Tired--really-really tired!

I have been tired. Really, really tired. The kind of tired that only happens as the light changes in the fall. My 5:00 am workouts have been non existent(I did make Monday). I have barely had enough umph to go later. Then it gets DARK at 5:30 p.m.

I have struggled with Seasonal Affective Disorder for years. It took me a few years to really understand what was happening. I just thought that I was turning into Cruella DeVille and everyone else was getting really stupid!~

Now I understand that SAD(as it is shortened) is a real condition and many people suffer with it to varying degrees. Some people just get tired and lethargic. Others get mildly depressed. Still others get severely depressed. Some people have called it the "winter blues". It all has to do with light---or more accurately--LACK of light. Sunlight goes into our eyes and then creates serotonin in our brains. Serotonin is like a "happy" drug. It helps with mood. In the fall the light changes as the earth rotates differently. Therefore, there is less sunlight going into our eyes. With less light the body make more melatonin, which is the "sleepy" drug in our bodies. They are both necessary but in the winter months-with less sunlight the melatonin goes into overdrive for many people, making us want to hibernate. Since we are not cave men that need to store excess and sleep during the winter we have to help our bodies overcome the need to hibernate!~

Think about it--you wake up in the dark, go to work or school and then come home in the dark. It is COLD. It is difficult to get enough sunlight!~ We have to force ourselves to go outside, even in the cold to get some sunlight in the middle of the day. Sit by a bright window, take off the sunglasses for a few minutes. There are also light boxes that can be purchased with special lights. People sit by these lights in the morning for 15-45 minutes(depending on severity). This is a real treatment. I didn't make it up! The light helps create the serotonin, therefore helping with the irritability, depressive moods, sleepiness etc.

Why am I writing all this down? Because I am tired. I went to bed at 8:30 last night and didn't get out of my bed until 8:30 am this morning.

That is a lot of sleep!

I am looking into a dawn simulator. It is basically a timer that you hook to your nightstand lamp(some have their own lights) . You set it to the time you need to be awake and it will start to slowly turn your light on. The theory is that our brains circadian rhythms are affected by light. We see light through our eyelids. This slow introduction of light signals the brain to stop the sleep cycle it is in thus making our bodies wake up--instead of being jolted out of the sleep cycle by a blaring alarm clock. It is suppose to make you feel less groggy throughout the day as well.

Let's hope that it works because I don't think that I get to have 12 hours of sleep very often with my life!