Under The Weather Or Depressed?

June 25, 2009

For whatever reason, until today, I’ve been feeling really run down with no energy or motivation to do anything. My sleep’s been OK, but I felt more tired than usual. My ability to focus and concentrate was definitely affected, and my wife even called my mood "morose." Ouch. I hope my bad mood didn’t rub off on my three boys.

The reason for bringing this up is that today, I feel great all of a sudden. The only difference that I can think of is that the sun shined in New York City for the first time in days, maybe even over one week. We’ve had either rain or overcast weather most of June.

I realize now that I was probably suffering from a mild case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which affects susceptible people who either don’t get enough sunlight or during the winter season, when there’s much less sunlight. I didn’t think I could have this, but I guess things change as you get older.

For prolonged cases of SAD, bright light therapy is one way to treating this condition. Another way is to spend more time outdoors, even with the overcast skies.

How many of you were also under the weather this past week?

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | 5 Comments