How do you combat the 'drearies?' It's been raining here pretty much non-stop for three weeks. I don't have many overhead lights in my house and the hardwood floors make it pretty dark to begin with. I've got every lamp we own on (I don't want to think about our utility bill next month. lol). I've had upbeat music going. What else do you do to combat the general feel of gloom that sets in after not seeing the sun for so long?
Living in the desert of California, we do not receive many gloomy days. The fog and majority of the thick smog is below our elevation. My aunt likes to place light colored objects around her house to brighten it up a bit. How about hanging some large mirrors, if you have them. Mirrors are great for bringing extra light to a room.
Are you in Alaska with me, lol. I have been on vitamin D and it does wonders! I get up with a cheery attitude, don't open the blinds and tell myself it's beautiful out! I also have one of those uv lights - actually it's for our iguana but it lights up a big area. I think just the combination of the two really helps.
Well, you can thank the Good Lord that you didn't have a tornado come through your town yesterday. An attitude of gratitude can pick you right up! We did have about ten inches of rain yesterday, and one or more tornadoes came through. We didn't know it, though, because we didn't hear the siren, and we were at school with no tv or radio so we didn't see/hear any news until later, so we were oblivious. We did notice the wind picked up when the door blew open, but we just closed it again and went right on. The lights went out for about an hour, but we kept right on with our school day by sitting nearer the 5x5-foot plate glass windows (right where you want to be in a tornado, right? -- but for God sparing us, we might have died blissfully ignorant). There were lots of twigs and a few branches and trees down all over town, but I think only a few houses were damaged -- none even near us! And no one was injured. We were very glad to see clear skies and sunshine today! Of course, the news reports made it sound like most of the town was flattened, but you know you can't trust news reports.... Every day when we start school with prayer, we thank God for the beautiful day, even if it's coming down in torrents. Attitude of gratitude!
I've been praising Him for every little thing I can think of. lol. I agree about an attitude of gratitude. It's not so much my attitude, I think. It's more physical. I know I recently posted about my energy levels, but I am so much worse now. It was sunny for a couple of hours yesterday and it made a HUGE difference. Anyhow, it's also affecting the boys.
I just posted about this on another forum a couple of days ago. My daughter and I both suffer from SAD. She moved to California. It worked. lol. :wink: Short of that, here's what helped us: I have heard of the vit d. It helps a lot of people, but it didn't help us. 10 mins of being outside with just your face exposed twice a day helps a lot. Some people get a lot of relief from buying a "daylight spectrum" bulb and putting it in the lamp that they sit near the most, like in the evening. My daughter said having some green plants around the house helped her a lot. Especially big ones, like palms. Me, I just mope around......lol.:|
I'm already super dosing on Vit. D because of H1N1 prevention. However, I have not tried switching bulbs anywhere. I forgot about those daylight ones. And I don't have a lot of big green plants, but I do have a few in my kitchen window that I could easily spread around a little. Thanks for the suggestions!
I hope my post didn't offend! It's just that I was particularly grateful because we DID have a tornado, and felt God protected us! I definitely recommend that you try getting out, even if it's overcast, because some sunlight will filter through. Of course, if it's actually raining, well, the sunlight-lamps sound like a really good idea! I hope your weather clears and you feel lots better really soon! Would adding more ceiling light fixtures or bigger ones to your house be an option?
I was absolutely not offended. No worries. Praise the Lord it's sunny today. I opened all my blinds and am enjoying the sunshine. Of course it's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but for today..... We rent, so we can't add any lighting, but more/bigger lamps would be something to think about. Hopefully we'll know next week if we'll be approved for the new house. In which case this will all be a moot point. In the meantime, I think I'll go get another floor lamp. That will help at least a little in the short term.
Well...Patty...la dee da...not many gloomy days, huh?! lol. I live in Ohio, so a good day is one to cherish! LOL. I normally have a very hard time on gloomy days...especially if I am cold. Not sure why, but it is not affecting me as much this year. What I did before was not productive and wouldn't help. I basically did nothing and vegged out. I mean...seriously..I couldn't even save cleaning the basement for a grey day...that was how much it affected my mood. I could function but I was so fatigued and just dreary. Again, not sure what has changed, seriously, no idea...but lately I've been okay.
Actress, you must live near me. Your weather forcast is EXACTLY the same as mine...lol. Rain, rain. I think we've had 3 sunny days in the last 5 weeks! And then the rain starts again that night. Aaarrrggghhh!!! I have been trying to get at the yard work - I have wood to cut up, weeds to pull, a goat pen to clean, but can't get any weather to do it! I feel TERRIBLE for the farmers! They haven't even BEGUN on the soybeans! :x
It's been raining off and on again today. *sigh* At least between showers it's not been nearly as gloomy as usual. Our 10 day shows rain all week, except on Wed. (my birthday), when it's only supposed to be mostly cloudy with only a 20% chance of precipitation. The other 9 days are anywhere from heavy rain to thunderstorms. This is just nutty weather. I mean, we've been in a drought for the last 12 years, so I guess it's overdue, but still. Do we have to catch up all at once? lol.
Perhaps your chemistry changed with the birth of your little one. This probably sounds corny but ever since Ems was born, I am completely terrified of heights. Before I could stomach them. Something just changed in my body or mind. LOL Honestly, I do take our sunshine for granted. Generally, everyday I have to close our blinds because too much light is coming in. I love bright houses but sometimes it gets too bright. Even in winter when our pipes freeze and we have ice all over the place, we tend to have bright days. The only time it gets gloomy is if we get rain or snow and then I welcome it because gloom is unusual for us.
I know someone posted about hanging mirrors around the house, but if you have some smaller mirrors, you can place them directly behind your lamps and they will reflect the light into the room doubling your light. If you've ever seen the old oil lamps with the big metal disc behind the globe, this is why. It worked the same way reflecting the light of the lamp and making it seem like you had double the light. Anytime our power goes out, I always put mirrors behind our candles and it really works.
