Today was the hottest day since the evening in the summer of 1999 when I was naked on my bed laying ice cubes on my chest. Then the cable went out. Then, looking through my door into the kitchen, all of a sudden the toaster, which wasn't even on, burst into flames. I didn't even get up. "Seems about right," was all I could think. - XMASTIME
My entire life I've been told that while it's okay/normal for people to be depressed during the Winter, I am out of my goddam mind/an idiot for being depressed during the summer. People openly scorn me and go out of their way to tell me how wrong I am. UNTIL NOW:
When asked by doctors and researchers, people with summer seasonal affective disorder usually say that what bothers them most is the heat and humidity. Each person’s exact pattern may differ — Ms. Ashly’s symptoms usually start in May and vanish in October — but the disorder returns regularly.
“What causes summer SAD? We assume it’s heat and humidity,” said Kelly Rohan, a psychology professor at the University of Vermont. Studies suggest that some of the same compounds in the body that help regulate mood, such as norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine, have also been linked to regulating body temperature.
An added challenge for the people who experience the disorder is the social pressure to feel summery when the sun is shining. People are used to the idea of mental health struggles during the winter, said Blessing Dada, 21, a student at Technological University Dublin in Ireland. Ms. Dada has experienced a deep sadness that comes on each summer, along with insomnia and migraines made worse by heat.
People tell her, “‘It’s summertime, you need to smile a bit more, be more happy,’” she said. “Comments like that are just not helpful.”
I feel 10 pounds lighter.
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