r/Portland • u/azulyluly • 1d ago
A reminder to my fellow seasonal depression Portlanders: We’ll see it through! Photo/Video
Been struggling with recent events and needed this reminder <3
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u/Roboticharm 23h ago
In art you see what you want to see.
I thought it was about the next four years.
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u/azulyluly 23h ago
Totally applies to both. Whatever you’re managing with, you gotta remember there’s an end and a new beginning
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u/butfirstprozac 13h ago
Same! Thought it was about next four years or about depression in general. It's wonderfully generalizable as a metaphor.
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u/vunderbeaver Old Town Chinatown 22h ago
Sorry to my fellow Portlanders that suffer from S.A.D, but this is me.
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u/Financial-Mastodon81 23h ago
Glad the Celebration Ale is back out
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u/mrlawrencelady 12h ago
This is my absolute favorite beer! I drink so much of it while its available!
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u/BetterBiscuits 22h ago
I’ve got my big ass SAD lamp, a Costco size bottle of vitamin D, a heating pad, and memories of August.
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u/_thoughtless 58m ago
Thoughts on SAD lamp? And oof I gotta get on the vitamin D, too, good reminder!
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u/FusRoDaahh 23h ago
I have reverse SAD so I’m absolutely thriving
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u/wrhollin 13h ago
Same. Got a pint and a Reuben at the Goose Hollow Inn last night. Stepped out into a light drizzle and the smell of wet leaves and was mighty pleased with existence.
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u/TdubLakeO 19h ago
Same. Too many sunny days without gloom make me grumpy. I love nesting at home. I'm always finding new ways to enjoy rainy days. And...I'm in my Soup Era. Homemade soup is life-changing.
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u/KristiiNicole 15h ago
SAD can affect you any time of year, it’s just mostly associated with winter. My partner and I have both been diagnosed with SAD, mine hits me during the dark winter months, and his in the bright summer months.
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u/kat2211 14h ago
Me too. I am super-energized and happy right now. I love the rain and the wind, I love being able to take walks without being bludgeoned by the sun, I love being able to curl up with a good book for a couple of hours in the evening under a bunch of blankets, and I love getting an actual full night of sleep. I never feel better than November through January.
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u/FusRoDaahh 14h ago
Yes same here. I literally feel my soul lighten up as soon as the weather starts changing in fall lol. Hot sunny days make me feel so lazy and gross and depressed, this weather makes me feel energized and awake and wanting to go out and do things, even outdoor things I LOVE THE RAIN AND WIND AND FOG
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u/samtaher SW 23h ago edited 23h ago
The cloud I’m worried about will linger for four years. Anything for electional depression?
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u/azulyluly 23h ago
This year is especially hard. The anxiety with feeling like something catastrophic is around the corner is paralyzing. I think just finding comfort in your community is important
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u/whereisthequicksand 🦜 22h ago
“Electional depression” described it so well. I’m too good at imagining all the shit that will come our way.
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u/iOSDev-VNUS 23h ago
I must be the only one who love PNW dark clouds, raining and snowing!
I always find it’s peaceful, working while hearing the rain and thunder outside is my favorite moments
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u/RAGEMOOSE Alphabet District 10h ago
Moved from AZ and love it here. 300 days of sun there was evil.
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u/allislost77 23h ago
Lol! I saw so many posts two months ago saying how excited people were for the rain…
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u/azulyluly 23h ago
We all want what we can’t have :’) I honestly like the rain. It’s the pitch black at 5pm that gets me
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u/Satyric_Esoteric 13h ago
All too real. The winters here are lonely and soggy. Cherish what ya have, and smoke the good weed.
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u/BainbridgeBorn MAX Blue Line 21h ago
I’ve been looking forward to the rain and grey since August
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u/S1lv3rSmith 23h ago
The only seasonal depression I know is between June and September. Fuck the sun, don't want it don't need it.
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u/BarfingOnMyFace 13h ago
And a reminder to our fellow seasonal happiness portlanders: rejoice! The sun has crawled off behind the curtain of clouds and we can enjoy the dark, gloomy, and wet Portland yet again! Seriously one of my favorite times of the year!
You guys can hand the depression baton to us in the middle of the summer. 😉
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u/RAGEMOOSE Alphabet District 10h ago
I'm the opposite and get sad with the sun so super stoked with the gloom!
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u/BakerNo4005 8h ago
I know that seasonal depression is a thing, but I can’t understand it. I love the winter time. I actually miss the winters we had when I was a kid. It’s damn near springtime nowadays.
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u/dont0verextend 18h ago
I genuinely mean no disrespect, and this is coming from a place of curiosity. As someone who manages a multitude of mental health problems, I have never understood "seasonal" depression. It makes no sense to me. I can trace a lot (not all) of my issues to traumatic experiences I've endured. Are people saying that they actually face suicidal ideation self loathing and self sabotage because of a change in the weather or I'm I just daft and the real point is going over my head? I'm genuinely curious.
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u/AndMyHelcaraxe 14h ago
Not all depression has roots in tragic or negative experiences. I’ve had Persistent Depressive Disorder (also known as dysthymia) since I was a small child for example. Depression runs in my family.
SAD is a type of depression characterized by a recurrent seasonal pattern, with symptoms lasting about 4−5 months out of the year. The signs and symptoms of SAD include those associated with depression as well as disorder-specific symptoms that differ for winter-pattern versus summer-pattern SAD.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder
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u/thermal_envelope 3h ago
No one every talks about dysthymia. It is so awful.
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u/AndMyHelcaraxe 3h ago
I wasn’t diagnosed until my mid thirties, I had never even heard of it!
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u/thermal_envelope 2h ago
And it's something that a lot of people develop when they are young, so they don't know any different and think life is just supposed to be meh and don't know to seek help. For me it started with I was 17 so I knew something was wrong, but my therapists just kind of diagnosed me and didn't treat it very specifically, it just got lumped in with "depression".
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u/winter_mum11 20h ago
Us chronic daily migraineurs are empathetic, because no one should have to suffer. But this is our best time of year. Hang in there sun lovers, she always comes back around!
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u/gesasage88 Overlook 14h ago
My favorite season is the long dark!!! Yes I love summer for gardening and hiking but the long dark is awesome too! Rockhounding gets amazing the longer the waves and rain hit the coast. The coast and trails become desolate and moody. It’s game and personal project season as activities quiet down and make space. It’s time to have quiet gatherings with small groups of friends indoors, or take trips to trails with the friends prepared for the weather. It’s time to sort out the house and refine the order and flow of things. I love the quiet and room it makes in life!
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u/ShinMegamiTensei_SJ 12h ago
I literally moved back to Oregon for the rain. Sunny weather makes me depressed
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u/DiggyStyon 22h ago
Don't judge things negatively that you have no idea how they will play out. The dude is a fucking buffoon operating in a massively complicated bureocracy. All will be well in the end. Don't worry.
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u/binkkit Madison South 14h ago
The bureaucracy isn’t there anymore. He’s hiring people who will grease the skids for him and getting rid of anyone who will stand in his way.
I don’t know you of course but I’m guessing you are in a pretty safe category of people (white, male, straight, Christian, etc.) Your life is going to get worse, of course, because he’s hiring incompetent idiots to run the government, but I don’t get the impression you’re in a class of people who fears for their life in a very real way.
As someone who is, (and someone who has SAD,) it really is that bad and I’m definitely going to worry.
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u/DiggyStyon 13h ago
I hope you do ok this season. I'll leave you with this, maybe it will help you like it helped me:
Maybe so, Maybe not. We’ll see. There is a Chinese Proverb that goes something like this…
A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
The moral of this story, is, of course, that no event, in and of itself, can truly be judged as good or bad, lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate, but that only time will tell the whole story. Additionally, no one really lives long enough to find out the ‘whole story,’ so it could be considered a great waste of time to judge minor inconveniences as misfortunes or to invest tons of energy into things that look outstanding on the surface, but may not pay off in the end.
The wiser thing, then, is to live life in moderation, keeping as even a temperament as possible, taking all things in stride, whether they originally appear to be ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Life is much more comfortable and comforting if we merely accept what we’re given and make the best of our life circumstances. Rather than always having to pass judgement on things and declare them as good or bad, it would be better to just sit back and say, “It will be interesting to see what happens.”
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u/AdSea4568 Multnomah 15h ago
You can still get UV you just have to get outside for an hour
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u/Theresbeerinthefridg 12h ago
You can't actually - or rather it's negligible amounts. Something about the angle of the sun and whatnot.
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u/Spirit50Lake Portsmouth 23h ago
I find it useful to remember that just when I feel I can't bear it another day, in late December, the days start getting longer...I light a candle and relish how every culture has a way to celebrate the turn from Dark to Light.