The kids are out of school. Your neighbors are whistling on their way to work, greeting you with an enthusiasm peculiar to warm weather. And if you hear one more person ask you about your summer vacation plans, you will throw a US map and atlas at them.
You don’t mean to be grumpy. But darn it, you are miserable in the oppressive heat, your kids are home for 90 consecutive days, and you are don’t have the stamina to pretend you are giddy that summer has arrived.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. After publishing a piece recently about the trigger of Memorial Day for me — reminding me that most of my relapses have happened in the summer months — I’ve heard from so many readers that fear this time of year for the same reason: summer depression.
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At first I asked myself, how can someone become depressed in summer. But after I read this post, I absolutely understood. But again, it is what you focus on, as you discribe in what one can do about it. Being outdoors gives energy and being outdoors is easy and so uplifting in summer.
Therese, these were wonderful suggestions. I think highly sensitive people HSP are particularly inclined to be affected by the weather and do begin to isolate which we all know isn’t good when a depression is trying to pull you in.
I thought it also a good idea to get involved with the kids’ activities when possible and let some stuff slide. We might all have to work on that one.
Interesting piece. However, you did not mention unemployment/underemployment during the summer. These issues are very real and can contribute to depression.
Some people do not get “vacation” time so if they have a job with no vacation, taking off time (if even allowed) means no pay. Or, if you have no job at all and are looking for one, it is difficult to go on a vacation with no money. Yes, there are inexpensive options, but even day trips cost gas money. Not being able to afford or to go on a vacation can be hard for children to understand and for adults to deal with. How awkward it is when others tell you their plans, then say, “Where are you going?” I remember one depressing experience when my husband was unemployed one summer. When Labor Day came and others got the paid day off – we were home as usual wishing for employment so we could celebrate the day off. I know attitude is everything and creative thinking helps – but there is nothing like having a job to take a vacation from during the summer months.
Well, since I was a single mother, we never had money for a vacation like most of our neighbors. So when I was able to get a reliable car, we would take day trips. Just pack a lunch of sandwiches and bottles of water in a styrofoam cooler, and put as much gas in the car as we could, and just go somewhere, anywhere, even if it was just out to the state park, to swim in the lake there. It made so much difference, we did that for many years. It was free to swim and park there, thank goodness, we didn’t have any money then. I still don’t, I am retired and on disability. I am thinking of taking a few day trips. My sister and I used to pool our resources, she was in the same boat as myself, and it was great. My sister wasn’t a good traveler, however, we kept her laughing, and eventually she learned to enjoy it more, we were even able, by pooling our resources to take a trip to Washington D.C. All three of us, me, my son, and my sister all pooled our money together, and stayed in a really inexpensive little hotel in Virginia that we found on the internet, and drove down there from Pa. We walked everywhere there, needless to say we were all totally worn out, but, it was the best little vacation I ever took. And to top it off the capital building gave us free tickets for a free tour the last day we were there. We only stayed the weekend, but, it was wonderful. And we did it very cheaply. I still don’t know how we managed it, but we did.
@Katherine I feel your pain I have an incredibly low income. I am lucky enough to work in a school so I get holidays off, but I don’t have any money spare for anything. Even swimming costs too much, and taking the bus (we don’t own a car).
Some things I have found useful: Visiting grandparents/asking them over. Going for a long walk (wear out kids&gives you desperately needed excersise). find a film in a charity shop/freecycle, watch it with family/friends. use ‘trash’ to build things with younger children. Eat your usual lunch or dinner outside, either as a picnic or in your garden (if you have one). spend time reading books with your child(ren) at a library. Visit a forest, it will be cooler&shadier. If you can, visit the beach and spend time collecting shells with the kids, you can spend ages sticking them on to things, or turning them in to jewelery or a beach display or scrap book (would also work with leaves, twigs or how about some origami with old receipts?).
My only point to the author (other than thanks for recognizing all us backwards SADs) is that personally I need 10hrs sleep. So while generally people need 8hrs, to say everybody needs exactly eight hours is a bit like telling everybody to wear size 8 shoes. The message is right though, sleep can be easily neglected/disrupted with different routines and longer hours of sunshine.
Has anyone stopped to wonder what something that is cyclical and dependable as “the changing of seasons” would cause depression? How much of it is people (subconsciously) more comfortable with being depressed then being happy. How much of this is related to the “industrial/ service” environment of western society leading to individuals growing up drifting further and further away from “the reality principle” and living their entire lives governed by “the pleasure principle”?
When a physical stimulus leads to an emotional response that is a “trigger” that can be (theoretically) traced back to something repressed. (I.e. a child whose parents fought or were abusive all the time as a child loved going to school to get away from it. Thus an associative bond to that physical stimulus was assigned.) Know who else doesn’t like disrupted schedules? OCD sufferers. When you feel the need to take a vacation that you can’t afford, that is called “peer pressure”. AKA as anxiety of one who doesn’t have the self confidence to resist social pressures driving them to behave in a manor that isn’t healthy.
One thing that was only touched upon was that “children are home”. I often see FB posts and hear parents dread summer break and express joy at their children going back to school. I can’t believe it. I would love nothing more then to have raised my daughter until we determined that she was ready to seek a different format for learning. Until then, I would have been overjoyed to have her taught basics as well as stood by my side and learned the lessons of self confidence and sustainability that she won’t get in public school from me or her family members. Alas, a concept so psychologically healthy in our culture is shunned.
When are we going to stand up and identify the cultural traits that lead to our mental dysfunctions?
What a wonderful article that made me feel less alone just by reading it. I wonder whether there are any neuological reasons as to why it happens too? Does the light trigger chemicals in the brain? Don’t ever stop writing. Thanks again!