Anxiety and depression in summer/nice weather?

[NoPoet]

Hi all, I just wanted to know if anyone else finds themselves actually feeling worse if they have to go out in nice weather. I've read there is a type of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) which occurs in summer rather than winter - something to do with the sun's heat expanding our blood vessels, which creates symptoms of anxiety.

Therefore, winter can make people depressed, summer can make people anxious - we can't win!! :wacko:

I have this weird persistent image which is linked to low mood in nice weather. I imagine the sunlight being a kind of amber colour, like it gets on certain days when the sun is low and in your eyes (mainly in Spring) - I also see this weird, rare colour in dreams sometimes where again it is shining right in my eyes.

I don't know where this image/memory/dream comes from or why it bothers me so much, but I intend to investigate this in my next CBT session.

So does anyone else feel worse when it's lovely outside? And does anybody else have weird, half-formed images or memories like mine, that cause them distress without knowing why?

[littleredhen]

Hi - I don't recognise what you are saying, but as a depressive I sometimes feel worse in the sunshine because I compare myself with the happy shiny people out there seeming to have a great time!. twisted eh? :wacko:

:bighug1:

[LAURA48]

No you are not weird - if I feel depressed the weather can do what it wants - sunshine can make me feel worse! Sometimes, especially at the moment, dull weather suits my mood - strange!

[richardm]

I used to feel like this until recent years, as mentioned everyone outside and happy and also much noise coming from nearby gardens used to make me feel lonely and isolated and told me that the world outside of my head is doing stuff while I am still in the same place.

In recent years it has not been so bad but still at times I dislike the summer!

[GirlAfraid23]

Wow! I get this exactly!
It's madness because nobody understands as they think summer is a 'happy' time.
Thinking about the clocks going forward again makes me feel ill.
I actually prefer the winter

[stomper1999]

Totally weird and freaky that this post came out right now ! I live in Canada, and weather has been great, over 20C in recent days. Been on Cipralex 10 mg for almost two years and doing not too bad with anxiety, all told.

Woke on this last weekend feeling terrible, almost as bad as anxiety was just before starting Cipralex, and this just as the weather changed to "summer like" conditions with sunshine and warmth !

I feel weird and isolated in a strange way, like I am in some kind of surrealistic goldfish bowl . ..

I would be interested in knowing more about a possible scientific explanation for this . . .


Ric (Stomper1999)

[Julianne]

Firstly, you are right to question it since, to most people it might seem odd.
The absolute truth is though, that clinical depression knows no boundaries, it fails to recognise the seasons and I am not referring here to the more specific SAD (seasonal affective disorder).
I speak from experience and have also felt depressed on a sunny day with a clear blue sky and roses in full bloom, so yes, it happens to others too.
It is possible for people who also have social anxiety to feel uncomfortable in sunny weather due to there being more people out and about.
Do you know, I have always felt odd since I happen to adore dramatic weather, dark rolling clouds, mist, even rainy days, so magical, such ethereal beauty.
Just know you are not strange or odd in any way, you are depressed and as such the sunshine and springtime flowers are not bringing you any joy or happiness just now, it will come to you when you resolve the underlying depression.
I hope you do soon.
kindness

[kingkong]

I think its the contrast effect that amplifies the situation.
Allow me to elaborate.
If the weather is already dull, and we are dull, there is no contrast and hence we dont feel odd.
However, if the weather is bright, and we are dull, we feel the contrast and that is easily noted.

Its like identifying a black spot on a white paper. It just stands out.
The same black spot on a grey or a brown paper will not stand out straight.
The spot is the same, the surroundings are different, and its the surroundings which amplifies the feeling.

[NoPoet]

I think a couple of people have hit one one of the reasons. In summer, when everything is nice outside and the world seems a lot happier, we start to question why we can't feel like that. The contrast between us and the world seems a lot worse than normal. It reinforces our negative beliefs that we are different, we aren't supposed to be a part of the normal world, etc.

So your anxiety/depression get worse because you feel more blocked from the positivity around you (nice weather, happy people etc) than you usually would.

A lot of my own anxiety comes from bad memories of times I avoided things and lived a somewhat solitary existence. Summertime plays a big part in that. My past is very painful to me and we are starting to explore it in therapy. I wonder how many people suffer now because of bad memories and negative associations.

On a note of hope, back in 2009 when I was first ill with anxiety, I was very derealised and felt like I was living on an alien planet until summertime. I heard the people at the pub behind my house laughing and joking and there were children playing. I was wondering how they could be acting so normal when the whole world had changed. Suddenly, for no reason at all, the knowledge that ended my depersonalisation burst into my head: the world hadn't changed - I was just seeing it differently.