| Mrs. Murfreesboro: Valentine’s Day triggers a case of mid-winter blues |
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By: JEANNE BRAGG, Post Columnist
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Posted: Sunday, February 22, 2009 6:37 am
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I used to get the “blues” in January.
I told a physician/friend about that once and he thought it was unusual; he said everyone else seemed to get them in December due to the melancholy attributed to Christmas.
I love every minute of the year from Thanksgiving until Christmas. Despite the physical work, I love the parties, the good cheer that prevails, the food ... almost everything that accompanies it, although lately I've been ambivalent about the decorating part.
No, I didn't get them in January. This year they waited until after Valentine's Day.
I would ordinarily blame cabin fever as a culprit for these woes, but I've had very few days in the house alone since January. And frankly, being in the house is my very favorite place to be.
Since the first of the year I've been to painting class (my second favorite place), birthday parties and had company for much of the time. I was even invited to a friend's house to play bridge for one whole day and loved that, too. But this gloomy weather's been suppressing happy feelings; kind of like those hyacinths in the ground that haven't popped up much lately because of the lack of sun.
The darn economy and gloomy news on TV is as much to blame as anything, coupled with this frigid weather. When it's under 26 degrees, my walking buddy and I don't make our daily trek, and that lack of physical exercise doesn't help any. We keep our house so cold that I freeze so I wrap up in more clothes instead of turning the temperature up. Being cold can really affect the way you feel.
When I say I get the “blues” I by no means mean the severe despondency and hopelessness that many people suffer. I just mean the feeling “down” that is a normal part of life. An excellent website, helpguide.org defines it as “situational depression,” a normal reaction to events around us. Clinical depression is that demon that overwhelms and engulfs day-to-day life, interfering with the ability to work, study, eat, sleep, and have fun. That kind is unrelenting; mine is very fleeting.
“Winter blues” are sometimes referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and fortunately mine have never lasted long enough to make me look into the light therapy that is prescribed to counteract SAD.
I have heard that light therapy is expensive, and don't know if anyone in town sells “light boxes,” but there was a wide range on Amazon.com, when I checked today. Prices range from around $50 and go sky high. It will come as no surprise to learn that the least expensive ones were out of stock when I checked for availability.
Even though I complain about the cold, I’m happy I live in a part of the country that has four seasons with winters that are relatively mild.
And before we know it, the days will be getting longer and we'll encounter March winds, April showers and menacing dandelions. It won't be long either until we'll be enjoying fragrant jonquils, flowering quince and consistently sunny days.
Until those days get here, maybe I'll volunteer to run errands for someone who can't get out, make dinner for a new mom or knit a blanket for one of those worthy causes I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.
And before you know it, I'll be complaining about the heat and the weeds.
But the way I feel today, those days can't come fast enough. Hurry, spring!
'Til next week.
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