Adventures in Sadness

In the spring, I smell the roses.

In the summer, I frolic in the cool waters of Lake Lanier.

In the fall, I watch tree leaves burst into picture perfect fits of orange, purple, and yellow.

In the winter, I crawl under my bed and stay there. Why?

Because of imbalances in the brain, some people constantly feel sad or depressed.  While I don’t fall into that category, during the Northern solstice, or when the sun is at its northernmost point in the sky, usually around December 21^st or 22^nd, I often wake up feeling blue, for no reason whatsoever.

The gloom and doom is referred to as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). According to Wikipedia, SAD is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer, spring or autumn year after year.

It’s frustrating to feel sad for no reason. There are plenty of good reasons to feel blah and plenty of good ways to celebrate it. I could eat ice cream all day, watch a depressing movie or listen to a sad song over and over. But SAD doesn’t care about reasons. It just wants me to feel, well, sad. I know exactly when the ole killjoy has stolen my happiness.

Here is my number one symptom. I spend hours gazing out the window at the neighborhood kids building snowmen. “How sad I feel,” I say to myself. “They’re having so much fun and all I can do is sit here and cry.”

You see what I mean, no reason whatsoever for the gloom. This year, I’m determined to keep SAD away. I’m a firm believer in being proactive and have learned all the symptoms, like munching out on carbs, lack of energy, and difficulty concentrating. Getting plenty of light therapy and exercise will be my first weapons of choice.

I’ll fight the battle until my body develops special powers and emits beams of sunlight.

 P.S. To see if you may be a candidate for SAD, I invite you to take the first ever, SAD detection quiz below. You must answer each question.

The Sad Quiz

 Which TV slogan excites you most?
 -    Time to make the donuts.
 -    Yo qyiero Taco Bell
 -    Lucy charms, they're magically delicious.

 

 When people talk about experiencing an “Ah Ha” moment they?

-          Are often burying their head under the covers.

-          Are often dreaming of eating pounds of chocolate cake and Butter Pecan ice cream. 

-          Are often sitting in the dark watching reruns of Cold Mountain.  

In the spirit of Halloween, can you identify the scary movies these lines of dialogue are taken from? Warning: if you know all three you may be watching too much television.

-          “Have you checked the children?”

-          “You’re gonna need a bigger boat."

-          “I see Dead People.”

 Spedunking is a type of exercise involving.

-          Shooting basketballs into tiny hoops.

-          Jumping off bridges wearing nothing but speedos.

-          Huh? Spedunking? What’s that?

 If you answer at least one question correctly, you are a candidate for SAD.  

  Submit your answers to me via the Pony Express.