By community correspondent Sarah Tully For many many years I didnot realise that I felt much sadder and more miserable during the winter months. Now I know that I have Seasonal Affective Disorder which is recognized medically as a form of depression which effects 2-3 % of people in the UK every winter between September and April and lack of light is one of the main things which causes SAD. At times I felt devastated, suicidal and completely defeated. But I struggled on determined to put something in place which might make everything a bit more bearable.

The first thing I got was a light box. I sit under it for 30 minutes each day. It is quite big and takes up a big portion of the bedside table. My family joke that they need sunglasses when they come into the room but they don't really understand the agonies I have had to go through. I also have what's called a dawn simulator which lights up slowly in the dark mornings when there is no natural sunlight and is supposed to be a more gentle awakening than a screeching alarm clock and this in turn helps my body clock to wake up slowly. I also go and see a psychotherapist to talk over and reflect on other things that have happened in my life and this means that while I still find the lack of light miserable my thoughts are not quite as gloomy as they have been. I also go and have regular complementary therapies like massages or reiki. I go running once a week on my day off and I have plans to join a gym although the plans haven't come to fruition yet! I also do some buddhist chanting regularly where the main argument is that every individual has worth. It is all quite exhausting and coupled with an internal monologue or thought pattern whose main thrust is negative I often feel very wary. The main thing I have learnt over the years of experiencing this though is that I have to keep going and trying new things and not telling myself that if they don't work instantly they are not worth continuing with, I have learnt not to be too hard on myself and take things slowly even though it is extremely frustrating and painful that there is no immediate solution to transport me to light and happiness! So unfortunately I don't have a message which will make it sound easy to deal with SAD but it is possible and its not realistic anyway to believe that all things can be made better in one stroke.