[Hex]

Originally Posted by Foxfour

I have lived in a hot, sunny place for the last 15 yrs, and I hate it here. If it was solely up to me, I would have been living in the pacific northwest a loooong time ago. We do not get the four seasons here. We have a short spring (4.5 mons) and the rest of the year, it's 90-110 degrees. The humidity is high. Our windows fog up a lot. The only trees are palm trees. There is very little rain, so there's very few flowers or green. The wind is always blowing here. My husband does not understand nor believe me when I start complaining (which I do a lot) about how miserable I am. He makes me feel guility when I mention leaving. I have found others down here who feel the exact way I do, so I know I'm not alone. We are starting into our 100+ days. I don't even want to get started on how miserable those temps make me feel. I envy people who live where there are opportunities to use coats, sweaters, fireplaces, make snowmans, seeing fog come out of people's mouth instead of on there windows. I could go on and on, but I'll stop.

You're definitely not alone. I live in FLA so I know exactly what you're talking about. The time from late April aaaaall the way up to like, late October is just awful for me ( and if your car's a/c breaks down as it happened to mine a couple of weeks ago, well, you can imagine )

Anyway, when I tell other Floridians those exact comments you made (wanting to move up north) they look at me as if I'm crazy but I definitely can't see myself living here for the rest of my life. It's a shame though, cause other than that I love the area.

[Hex]

Originally Posted by SmilingBluEyes

One other thing I noticed about heat: people are much shorter-tempered in it. That much I can attest to having so much experience living in hot climes.

Abso-freaking-lutely

I thought it only happened to me.

Have you ever noticed how during summertime some people can drive around in old beat-up cars with no a/c and be perfectly happy? They're listening to the radio, or talking on their cellphones, and not one drop of sweat????

Meanwhile, my a/c breaks down and I feel like I'm melting away....go figure lol

[VivaLasViejas]

Originally Posted by ahsweeney

Can you put skylights in your family room? The best advice I've read so far has been just get outside for an hour daily. Try to get the natural light - what there is of it!!!!
Good luck

We are fortunate in that we have a HUGE picture window, plus two other large windows in our living room that let in all the natural light there is at any given time. I don't go outside much in the winter because I hate being wet and cold even worse than I hate the perpetually gray skies and the winter fog........that damp chill just gets into my joints and makes them ache ferociously, and then I can't get warm no matter what I do. I also have some nasty allergies and asthma, which are always made worse by the cool, wet weather, so outdoor exercise is out as well.

I have to get through at least two more winters here, as my oldest son has some issues and is currently in therapy; he does NOT need to be uprooted at this time in his life, so we're going to wait at least until he's out of high school in 2007. I'm going to check into getting a light box, and in the meantime I'll continue with my twice-weekly 'helio-therapy' sessions in the tanning salon.......it does help considerably, and it's a lot cheaper than therapy!!

[VivaLasViejas]

Originally Posted by Hex

Have you ever noticed how during summertime some people can drive around in old beat-up cars with no a/c and be perfectly happy? They're listening to the radio, or talking on their cellphones, and not one drop of sweat????

Yep, that's me

Last week, we had some record-breaking heat for several consecutive days before it went back to being cloudy and miserable again, and there I was, sitting in traffic in 95-degree temps, and beaming happily along with the sun. It's only when it soars into the 100s and/or becomes muggy that I tend to lose my happy thoughts, because there is basically NO air conditioning in houses here and few public swimming areas. But even that doesn't happen very often........mostly, our summer temps hover in the low to mid-80s, which to me is utter perfection.

And may summer come SOON.........we've had a taste of it, which basically only served to remind me of how fed up I am with the clouds and rain.

[lmz]

I have dealt with SAD for years and live in Alaska. I know that I am better where it is sunny, but not necessarily rid of it. My family members, who still live in California, are okay until they get 3 weeks of rain and then they are all in a blue funk, same for general winter even there.

The short of it is that you may be able to take less anti-depressant, but not necessarily none. I've tried that. I lived in San Diego for a summer and was depressed even with the sun and without anti-depressants.

I also wonder about something you said regarding anti-depressant not taking care of all the problem. A good hard (often difficult) look at one's emotional issues helps. And I believe the recommendation is to use both meds and psychotherapy together.

Hope this helps in your understanding, even if it doesn't give you the answer you want.


good Luck.