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Unlike us, white people & people who are natives of winter weather usually have ways of winter proofing themselves against SAD (Season Affective Disorder). For one thing, they embrace the winter months, which is something a high school teacher told me years ago & something I've found to be useful in surviving the cold, dark months. Meaning, instead of hiding from winter under a blanket, glued to the internet or watching TV, if properly dressed & with the positive attitude, being outdoors is actually better. There are tons of winter activities outdoors, including walking which is probably a great habit to develop for anyone. The best bet against surviving during the winter months is working on your immune & on your mood. By eating nutritious foods sure to boost your immune, by exercising regularly, by being an active person in general, by busying yourself with constructive things e.g. hobbies, volunteer work, book clubs, learning a language, learning a skill, etc. Key being not giving yourself a moment of feeling sad & blue. I'll be starting a 15 day detox program in the coming days which is something I plan on doing every year around this time, planning on cutting back on caffeine (my lifeline for surviving 14 hour days), planning on signing up for outdoors football practice on campus, plenty of vitamin D, wild salmon fish (high in Omega-3 protein which have proven to help with memory & with the production of seratonin & dopamine), plenty of skin moisturizers since winter months dry out the skin, etc. Last thing you want to do is sit on your ass, glued to fb profiles of people having fun in winter, watch yourself get fatter & end up feeling shittier. Which is what tends to happen to women more than men.

This article has great ideas;

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellnes ... sorder.htm

Knowledge, acceptance & preparation .

^

Koronto imparting his wisdom as always.

Lambing ewes .........this winter , and since all lambs require tail docking and male lambs require castration I will be doing that.
Might spray herbicide on oilseed rape....
Milking Holstein Frisian cows,
iyo inaan iska ilaaliyo farm girls...........since 24/7 dhaxan hayso.....waliba lagudinin.........halis ayaan ku jiraa

@Alpha - Ever heard of light therapy against SAD?

The light from a light box mimics outdoor light. This is thought to cause a chemical change in the brain that lifts your mood and eases other symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Light therapy can also be used to help adjust daily sleep cycles (circadian rhythm), which may play a role in mood. Light boxes are generally used for 30 minutes or longer each morning, with bright light shining indirectly toward your eyes.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/season ... nt/DN00013

I think Somalis in Scandinavian countries where there is very little sunlight during winter hours & even here in North America could probably benefit from this, eh?

Anarchist,

Yes, I most certainly have. When it comes to seasonal depression, it works. But that isn't always a solution for long term problems. Do you know anything about 5-HTP?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-htp

@Alpha - Yeah, it's some kind of a nutraceutical that are sold otc @ most pharmacies/grocery stores. People swear by it, but I don't think enough studies have been done on its effectiveness in mood control that I know of. Still though, it's worth giving it a try. I think we as Somalis tend to downplay or even deny just how much influence the seasons have on our lifestyles and specially on our mood. We still walk around with the mentality that we are still in Somalia where sunlight was abundant (plenty of vitamin D), where we walked everywhere (plenty of dopamine), where we socialized (plenty of seratonin) and where we went to sleep early (plenty of melatonin). Not the case anymore.

But how are hunter-gatherers able to weather life’s storms so effectively? Based on the available research, it seems that the hunter-gatherer lifestyle is profoundly antidepressant. As they go about their daily lives, they naturally wind up doing things that keep them from getting depressed, things that change the brain more powerfully than any medication. These range from exercising regularly and eating plenty of omega-3 fats to belonging to active social networks and getting enough sleep.

For most of human history, everyone benefited from the antidepressant effect of these ancient lifestyle elements. But over the past few hundred years, technological evolution has proceeded at a relentless pace. And as many protective features of that way of life have gradually disappeared, the rate of depression has begun to spiral out of control. Our Stone Age brains just weren’t designed to handle the sedentary, isolated, indoor, sleep-deprived, fast-food laden, stressed-out pace of 21st-century life.less pace. And as many protective features of that way of life have gradually disappeared, the rate of depression has begun to spiral out of control.

http://experiencelife.com/article/a-pat ... epression/

Yeah, it's an otc that I've recently come across. Great analysis btw.

The life we're living now is not safe for mental or physical health. A whole lot can be said about that.