Seasonally Affected 'Disorder' & mental state

[A Life Loquacious]

Does anyone find the seasons have a big impact on their desire to go out and meet women? I know a lot of people aren't really affected by it, but many are. I seem to get this pretty badly - where I live, in the winter months it's dark from about 3:30pm until 11am, I find my energy levels are so low during these periods that I go into 'hibernation mode' - combine that with the fact it's either raining or freezing most of the time I'm finding it difficult to motivate myself to go out at the moment, either for work (I should really be driving around looking for new business or following up on leads) or in the evenings to socialise & meet women. I feel generally lethargic all day.

In the summer, of course we have a load more daylight (light from 4am till 11pm), warmer weather (although it still rains a lot) and I find that I am generally way more energised, higher libido, more drive to go out there and do business and meet people and generally get on with life, in fact, it basically does itself, and if anything I can't sleep as much as I need to because it's light all the time.

Now the obvious solution would be to move somewhere like California or the Mediterranean and capitalise on the more stable amounts of daylight but that's not really an option for the next couple of years. I've tried things like light boxes but they don't really seem to work. But I can't live life in a 'six months on, six months off' kind of way either.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? It seems to get worse as I get older, too.

 

[AFCnoob]

I don't live in a place where the change of seasons is that severe, but the weather certainly hurts my game in several ways:
1) on gloomy/rainy days I just don't feel like doing anything to begin with.
2) outdoor options (sitting outside of a venue, going to a park) are just not feasible in really cold/rainy/gloomy weather.
3) girls seem less open to things in general when the weather is crappy

But what's a guy to do?

 

[Chase]

@ LL,

Does anyone find the seasons have a big impact on their desire to go out and meet women? I know a lot of people aren't really affected by it, but many are. I seem to get this pretty badly - where I live, in the winter months it's dark from about 3:30pm until 11am, I find my energy levels are so low during these periods that I go into 'hibernation mode' - combine that with the fact it's either raining or freezing most of the time I'm finding it difficult to motivate myself to go out at the moment, either for work (I should really be driving around looking for new business or following up on leads) or in the evenings to socialise & meet women. I feel generally lethargic all day.

In combination with the general desire of most people to not go outside, I'm pretty sure this is why such a large number of singles pair up and get into relationships prior to winter (and then split up prior to the high energy, easy-going-out times of summer). Apparently exercise has been shown to be a pretty reliable treatment for this.

Now the obvious solution would be to move somewhere like California or the Mediterranean and capitalise on the more stable amounts of daylight but that's not really an option for the next couple of years. I've tried things like light boxes but they don't really seem to work. But I can't live life in a 'six months on, six months off' kind of way either.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? It seems to get worse as I get older, too.

Try exercise, try combining that with some kind of bright light therapy, see if that does anything for you (the exercise should). Long-term wise, yes, it sounds like you're just better off moving somewhere without any real winter season, for your own sanity and health. No point staying somewhere you're going to be miserable half the year.

@ AFCnoob,

I don't live in a place where the change of seasons is that severe, but the weather certainly hurts my game in several ways:
1) on gloomy/rainy days I just don't feel like doing anything to begin with.
2) outdoor options (sitting outside of a venue, going to a park) are just not feasible in really cold/rainy/gloomy weather.
3) girls seem less open to things in general when the weather is crappy

But what's a guy to do?

I used to just not go out on these days, until one day I realized something - if a girl is out in the club on a shitty day like this, she must REALLY want to get pulled! So I went out, and it turned out I was right.

Ever since then, foul weather days have been some of my favorite times to go out. The weather automatically screens out ANY girl who just wanted to have fun, because she is NOT going to have fun going out on a night like that. The only ones who are troopers enough to go out are the ones whose biology is kicking them into overdrive to go meet a man - it's like if normally you go out and there are a hundred women in the club and you have to find eight or so who are down for something, now you go out on a crappy weather day and the only ones there are those eight. Easy pickings.

Anyway, it's not quite THAT extreme, but pretty close. Some of my most memorable pickups have been in foul weather conditions outside, or in the dead of winter when it's freezing cold out. I also find it generally easier to game in venues that are only semi-full; usually the energy levels are lower and people are more open to talking and meeting new people and less looking to party and dance.

Chase

 

[A Life Loquacious]

I used to just not go out on these days, until one day I realized something - if a girl is out in the club on a shitty day like this, she must REALLY want to get pulled!

yeah actually I reckon you have a point there!

 

[Flames]

I find that tube and energy saver bulbs make it worse, but try getting one very bright halogen bulb floor light that you can turn on when you wake up (or before you go out).

It's surprising what a difference it makes.

Personally though I find I sleep about 5hrs in summer and about 10hrs in winter.

 

[A Life Loquacious]

Yeah, the slightly bluish light given off by energy-saving bulbs (which gradually turns to a sickly yellow as the bulb ages) adds another layer of gloom when the daylight is already quite grey-blue due to the heavy layer of cloud... I've noticed this with christmas lights too... in the last three or forur years since LED technology got much cheaper, xmas lights are all blue-white cold and icy instead of the warmer glow from filament bulbs, feels less christmassy IMO.

 

[Seeberman]

Bro you need to get Vitamin D3 5,000 IU pills. Vitamin D is a hormone that helps to regulate a bunch of different functions in the body, from what I understand about health, Vitamin D pretty much plays a role in everything, and something most people almost certainly do not do in winter is: get enough sunlight.

Get sunlight when you can, even if its 45degrees i try to bear a few minutes shirtless, as it is great for your skin and light rejuvinates you, but when this is not an option Vitamin D supplements make an ENORMOUS difference and I have gotten numerous supplement skeptics to claim they feel a noticable improvement in mood and energy levels.

I'm a health nut but no professional, so make sure you do your own research but 5,000 IU pills a day are generally regarded to be a harmless amount of vitamin D to be taking daily, especially when you're trying to raise your bodies levels which can become defficient over time.

The funny thing is most people who work inside all day go to doctors with illnesses that may be caused almost entirely from an extreme vitamin D deficiency, and then to boot the doctor insists that you only get 15 minutes of sun a day, with chemical sunscreen caked on.

 

[A Life Loquacious]

Yeah actually I have been coming to similar conclusions about lack of vitimin D as well. Also I think my magnesium levels are kinda low at the moment too. Guess hitting a few boosters in small doses can only help!