# I hate this time of year. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631 "2005-09-14T17:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/1 "2005-09-14T17:25:04Z")
For some reason, early autumn just kicks my ass. As the daylight begins to wane, some obscure structure in my brain decides it is Time to Hibernate. My body insists that I should really sleep more. As in, pretty much all the time. Dragging my butt out of bed becomes a tremendous challenge. On the bus ride to work, instead of knitting industriously, I zone out and snooze a little with my head against the window. (Until the bus hits a bump: _CRACK_ Ow!) I sit at my desk thinking that I could easily grab five minutes worth of sleep if I just shut the door and stretch out on the floor. And maybe if I take a nap I could hold a coherent thought in my head for more than thirty seconds. Caffeine? Consumed in mass quantities. Now I’m both tired and jittery, and my attention span is even shorter. The bus ride home isn’t much better. (Bump. _CRACK_ Ow!) When I crash on the couch after dinner, I end up dozing off. I go to bed at nine thirty because I just. can’t. keep. my. eyes. open. Also, my body has also decreed that if I’m awake, I really should be stuffing my face. It’s not my usual bored/unhappy munchiness. I’m _hungry_, stomach-grumbling hungry. I track my diet carefully, and even though for meals eat the usual things in the usual amounts, it isn’t enough! Monday, I dug through the cabinet and found some old crackers and ate them by the handful even though were completely stale. Last night, I sat in front of the computer eating brown sugar by the spoonful straight from the canister. No, that is not a metaphor for anything. I crave sweet things all day long. If I give into the craving, I get a short burst of energy followed by a hard crash. Oh, and I’m also thirsty all the time. What’s up with that? I am constantly sipping at a glass of water, and the back of my throat feels dry and my skin is dry and looks dull and wrinkly, and I have that little dehydration headache (though Og knows that could be from fatigue or hunger or some other reason). I didn’t bring any water with me on the bus last night, and by the end of the 45-minute ride I was so thirsty that I rode on to the next stop where there’s a convenience store and bought a lemonade and chugged it down while I was standing at the counter. This happens to me every year, though it seems particularly severe this time. In the past, I have bounced back to normal when we go off Daylight Savings Time, but good gracious, that’s not until the end of October! Does anyone else experience this? I am not 100% sure, but I think this can all be traced to that time I was accidentally injected with a syringe full of radioactive grizzly bear DNA . . . ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/2 "2005-09-14T17:29:41Z")
Love autumn – or would, if it didn’t mean winter was coming. Now, winter, I hate. Hate hate hat. The lovely crisp days of fall, though – very nice. My problem with autumn is that it’s death anniversary season – my father September 3rd, and my best friend October 10th. It’s been 17 and 20 years, respectively, and I still get a little squirrely. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/3 "2005-09-14T17:31:36Z")
Well I certainly feel something at this time of year. I love it. The change of the seasons, the fall colors, the romantic hayrides with a bottle of cider… 🙂 Sh\*t I miss living in New England! Seriously, I do miss New England and the frosty mornings that are about to happen, the pumpkin picking, hay rides, _ **real** _ apple cider etc…etc… I like this time of year, my wife and I are just going to have to find autumn in the desert somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/4 "2005-09-14T17:37:16Z")
Hey, don’t get me wrong. I love back-to-school shopping, the crispness in the air, the turning leaves, the apple harvest, Orion’s return to the evening sky, seeing my breath when I step outside in the morning, Halloween, pumpkin pie, the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle. Fall is by far my favorite season by absolutely every standard except for “not feeling like crap warmed over.” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/5 "2005-09-14T17:40:56Z")
When I lived in Ohio, I loved this time of year. Fall and then the Holidays. In Dallas, I just find myself checking the ten day forecast to find out when it will finally drop below 90 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/6 "2005-09-14T17:47:57Z")
I think you’re “bulking up” for winter, that’s why your body is carboloading. 🙂 I love fall, but I get the same hungry like a wolf and sleeeeeep now feelings. I don’t have much to do right now, so I can get 12 hours of sleep a night. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/7 "2005-09-14T17:49:14Z")
Not as severe as what you describe, but I do get a bit blinkered in the fall. I like fall, weather-wise, but something about the diminishing light makes me…just…off. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/8 "2005-09-14T18:42:11Z")
Hunting season (archery) starts Sept 15 (Tomorrow!!! 😃 😃 😃 ) in the great state of NH. I love fall. Even if I am a lousy hunter. -Butler ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/9 "2005-09-14T19:14:42Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Well I certainly feel something at this time of year. I love it. The change of the seasons, the fall colors, the romantic hayrides with a bottle of cider… 🙂 > > Sh\*t I miss living in New England! > > Seriously, I do miss New England and the frosty mornings that are about to happen, the pumpkin picking, hay rides, _ **real** _ apple cider etc…etc… _When the weather’s hot and sticky That’s no time for dunkin’ dicky. But when the frost is on the pumpkin, that’s the time for dicky dunkin’!_ There’s something oddly appealing about a drippy cold November day. It’s definitely a shock in October when we ‘fall back’ (it’s all over ☹ ). All of a sudden it seems like you’re doing everything in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/10 "2005-09-14T19:27:14Z")
The change in seasons seems to affect me more as I get older. I grew up in New York and loved the fall. Fall meant cider, long drives in the country to see the leaves in their new colors. It meant my birthday was getting close. I was born in November. It meant seeing school friends that I’d not seen all summer. Now, the fading of the light always makes me melancholy. Both of my parents died in the fall. A very good friend died in the fall. My wife died in the fall. I watch the days get shorter and wonder if I, or someone else I care about, won’t be there to see the sun come back. I no longer can take any joy in the seasonal change. I tried not to let it affect me but it’s always there. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/11 "2005-09-14T19:30:10Z")
Well, for those of us south of the equator; the seasons are reversed. Here in Peru at the moment, we’re finishing up the last of the winter here. No rain, just mist and clouds all day every day. Summer starts in November! ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/12 "2005-09-14T21:31:29Z")
Sounds like you might have a touch of [Seasonal Affective Disorder.](http://www.medicinenet.com/seasonal_affective_disorder_sad/article.htm) > [@](#): > > Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that tends to occur (and recur) as the days grow shorter in the fall and winter. It is believed that affected persons react adversely to the decreasing amounts of light and the colder temperatures as the fall and winter progress. > > Seasonal affective disorder has not been recognized very long as a medical condition. The term first appeared in print in 1985. Seasonal affective disorder is also sometimes called winter depression, winter blues, or the hibernation reaction. > > The incidence of seasonal affective disorder increases in people who are living farther away from the equator. Seasonal affective disorder is less common where there is snow on the ground. Seasonal affective disorder is more common in women than men. Persons of all ages can develop seasonal affective disorder. Light therapy has been shown in clinical trials to help alleviate the problem. One company that makes lights for treating SAD is [daylight](http://www.up-lift.com/newdaylightsite/daylight/day-lights.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-time-of-year/321631/13 "2005-09-15T00:15:57Z")
Hmm. I wouldn’t have thought it, because I’m fine after the change back to Standard Time, but that’s something to consider. From [NMHA](http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/27.cfm): > [@](#): > > For mild symptoms, spending time outdoors during the day or arranging homes and workplaces to receive more sunlight may be helpful. One study found that an hour’s walk in winter sunlight was as effective as two and a half hours under bright artificial light. I had a good workout tonight. That seems to have helped a great deal. I guess I should take my run outside when possible. We also had a firedrill today, so I got a little extra sunshine. 🙂