Mega stressed!

I just knew today was going to be a bad day when I had to get up early for an appointment I didn’t want to go to and found the weather overcast and rubbish. I followed that up by burning my pop-tarts and having to endure a series of very personal questions at my appointment that brought up some unpleasant childhood memories (not that I remember much of my childhood, I’ve blocked most of it out).

The result of that was that I felt an incredibly craving for sugar, so I stopped off at Tesco and bought this

I had calmed down a little by the time I got home and was thinking that I should have shown some restraint, and that my waistline will not thank me for all this rubbish I now have to eat. That reduction in my stress and generally low mood didn’t last long, however, for in the post I received a letter from the job centre, with a form to fill out explaining why they should give me the sickness benefit they’ve already said they are giving me; why I need to fill out this form when they already have a letter from my doctor explaining why I’m not fit for work, I don’t know.

Immediately my stress levels went back up, and proceeded to climb steadily higher as I went through the form and had to provide the same answer again and again to different, but basically the same, question. By the end of it I felt as though my head was going to explode and I was ready to shout at anyone or anything, including the dog, that came near me; I am also now ready to eat everything I bought in one sitting and damn my waistline.

100 Things To Do If You’re Sad

I just found this awesome list, it made me smile just reading it.

Dear Reader, I advise you to do these things on rainy days (I’m not talking about the weather). Bookmark this article or link it or whatever the kids are doing these days, and open it when you’re f…

Source: 100 Things To Do If You’re Sad

Off the Spectrum – How Autistic Are you?

I’m in the process of sorting out an assessment (I have autism/aspergers but have no idea the extent of it) so this was quite interesting.

Sad is bad!

I have sad. No, you didn’t misread that, and you grammar Nazis of the ‘net don’t need to try and tell me those three worse are wrong; when I say ‘I have sad’ what I mean is that I have Seasonal Affective Disorder, commonly known as sad, also known as the winter blues.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern.
SAD is sometimes known as “winter depression” because the symptoms are more apparent and tend to be more severe during the winter.
The symptoms often begin in the autumn as the days start getting shorter. They’re typically most severe during December, January and February.
SAD often improves and disappears in the spring and summer, although it may return each autumn and winter in a repetitive pattern.

Symptons

Symptoms of SAD can include:
a persistent low mood
a loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities
irritability
feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness
feeling lethargic (lacking in energy) and sleepy during the day
sleeping for longer than normal and finding it hard to get up in the morning
craving carbohydrates and gaining weight
For some people, these symptoms can be severe and have a significant impact on their day-to-day activities.
(source: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Seasonal-affective-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx)

---

Fortunately I only have mild SAD, but I do also suffer from regular depression, as well as stress and anxiety and a few other things.

Why am I boring you all with this, I’m sure you’re asking; I woke up this morning in a major grump, before I even opened the curtains and discovered that the weather is pretty rubbish, not awful but still bad enough to affect my mood.

I’ve had some people say I just have the rainy day blues and it’ll be fine, but that doesn’t explain why my body goes through this before I’ve even seen the weather; I have to explain to them that it is a recognised medical condition.

Since I am  suffering from a major lack of sunshine, which is making it hard for me to summon the energy and the enthusiasm to do much, I thought I would find some sunshine, and here it is

It’s not much, but I hope it helps, even a little, all those who like me are having a bad day because of the weather. And now I’m off to shop for a sun lamp so I can get through winter in a better mood than the one the weather wants to put me in.