I don't think I have been diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder but I totally have it. In the winter, I try to do light therapy as much as possibly. It helps. I hate that it gets dark at like 3-4 now and it is just going to get worse. You are not alone!

I find it hard only from the aspect of getting up when it is still dark out. I do believe though that all animals have an inherant dread of the winter. If you consider that its when the most of the plants we eat as food have stopped producing and gone into a sleep cycle and the cold itself, it attacks 2 of the basest needs (Food, Shelter). Add in the wonderful human issues involved in how we keep ourselves warm and the raising cost of those means and i would say it is justifyable to have that as a fear. I don't think you are anything but normal in your feelings. I personally prefer the winter myself, but for me it is because i am climatized to deal with bitter cold and i cannot physically handle heat. I have suffered heat exhaustion to many times in my life so i have to be very careful. I don't like waking up before the sun though... That is wrong on so many levels its not even funny.....

Hi, beautiful. You look great at 55!

Thankfully, I live in South Florida, so I have the reverse problem: The weather is TOO hot and humid 9 months out of the year. I PRAY for the winter season weather to come so I can enjoy some cool, dry days.

But I used to live in Colorado, so I can relate to the "gloom and doom" from the cold, dark winter months, blizzard, snowed in, can't leave the house unless you want to brave snowdrifts and slick, icy roads...

I spent a lot of time in nocturnal hibernation, being creative and introspective in an indoor way, in those cold, dark months. I did some of my most creative thinking when I was editing my movies as a kid down in my parents' basement for 12 hours straight in the dead of winter in Colorado.

Didn't get shit for exercise, and I was pale, weak and thin until the sun came out in the spring and I was able to get the needed Vitamin D and walk around the neighborhood a bit.

I'd say stock up on much Campbell's soup and some form of alcoholic beverage to keep you warm, chop some timberwood for the roaring fireplace, and beef up the TV channels or movie collection as well as fiction novels for some really deep, immersive entertainment during the winter.

You're in South Carolina, so try to get to the coast, Charleston. i was there one winter, saw the docked Yorktown as well as the town with cobblestone streets, and enjoyed some good grub to eat. Winter on the coast in Charleston is magical.

I used to love winter...ice skating every weekend. but now that I'm older the cold bothers me a bit more. I blew my knee out 20 years ago so ice skating doesn't happen much anymore and the pains increase. At least once November settles in the high school football season winds down and we can get back to a normal life...of watching tv and doing crafts.

what depresses me the most is the winter cover on my pool. It's on from mid September to mother's day...looking at it makes me sad.

find a craft to keep you company, or books and movies. winter is a great time to catch up on all the summer flicks that it was too nice out to go see. by the time Christmas comes, the days will be getting longer again. there's something to look forward to