It’s pretty well agreed upon that depression can have a seasonal aspect. Do you feel there is a seasonal aspect to your sz as well?
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this is a really important question to me so I’m going to bring it back to the top.
Hey @tera .
I don’t like the heat of summer months. The meds make it hard to cope with hot temperatures. This stresses me out in summer and can make my symptoms worse.
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Thank you for responding. That’s interesting - so it’s the stress. I get worse starting in October. But I’m not sure why. I’ll have to pay attention to my stress level this year and see if that’s the correlation and if so what is causing the stress. And if so what can I do about it. I’m sick of getting thrown for a loop every year. It seems like I can only recover so far only to get knocked back down.
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Not sure if this is the same for everyone, but stress is by far the biggest precipitator of my symptoms.
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I’m more depressed during Autumn and Winter and more Manic during the Summer.
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Thank you for your reply. I feel the same way. Do you feel that your sz symptoms act up during the Autumn and Winter months also?
My sz symptoms are worse during the darker months - Autumn and Winter.
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@tera
For me it’s Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Thus it’s depression for me. I used to live in New York, and my SAD was so problematic that I moved 1,300 miles South to Florida.
I realize most people cannot move.
P.S. You may want to look into light boxes (I think Amazon sells them).
Holy macaroni! That’s quite a move. I hope it was worth the move.
Do you feel your sz symptoms also get worse when your experiencing SAD symptoms? I remember when I was young a few different drs talked to me about having SAD. But in the end we decided it didn’t fit because the timing wasn’t quite right for typical SAD. I can’t remember when they said it usually occurred but I usually notice problems from October to February.
I had a therapist once that thought something traumatic happened to me in October and I had PTSD and that’s why I would get worse in October. But that was before I was diagnosed sza so I’m not sure PTSD applies to me anymore.
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@tera
I think my entire environment affects my overall health, so that includes schizophrenia. Weather, finances, relationships, etc.
So, yeah, more light per day helps my schizophrenia.
“Holy Macaroni”–that’s cute. Sometimes I say Awesome Sauce.
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I’m just desperately trying to find a way to do anything differently this year so I don’t have to go through the hell again. I just don’t think I can get through it this year. I really don’t feel strong enough. I just want this year to be different, I can’t do it!
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Thank you firemonkey