Any tips for Seasonal Affective Disorder?

[MysticalSnow]

5 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

"Deterioration issues"?

I don't personally think of random lights overlayed everyday objects as a "perceptual upgrade".

No, it permanently alters your consciousness.

Ie.:

Quote

At some point, the level of mastery that we generate by going down either fork (color or form) can give us the abilities of the other fork, since with strong enough concentration, our whole inner landscape becomes subject to our control and we can make the images however we wish and the colors exactly as we prefer. I remember on retreat one time when I managed to craft dragons (geek much?) of the exact shape and colors that I wished, with scales of just the proper iridescence, eyes of just the right glint, and breathing golden fire just like a good dragon should. They would smile and nod knowingly exactly as you would imagine happy dragons doing. When you get to that level of control, whatever you wish to see, you will see it.

And that's not just imagination, visualization, mind's eye. That's actually something being perceptually seen like it's in the room with you.

Edited December 14, 2023 by MysticalSnow

[Carl-Richard]

3 hours ago, MysticalSnow said:

No, it permanently alters your consciousness.

Ie.:

And that's not just imagination, visualization, mind's eye. That's actually something being perceptually seen like it's in the room with you.

Sounds like tulpamancy. Tanya Luhrmann talked about it in the debate I attended live:

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[MysticalSnow]

2 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

Sounds like tulpamancy.

 

[Scholar]

It's just impossible to be creative in this state of mind, I can't afford to continue to be like this for weeks or months.

 

Genuinely frustrating. LSD microdosing seems to amplify the depressive effects.

[Carl-Richard]

3 hours ago, Scholar said:

It's just impossible to be creative in this state of mind, I can't afford to continue to be like this for weeks or months.

 

Genuinely frustrating. LSD microdosing seems to amplify the depressive effects.

You might want to run down the usual list of essentials (diet, exercise, sleep, socializing) and see if you're missing something. I wasn't being particularly unhealthy before, but a few slight tweaks got me to a different level. If nothing works there, it might be more mental: try daily meditation, walks, technology hiatuses, writing out whatever is on your mind and finding concrete starting solutions for those things (and be clear on when you're going to start), and generally cultivate a vigorous to-do-list habit (it helps to off-load unnecessary mental load, frees up space for more important things and creativity).

Edited December 16, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Scholar]

This is getting ridiculous, I am developing much more empathy for people who commit suicide, even though I'm not the type of person to consider such a thing.

But I can see how if someone felt this way for half a year or so that one could easily completely lose ones rational perspective of things. The emotions are so all consuming that it's really hard to even imagine a framework outside of it, and considering the influence these emotions have on ones thoughts, it can easily spiral out of control.

 

Obviously I am just describing the experience, I don't want to concern anyone, lol. I simply don't remember having ever felt this doom and gloomy this intensely before, and I am not the most emotionally regulated person in the first place, in terms of my dispositions, so it's not like I don't have a sense of what even intense disregulation can feel like.

 

 

The therapy lamp seems to have helped at first, but there seems to have been a backlash effect.

[Devin]

D3 vitamins for the reduced sun exposure, Vitamin D deficiency causes this, from lack of sun exposure.

[Yimpa]

@Scholar it takes courage to be vulnerable and open to understanding extremely complex topics, such as suicide. Relating to them more holistically invites more nuanced and compassion forms of clarity, thus elevating their meanings towards a greater good.

[Ulax]

https://www.shinzen.org/nurture-positive/

[Carl-Richard]

7 hours ago, Scholar said:

This is getting ridiculous, I am developing much more empathy for people who commit suicide, even though I'm not the type of person to consider such a thing.

But I can see how if someone felt this way for half a year or so that one could easily completely lose ones rational perspective of things. The emotions are so all consuming that it's really hard to even imagine a framework outside of it, and considering the influence these emotions have on ones thoughts, it can easily spiral out of control.

 

Obviously I am just describing the experience, I don't want to concern anyone, lol. I simply don't remember having ever felt this doom and gloomy this intensely before, and I am not the most emotionally regulated person in the first place, in terms of my dispositions, so it's not like I don't have a sense of what even intense disregulation can feel like.

 

 

The therapy lamp seems to have helped at first, but there seems to have been a backlash effect.

People keep saying vitamin D supplements, and I would echo that. I upped my dose around October or so (I live in Norway which can get pretty dark), and I think that is one of the things that keeps me from going back to the lamp (I should probably consider using it still, if only I could find it hehe). If you suspect you're actually deficient, you should get your levels measured by a doctor and they will put you on a megadose regimen, but if you just think you need a boost and you live in a dark part of the world, you should still consider taking a few times the recommended daily amount.

[Scholar]

10 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

People keep saying vitamin D supplements, and I would echo that. I upped my dose around October or so (I live in Norway which can get pretty dark), and I think that is one of the things that keeps me from going back to the lamp (I should probably consider using it still, if only I could find it hehe). If you suspect you're actually deficient, you should get your levels measured by a doctor and they will put you on a megadose regimen, but if you just think you need a boost and you live in a dark part of the world, you should still consider taking a few times the recommended daily amount.

I already take Vitamin D throughout the year, it's very unlikely that it is related to that.