feeling SAD (or the summertime blues)

There is apparently a specific medical condition that describes what happens to your mood as the seasons start to change. It's called Seasonal Affective Disorder, appropriately SAD for short. It was (of course) a South African who discovered it in 1980, Dr Norman Rosenthal who moved from South Africa to New York and then Maryland (which would be enough to make anyone feel SAD). SADness seems to affect people more at the beginning of winter and it's supposed to be worse in the northern hemisphere. I am as usual the opposite of most people and get the summertime blues, just as my mood gauge starts to swing towards a feeling of euphoria that the winter is finally over. WHAM! An inexplicable feeling of misery suddenly descends, I cant sleep properly and I start to expect the worst of everything and brood over the past. This is after a brief period of exhilaration that it is warm again, spring is around the corner and I rush off to buy sweetpeas and daffs. The diagnosis for me is reverse SADness, apparently. It's something to do with light and haywire melatonin levels ?? But it is great to know that this is not total madness or some sort of inherited Celtic melancholia along with the red hair but an actual recognised medical condition. And other people get it. And when other people are miz we somehow feel better, don't we because we are not alone in our affliction! But how to go from SAD to glad? Oranges are good, apparently, as are massages, sunshine and food with serotins in them such as chocolate. And ditch the sunscreen and sunglasses temporarily as moderate sun exposure maximises vitamin D production and boosts serotonin levels.

Well, that all sounds like a plan ... this blogger should be back to her sunny self soon