Editor’s Note: Watching an endless Hallmark Channel movies has been recommended as a possible therapy for SAD. It is worth a try. Refuge Farm is decorated. Marlow has some memories of tunes past coming up tomorrow. As was heard in the chow line near the publishing bunk-house late yesterday, “Best damn National Emergency, ever!”

– Vic

Seasonal Affective Disorder

This has been a year filled with humor and hilarity, yet at this particular time I feel a little sad. I was concerned this morning when a pal sent an overnight note. It was the first thing I read this morning, huddled in the darkness, the sudden brightness of the screen bathing that corner of the bed. I sat bolt upright as I read the headline and first paragraph. It described the arrest of several senior officials of some administration for electoral fraud, and then threw in all the elements of hysterical fun we been having in selecting the new Old Team to lead the free world.

It was a pretty cool note, so authentic that it managed to include all the fun stuff from the last exciting week. You know them- the Army crypto unit that cracked some cyber issues, the shoot-out between some Special Operation folks and the CIA at a secret facility in Germany. Links to some well-connected corporate entities that appear to have sincere relations with the incoming Administration and the electoral machines that tabulate votes. It had everything, and was well done enough that I had to check multiple sources to ensure that the story was not true. Or true only in part. Or something.

It was a festival of nonsense that bridged all the mania of the season. After convincing myself that there was no confirmation of the elements of the story, I went further. I looked at the Mayo Clinic site to see if they had any insight into what is going on. The esteemed professional there informed me it was probably Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD as it it known in scientific circles. The Mayo professionals are way ahead of me.
The closest I normally get to Mayo is the wonderful product manufactured by Duke’s Mayonnaise. That could have been involved- the last of the sliced turkey went on bread just a week ago. But my suspicion is that SAD is just what clinicians would term a type of depression related to changes in seasons. They suggest SAD begins and ends at about the same time every year.

I think that is probably correct, but this goofy and magical year of 2020 suggests a more accurate definition of the scope would be January to December. Mayo says that if you’re like most people, symptoms sap your energy and make you feel moody. There are answers, thank goodness. Rational treatment regimens may include light therapy, medications, psychotherapy and possibly new elections.
Experts tell us to not brush off the yearly feeling as simply a case of the “winter blues.” Normally we taxpayers experience a seasonal funk that we have to tough out on our own, which is a challenge since General Elections only pop up every four years. It is apparent some people are not over their 2016 SAD bouts, while having to plunge into being SAD about 2020. The pros say “Take steps to keep your mood and motivation steady throughout the year.” They don’t mention relief strategies for multi-year infections.

But seriously, I was looking pensively out the window, my laptop left open to the first story of the day. I find myself conflicted and sad. It is not seasonal, except that we only seem to have one season these days. Last winter was so mild as to constitute fraud against nature. I was considering suit against the perpetrators.

The big plague seems to come and go, based on factors external to public health. Elections are colorless adventures in digital wonderlands. The computer geeks seem to manage things like stock prices and credit cards pretty well, but for some reason we take the only thing of value we have in our relation to government- our votes- as a commodity to be bought and traded when the time is right.
Oh well. I am going to go with Mayo to get through this one. And this is serious enough that I may stick with Duke’s.

Copyright 2020 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com