Most depressing time of the year... but it's almost over!

[thistlechaser]

I know my feelings are opposite of most everyone else, but I really really hate these long days of summer. It's 8:30, and the sun is just starting to set. I have no internal sense of what time it is -- my body clock says it should be 5:30, not almost bedtime.

I get up very early for work, so I try to be offline by 9:30 and in bed by 10 (usually that slips to 10:30 though). It's so annoying and depressing that the sky isn't dark when I'm going to bed; it makes me feel like a little kid.

At least the worst is almost over -- the 21st will be the longest day, then we'll start going back to shorter again.

I wonder how I would do in Alaska, with their even longer days/nights. It might be easier, since I wouldn't expect "normal" there.

Comments

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Yup, complete opposite of me. I was feeling sad that the endless long days will be waning soon. It stays bright here until almost 10 PM, and the sun comes up at 4:30.

I usually go to bed at 12-1 AM and get up by 6 AM. I got my Mom's run-forever-on-little-sleep gene.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Having a family must make it harder to sleep longer, too!

The sun being up when I get up bugs me, too. "Normal" for me feels like it should be dark when I get home from work and get up in the morning.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

No, I'm with you on this one, and I'm pissed that now DST is even shorter because the candy lobby pushed for it not to take effect until after Halloween so that they could sell more candy.

It always lulls me into thinking I have plenty of time to get more stuff done, because it isn't dark yet. Then suddenly it's eleven and I'm like WHAT THE SHIT I HAVE TO GET UP TOMORROW!!!

Also, do you know who doesn't understand DST? Cats.

PENNY IT IS FOUR IN THE MORNING I DON'T CARE IF THE SUN IS UP GO BACK TO BED.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Haha yes. And mealtimes, too! Shift the clock by an hour and kittytummies get all confused and demanding.

I really, really wish they'd get rid of DST.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have SAD, so the winter is super-awful for me, and now is fantastic. (I seriously never realize how depressed I am during the winter until it's not winter anymore.) But not being able to sleep is also depressing. Have you tried some sort of sun-blocking curtains/shades?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ack, SADs is rough! (I was going to write "SADs is depressing" ha!)

I have two sets of curtains up, but light still gets in. (My apartment complex has a lot of safety lights up, one which shines right in my bedroom window...)

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that's rough. Do the lights turn on later in the summer and wake you up?

But yeah, I literally could not live in your always-dark world. ;) I usually am in labs with no windows, so I don't get that much light anyway. And I really enjoy being able to have dinner outside or take walks in the evening, which really only works if it's light outside/just getting dark.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I have the no windows at work thing, too. (Though it's because I sit in an inside cube.) I miss seeing the outside because it's green and alive and different -- my cube makes me feel like an animal in a stall. I feel like I'd be better at my job if I could see even a patch of grass, like it would make my brain more productive.

The lights are on all night long. I like that it's safer to walk outside, but sometimes I want to go out and hit that one with a rock to break it...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I haven't been officially diagnosed with SAD, but I suspect I deal with something close to it (if not it) in winters as well.

So I'm right there with you. *fistbump*

For Thistle:

Not sure if you can tolerate it or not, but when I was having to work graveyard shift for a bit there, I got used to wearing a light blocking eyemask. Even though I love having it be light out when I get up in the morning, I still wear one during the summer thanks to an eastward facing bedroom window, thin curtains, and not being the soundest sleeper on the planet.

Can't do anything about the being light at night part, but, well, you're a grown up. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oooh, you know, I used to have an eyemask. I wonder where it went and why I stopped using it. Thanks for reminding me! I'll try to hunt it down tonight.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

I wear a sleep mask here too, because urban environment, it's never dark.

Ear plugs, sleep masks, and a cold cold room, that's how I manage to sleep.

Love, C.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I love sleeping in the cold, too. Earplugs would really help, but unfortunately I can't wear them during the day or night. For some reason (my awful sinuses?) wearing them quickly makes pressure build up in my head until I have to take them out.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Short dark cold days sap my energies and depress me no end; the long hot days of summer it's just the opposite. Which says nothing negative that your personal diurnal calendar works differently!

Love, C.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yep, most people feel like you do! I wonder what makes me different? Genetics? Something about my family growing up? It's a curious thing.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

It was very strange for me in Scotland and England, with the sun setting after 10pm and rising around 4:30. Hard for me to sleep with the sun streaming into the windows, hard for me to get to bed while it's still quite light. I would hate the opposite, though - having it dark so much of the time. Honestly it's best for me closer to the equator with less swing in day length!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, less change in the day would work, too.

The opposite would work for me, the sun rising at 10 AM and setting at 4:30. That's a littttle short, rising about 8 would be better, but setting at 5-ish is perfect to match my internal clock.