem is that where I live, we don't really get summers. Certainly not by my definition. When it's hot everywhere else, it gets even worse here because we're so close to the ocean. Inland heat plus water equals fog. Yuck. People act like they're dying in a heat wave if it hits 75 which doesn't happen all that often. It definitely gets very depressing.
There's not much we can do in the winter and in the "summer" I try to get away as much as possible, even just for a day. But then, we come home to the fog and drizzle and I'm right back to being bummed.
My son has two more years of high school and I am fairly certain I will relocate. I want to still be close enough to my daughter and grandson, but far enough away from the fog that I can be happy.
I feel so much better in a warmer, drier climate. I get less colds, I have more energy.

When my kids were little, I'd build a fire and get the house up to about 90 degrees. We'd run around in shorts and bathing suits, have a picnic inside and PRETEND it was hot outside.

I hope you get some great responses.