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COMPETITION: Winter Blues- An epidemic (gasp)!
By dulwichmum | November 8, 2009
WHAT IS THIS VILE AFFLICTION?
Winter Blues is not some funky new young music stylie… all swear words, casual sex and body piercing (clutches chest), nor is it the latest shade of blue as determined by famed fashion guru Sara Berman… or even a popular social networking tool, Twitter is terribly now you know! Winter Blues is a well known disease that many Northern Europeans suffer from. It affects one’s overall mood and is attributable to being exposed to few sunlight hours (dabs tear from eye).
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS?
Winter Blues is a form of depression that takes place around the same time each year with the change of seasons, when the children go back to school and the dark evenings start to draw in. If you suffer two or more of the following symptoms each year in the autumn and into the winter, you may suffer from winter blues:
· Increased levels of lethargy and inertia. Some scientists have documented similarities to animals’ winter hibernation! Women have been known to wear shapeless, unflattering Ugg Boots and enormous shearling sheepskin jackets (OHMYGOD!).
· Difficulty in waking up in the mornings as the days gets shorter (the tendancy to polish off a bottle of Chablis as the evenings get longer can be such a problem).
· Increased craving for carbohydrate-rich foods like chocolate and ice cream – really now girls, you must control yourselves, think Kerry Catona… (gasp).
Tips to overcome Winter Blues
These tips will help you regain your equilibrium and survive this vile affliction.
Do some exercise
Aerobic exercise has proven to help people combat winter blues. OK, you have realized that I am joking, exercise is so damn undignified! Get yourself a Slendertone belt and watch the au pair walking the dog in the rain from your bedroom window, it really is incredibly mood enhancing.
Improve your diet with carbs
Carbohydrates are often effective in increasing serotonin levels in the brain. (OHMYGOD! How hilarious, not on your life! I do not intend to develop bingo wings, what could be more depressing?).
Get away for the weekend to get natural sunlight
Now, this is a prescription I can handle! If you suffer this disease you are obviously not exposed to sufficient sunlight! Take a break and travel to a destination that offers plenty of sunlight hours – simples!!!
Did you know that…?
Facts about Winter Blues
· It affects about four times as many women as men (so it is best to leave your man behind – a mini break will be wasted on him).
· Around 20% of Irish people are affected by Winter Blues! Jeremy Clarkson said that when he visited Ireland 10 years ago, all of the women had white skin and orange hair, when he visited recently, they all had white hair and yellow skin! San Tropez tan is sooo not the way to go! Head to the sun and lighten up!
· The Winter Blues is primarily caused by unstable melatonin levels, as well as serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for mood, hunger, and sleep. FOR GODS SAKE, GET TO THE SUN BEFORE YOU START TO DRIFT OFF WHILE LYING FACE DOWN IN A BOX OF BENDICKS BITTERMINTS!
· Although the Winter Blues are not as severe as long-term depression, they can change the way a person thinks, reacts, and deals with everyday challenges. It is for this reason that I am running a competion for two flights to the Canary Islands ! I am so incredibly civic minded (smirk)!
All that I ask is that you tell me why you should receive the free flights and what you like best about the Canary Islands – you must be both over 18 and able to travel between Dec 09 (excluding Christmas and New year and must have personal comprehensive insurance ) – March 10th.
Topics: Uncategorized | 18 Comments »
November 8th, 2009 at 18:55
Well Darling!
I like the Canary Islands (although unfortunately I have never been there) because they are yellow and they have canaries of course!
November 8th, 2009 at 19:15
Darling Dr DM,
Thank you for your helpful hints. I am shovelling crisps and biscuits into my cakehole as we speak and fear I will not be able to get my lard arse into a designer size in time for the January sales. If you let me win the flights to the Canary Islands it will be more effective that Gordon Brown’s qualitative easing at reviving the british retail sector, so not only I feel better but you will feel like you making a real contribution to the economy. N1SM xx
November 8th, 2009 at 19:59
Darling Aims,
What a perfectly sweet answer!
Number_One_Scum_Mum,
As usual, you are simply hilarious!
November 8th, 2009 at 20:44
Rather than a trip to the Canaries maybe I could just come to Dulwich to meet you. Would you make me laugh this much in person or would it be awful to spend time with one who wears ugg slippers? x
November 8th, 2009 at 20:48
Having been to the Canary Islands (and suffering from Depression right now
) what could be better than a sunny winter break (ohhhhh how lovely to see the sun and feel the warmth)
Would LURVE to win .. please???
xxx
November 8th, 2009 at 21:00
I should receive the free flights because my toddlers (aged 14 mo and 2.5 years) have taken control of the house, I have had 8 full nights sleep in 3 years and am so sleep deprived that I am not entirely sure which of my experiences are real and which are hallucinations.
When it was actually nice and sunny outside in the UK I spent my time carefully hidden under the shade of trees with the children lest better mothers give me the evil eye for trying to sunbathe whilst my two entertained themselves. As a result I am a horrible pasty white and am desperate to get my lovely nut-brown glow back.
Finally… I went to the Canaries 10 years ago but didn’t know anything about them. End up in an apartment in some forested area full of old people, and had no clue that night life or beaches existed. I missed out!!!
What I like best about the Canaries: sexy young men speaking to me in spanish. Mmm.
November 8th, 2009 at 21:21
Amy darling,
Burn them and then call me! We will have a hoot!
Lovely Sarah,
What a lovely reason~!
Poor MumVersusKids,
I shall send the nanny and the housekeeper straight over. You don’t wear Ugg boots do you?
November 9th, 2009 at 13:25
(Sniff) My dear Chum, apart from the fact Darling Husband has just had a serious set back ( a sciatic relapse owing to his disk prolapse) and my car had died a death, British Gas broke into my house and de-energised it and want me to pay them for doing so (without my permission) and they want me to pay them to put the electric back on, and another Tenant needs new central heating (after just having a new roof on their kitchen extension) this is why: http://froginthefield.blogspot.com/2009/11/tis-healthy-to-be-sick-sometimes-henry.html
Gosh I need a Pina Colada
November 9th, 2009 at 13:30
Alas, no… my little Elliot has developed a taste for chewing through Ugg boots. I’ve had to treat myself to some battered leather boots with chunky buckles (great for deterring teething babies) instead as nothing else looks quite right with my Cop Copine top and skinnies. Thank you for the offer of nanny and housekeeper – I’ll leave the door ajar and climb back into bed, then. Hopefully they’ll come in and the kids won’t go out. Although that *would* be an alternative solution.
November 9th, 2009 at 16:57
I don’t know why I would want to go to the Canaries as I have never been there before… but I know it will be a great opportunity to ditch my size 5 Ugg boots and parade around in my new glitzy bikini!
November 9th, 2009 at 17:07
Don’t tell me off everyone, but Lucy in the sky has made me smile. I have the damn Winter Blues now, you have all depressed me so! I am hoping to buy a prize involving massage, flights and a hotel for Frog in the field and poor Mum Versus Kids. Poor you!
Lets hope that James gets a huge bonus.
Now Miss Lucy Lucy in the Sky, please cheer us all up and tell us that you are a size 20 and your Ugg boots are fake?
Bea x
November 9th, 2009 at 18:05
“If you like Pina Colada!
But you can’t stand the rain
Where’s Pig..she likes singing
“If you’re not into Tofu
if you drink like a drain”
La La!!!
November 9th, 2009 at 18:16
“I’m the Frog that you’ve look for!
Hop with me and escape”
November 10th, 2009 at 21:06
Obviously I don’t qualify for any of the above, shan’t even bother to put myself forward, but I know that my mum benefited greatly from her new drug regime, it’s Melatonin out here, don’t know what it’s called back there. Only wish she’d saved us all a lot of pain and started taking them 50 years ago.
For right now you’ll have to excuse me as the temperatures are creeping up into the mid seventies, such a bore, I shall have to stop now as the light through the kitchen window is beginning to blind me – where are my Dior Sunglasses?
Cheers
November 11th, 2009 at 21:30
The canaries? You don’t mean those poor birds tweeting away in the launderette round the corner from you? Not suggesting you’ve ever needed to go there (though guess you wouldn’t want to wash the Ugg boots using your own ‘facilities’).
November 12th, 2009 at 10:53
This morning I sat outside Romeo Jones (by far the best coffee in Dulwich Village) in order to capture some rays of autumn sunny seratonin to kick start the day -following your SAD advice.
However, (due perhaps to my diet of sunshine and coffee + carbs) I’m not a depressive person by nature but my partner struggles big time. Two days ago i didn’t know if he would pull through and spent the day talking to proffessionals for emergency guidance and set up some consulations for him. Finally using emotional tools such as the future of our two fantastic young children, he seemed to tip the view from half empty to half full. SAD – the change of the seasons and light particularly, can be a massive trigger for anxious types.
This bastard economic climate takes it’s toll on young families, (even if the kids are at free state schools) it really is difficult to see the bigger, long term picture With a huge tax bill looming early next year any holiday is out of the question. The canaries are fabulous. We’d skive a week off school! I’d shoot a video on the black volcanic sands (if on La Palma) and gaze at the stars in the light pollution free night sky.
Hmm, I could take my Ugg boot slippers and look out for tasty bar men if that’s the mission requirement! Cocktails and Ugg slippers don’t really go. barefoot on black sand v sexy tho…
November 12th, 2009 at 11:45
Well I absolutely, definitely should win the flights to the Canaries. Having just spent the last 6 weeks racing on board a 68 foot boat with 17 complete (and very smelly) strangers from Hull to Rio, you would have thought I’d had enough sunshine and excessive heat to last me till the polar ice caps melt.
However, I spent a week – a full week – sitting outside the Canaries, then just off La Palma, then just off Tenerife and the beautiful looking Gomera with absolutely no sodding wind at all. Brilliant had we had G&Ts on board. But sadly, we had to make do with tinned lentil curry and warm ribena. As a result of the ‘Canary Cage’, we went from 2nd place to 6th. Those islands owe me.
And despite having looked at them from afar for a week, I’ve never set foot on them, and I’d quite like to go see them for real now.
What’s more, I’m now back home. Up to my eyeballs in laundry once again. My tan is fading. And I don’t even own a pair of ugg boots (my entire wardrobe is dominated by Musto clothing) and I don’t have an au pair to cheer me up. Pick me, pick me!
November 14th, 2009 at 16:56
Well, where shall I start. Never been to the Canaries, not sure where they are but would love to see before I die. This may be my only chance. Do I have to take someone? I will if necessary. ‘Spose it ought to be my spouse…or maybe my son.. but if I do that my 5 year old daughter would have to kill me.
Can’t compete with the wonderful writers above..( I am just a humble painter) I was waiting until my witty brain kicked in but then I’d be out of the running….
Haven’t had a holiday in nearly 3 years… can’t abide Uggs and wouldn’t be caught dead in a bikini. But if you can point me in the direction of a secluded cove I will splash out on a tasteful classy one piece and a sarong and a big hat so as not to offend anyone back home with an offensive tan.
Probably out of the running anyway but oh what the hell…its worth a try ‘hint it ( as they say – not me you understand- in NOrfolk)
Mwah darlink