Seasonal Affective Disorders - How to Add Seasoning to Your Seasonal Disorder

As a child growing up in Minneapolis Minnesota, I never had any other reality of other weather anywhere else. All I thought was that I would live there my whole life. I remember when it would snow. We would get so excited about making snowmen and snow angels. Who knew that twenty years later those angels would turn into demons. SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder affects millions of people. Many people don't even know they have it, they just start feeling blue when the long summer days are ending, and the night begins around dinnertime. For me, this was around November first. The sky was cold, cloudy and gray. The remnants of Halloween with smashed pumpkins on the street, and the slight drizzle in the air, was like a prison door that just slammed shut. I knew I had to serve my sentence until about May.

Somewhere in my late teens it started. I thought it was just the usual back to school sadness. I started learning how to play guitar when I was 10 and this coupled with writing is what helped me to endure the long winter ahead. A lot of creative people are born out of Minnesota. I believe the reason is you create, or you die. Actresses like Winona Ryder, musicians like Prince, and artistic visual artist web cam guru Ana Voog, are just to name a few.

Many people, who have not tapped into their creative abilities, end up on the most popular drug Prozac. Prozac is really good for people with SAD.

I should know, I was on it. My mother was on it as well. The problem is sometimes you can get too much of a good thing, and forget about some of the natural alternatives. Everyone has heard that Prozac has been given out way too freely. So much so, that they had to invent drugs of a similar compound and give it a different name to fight this dis-ease. Prozac and Effexor and other drugs of this nature are serotonin uptake inhibitors. What that means, is that a person who does not receive enough light through the retina of their eye, will not obtain enough serotonin. This will lead to depression. Also what people may not realize, is that the diets they are on may be causing the same type of SAD dis-ease as the lack of light. Serotonin is found in carbohydrates. There is a large amount of in potatoes as well as all the other foods we avoid in our popular low carb programs.

So now what do we do? I believe like every dis-ease, it is a lack of balance.

In Minnesota it starts getting cold in October sometimes late September. November and December are the worst because the sky is gray and the days are the shortest. Then there is January. This is the coldest month. Followed by March and April, the snowiest months. Then comes the rain, and finally if your lucky you wont get anymore snow on the lilacs in May. That's a long time to wait for happiness. Even the birds leave town. So like the birds, I left and moved to sunny California.
Thousands of people flock to this state on a weekly basis because the sun literally shines about 300 days of the year, but if everyone moved here, there wouldn't be enough room and we probably would fall into the sea right? So I ask again, What do we do? Well, for starters, get exercise.

1.Go to your local YMCA and go swimming because it will remind you of summer. Another option is going for a walk outside, because even if it is gray, some light is better than no light. It's actually beautiful too, if you go after a snowstorm when the snow laces all the trees. 2.Get a part time job at a floral shop, or visit one on a regular basis. Most cities have artistic little plazas where nature still exists in the dead of winter. For me, it was the Walker Art Center, where you could walk in and you were struck with the scent of flowers and the majestic view of tall Palm trees. It is all natural lighting, and there is no sign of darkness there. The Mega-mall was another option as the whole first floor is full of trees for the Camp Snoopy amusement park. 3. Go to the zoo. Like artistic plaza's, these places have habitats that are made for the animals that need tropical climates like me. Another bonus is visiting large fish aquariums. Not only is it beautiful watching all the colorful fish, it takes your mind off the depression you feel because its so drab outside. 4. Get off your high protein diets! Not only does it make you depressed, it's very hard on the kidneys. It's much easier to cure depression than kidney disease. Eat more carbohydrates in moderation. 5. Above all, be creative. Studies have shown that painting pictures or playing a musical instrument have helped many people overcome their depression. If these suggestions aren't enough, Please seek medical attention. You can overcome this.

Interesting enough, my own seasonal affective disorder has come with a different flavor these days. Today was my birthday, and after 300 days of sunshine, I got the best present of all. It rained.