codyinin

How much of SAD includes some level of hypomania in the summer? Unless I am not remembering correctly, I thought I had read in your excellent book, "Winter Blues", that this was not uncommon. However, I have started seeing a psychologist for CBT recently and she suggested I may be at some level bipolar, due to this. The energy I have in the summer doesn't really affect my functionality, in fact I feel quite good normally and get a lot done, the main thing is, I can have trouble sleeping. I am mostly affected by the depression in the winter. Thanks !

Thank you! She even suggested that I might want to consider some sort of mood stabilizer eventually (granted, she had only seen me three times at this point). I am also an ultramarathon runner and I suppose that might seem odd to someone who does not do that, too. It was actually causing some anxiety over the topic because it made me question if my normal feeling good and following my goals in summer (when I was finally able to do so) meant there was a further problem with me. I do have trouble sometimes sleeping more than 5 hours in summer - but it has been helped quite a bit already by CBT-I, keeping a sleep log, and simply listening to relaxing music if I wake up. I prefer natural techniques to medication.

I love CBT as well as positive psychology, with those I still didn't feel like "summer" but I was feeling OK. And yes I have the Winter Blues Survival Guide as well - another great resource! When I first read those two books it was like I had found my "people" after wondering what was going on all this time. Thank you!