Hi Adrian,

I meant to say before your last post just reminded me, my wife had a
light, they do usually help but like anything its not guaranteed
personally my own solution to sad (I've not been able to do this for
several years), depends on circumstances etc, but usually the couple
of weeks before christmas are usually the lowest prices when it comes
to holidays, a trip to somewhere like the Canary Islands can do
wonders for SAD ...........

Kindest Regards

Ian



--- In dysthymia@..., Adrian Williams <ade_tumu@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Sheena,
>
> I hope things aren't too bad today. Seems as if a few people in
the group seem to have had a few crashes recently, sadly. Maybe it;s
something to do with the change of the clocks? I suppose at least the
daylight will start getting longer again in three weeks or so. I
always find January and February the worst months. Has anyone
invested in an SAD light? Fortunately I do feel pretty good right
now. I've had a few off days over the last week or so; it was very
weird - I could feel it coming in my head. In that way it does feel
like a brain chemical issue though my Doctor said it was a 'way of
thinking'.
>
> I'd like to pick up on an issue you wrote about previously. You
said you'd prefer not to meet up as you have a problem socialising.
Does anyone else have this problem? - It is something I recognise very
strongly in myself and know it is associated with my dysthymia. I've
always had a hate of socialising in groups of more than say three or
four other people. As a child i think I was agorophobic - not meaning
a fear of open spaces as it is commonly misinterpreted - but a fear of
'the outside'; I remember someone on TV once saying it was a fear of
fear itself. That is a fear that something will go wrong and hence
you don;t go out. Many agorophobics can hide it because they are fine
with established routines - going to work etc but it is the
non-routine areas that cause fear. I always had a problem socialising
because of that reason. Fortunately, I'm better, and indeed now
oftern crave human company. I now have a very strong group of friends
and see friends very
> frequently. I'm still not comfortable in larger groups but hey!
Anyone else recognise this in their lives?
>
> Take care,
>
> Ade
>
> robert naunton <r.naunton@...> wrote:
> Hi Ade
>
> Thanks for your suggestion about Christmas. I have made the event
a little easier this year. I have booked a table at a restaurant for
lunch on boxing day for the family, which leaves me only Christmas day
to worry about. The strange thing is, even though I complain about
having a lot to do � it does keep me active and I often wonder if I
wasn�t looking after my family, what else would I be doing? I am not
at all motivated at home with my own hobbies, I wish I could find
something I really enjoyed that didn�t require too much energy! You
are very lucky to appreciate nature and your surroundings. We are all
lucky in different ways, but sometimes it takes someone else to point
this out to you.
>
> I am not so sure about meeting up. As much as I would like to, I
do have a problem socializing. I find it much easier to communicate
by e-mail.
>
> Best wishes.
>
> Sheena
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> From: dysthymia@...
[mailto:dysthymia@...] On Behalf Of Adrian Williams
> Sent: 28 November 2006 13:03
> To: dysthymia@...
> Subject: RE: [dysthymia] eating
>
>
> Hi Sheena,
>
>
>
> Yes I;m sure also that even if I did have more financial
security it wouldn;t make me happier. Perhaps a better way for me to
think about it is that this concern is my current primary trigger and
it would just be replaced by something else. lol!
>
>
>
> I know what you mean about getting tired easily. This happens
to me a lot also and does seem to be intrinsic to dysthymia. I'd
never conenected the two until i read a bit about sypmtons of what we
have. The tiredness is a real pain!
>
>
>
> I think I am lucky in that I can see that there are certain
things in my life for which I like or am proud of. in that sense, I
can appreciate many things in life. I'm not interested in material
goods - except having a house - so lead quite a minimalistic
lifestyle, which works well for me. So I think my dysthymia is
different (less severe?) thatn yours in that I don not feel completely
numb about what I have. I have an interest in photography, so often
appreciate the free visual things in life - an unusual light or
reflection, a shadow, the symmetry of something and so on. I have
good friends and time spent with them just seems to become more
pleasurable the older I get.
>
>
>
> Your comment about difference in people is interesting - like
for example how you would want not to cook at Christmas and would
prefer to be pampered yourself for the day and yet I didn't want that
at my brothers! Can I ask why, if it is so troublesome, you don;t
just announce that for one year, you're not going to cook etc? To be
stressed on Christmas Day is so unfortunate; I don't think anything's
worth that.
>
>
>
> I know only a few of us communicate regularly, but if people
wanted to meet up as a group one day, for a 'social' get-together,
that might be nice? I guess we are all in different parts of the
country so maybe somewhere central. Just a suggestion.
>
>
>
> Take care all,
>
>
>
> Ade
>
> robert naunton <r.naunton@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Ade,
>
> I am so sorry to hear about your financial situation � it makes
me feel as if I have no right to complain. I have been very fortunate
in my life financially. I have always worked hard and been very
careful with money. My husband is the same and between us we have
made a comfortable home. We shall never be rich, but we have a nice
house and our finances are not a problem. I can assure you, this
doesn�t seem to help the dysthymia. When I am feeling bad, I don�t
appreciate anything that I have. I am sure if I didn�t have it, I
would feel a lot worse, but this is the one thing that frustrates me,
is not being able to enjoy what I have. My emotions are put on hold
and I feel completely numb.
>
> Christmas is a very difficult time for a lot of people.
Personally, I couldn�t think of anything better than going to
someone�s house and be looked after. I always �do� Christmas as home
for 7 people and I find it exhausting. I am always behind with the
housework and buying, preparing and cooking a large meal just does
me in. I have never been blessed with a lot of energy and
consequently life for me is a struggle.
>
> I find it interesting how people are so different. Like you, I
am aware of all the suffering in this world, but I can�t dwell on it
as it upsets me too much. I consider I am one of the lucky ones and I
get so frustrated when I waste time sleeping and complaining about how
I am feeling.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Sheena
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> From: dysthymia@...
[mailto:dysthymia@...] On Behalf Of Adrian Williams
> Sent: 26 November 2006 11:26
> To: dysthymia@...
> Subject: Re: [dysthymia] eating
>
>
> Hi Sheena,
>
>
> I think you raise a couple of points that I recognise and
suspect most of the others do to? I think the overeating is a sympton
of dysthymia (though as I said in my previous email, I feel my
dysthymia came from being a bit overweight as a child which seems to
contradict overeating as being a sympton ather than cause). It's very
good that you have been feeling good over last few months - I;ve been
pretty up too. But we all hate that crashing feeling - can you sense
it welling up in your brain? That's how I feel it sometimes. Usually
for me, something triggers it, although it can be spontaneous.
Usually the trigger is stress at work or not enough sleep combined
with worry about my financial situation. I've been working really
hard recently at work in order to get everything in order and not get
stressed. It has worked very well and that has beeen a good ego
boost! Your pattern of being 'happy' for a couple of months followed
by 'paying for it' later is not
> something I recognise in my dysthymia. My recent 'happiness' has
been very unusual and very atypical. So I don't recognise your
pattern, Sheena. I usually feel more consistently sad (though maybe
with less extremes than you?). In that sense I live as if I would
prefer not to be alive - that life is a curse. That sounds a bit
dramatic, like I'm suicidal. I'm not suicidal and have never
seriously considered it but I do feel as if I'd rather not have been
born, if that makes sense.
>
>
> At the moment, whilst I'm feeling good, I think the one thing
that depresses me still, and this can alter my mood instantly if I go
anywhere near thinking about it, is my financial situation. I'm well
educated - couple of degrees, have good friends and so on but I've
never had well paid jobs. Despite being in my thirties, my life
savings at the moment stand at 650quid! I'm years behind on pension
payments and have a very low salary - I've never earned more than
18,100 pounds a year. So there is simply no chance of getting on the
housing market. I get so worried about the future. I can see that i
will always have to rent but as I'm so far behind on pension payments
I'm desperately worried about not having the money in my retirement to
pay for rent. I can only afford about 60pounds a month towards my
pension which is way to small since pension is really deferred salary.
I do tend to think about this most of the time. Does anyone else get
worried about the
> future? As an environmentalist, I'm very concerned about climate
change and beleive that that and pollutants could do enormous damage
to our planet. That;s why I stay in my job (for an environmental
charity) but i see that if I stay in that field I will never turn my
financial situation aound. I'm not really motivated by money but just
need to be financially secure with a place I can call my own. As an
example of how I feel: I'm finding it very difficult to accept going
to my brother's for Christmas. 13 years ago, he got married and
bought his wife's council house - for 27k; he's now moved on and into
a 270k house. I'm so jealous that he was able to buy a (subsidised)
first house for so little money and resultantly has collected
something like 200k profit over the last ten years or so. I work
really hard, working to 'save our planet' and just get utterly
penalised by so little financial reward. Even the thought of going
there at Christmas upsets me as I just can;t
> see any way of getting anywhere ever to live. I just rent a room
in a house and even that takes a fair wack of money and the thought of
having only ever to be able to live in a room and not my own house is
really difficult. Clearly this sotuation is not going to resolve
itself (I don;t do the National Lottery!) so that now is the one big
issue that depresses me. I suppose there's always a bit of the grass
is greener on the other side and maybe if I had my own place my
dysthymia would still trouble me but for me my house/money situation
seems to be the last bastion holding me back from leaving dysthymia
behind. Anyone else think there are specifics in life that
exacerbates their dysthymia?
>
>
> Sorry this turned into a Sunday morning rant!
>
>
> Take care everyone.
>
>
> Ade
>
>
> robert naunton <r.naunton@...> wrote:
>
>
> Its good do receive such positive feedback (pardon the
pun!) about food. I realise now that my problem at the moment is not
overeating, it is my general mood. I have been feeling really good
over the last couple of months, but on Wednesday I could feel my mood
dropping. My energy and enthusiasm has hit rock bottom � it always
seems that I have a good spell and then pay for it with a bad spell.
Does anyone else suffer from this pattern?
>
>
> Sheena
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> ---------------------------------
>
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