Am I the only one depressed or is it just the winter blues.

Get some thermals (btw kathmandu still have a sale on), get on your bike and go for a ride/run around the lake (or just a part of it). I do it all the time – it’s great and is a great stress reliever.

Hit the bottle dude.

and catweazle was geoffrey bayldon – again, mick ashton is also just an archaeologist.

Peterh – yep, Pratchett rules!

nyssa76 said :

Worzel Gummidge (Phil Harding), Catweazle (Mick Aston)

I loved those shows! Now I know why I really do like TimeTeam, it’s all the familiar faces and the great stories behind the ‘digs’.

wait a sec, Jon Pertwee was Worzel. Phil Harding is an archaeologist.

catweazle! is he in time team? i didn’t make the connection, just thought one of the geezers also looked a bit like i’d seen him before, but that is most of brit tv…

pity le tour is on at the moment and only get to see half of it. go cadel – another incentive to ride a bike.

just walking round the lake or through some leafy suburbs is a good way to beat canberra’s blues (if that’s what ails ye) and winding up at a cafe or pub (time dependent) and watching the people traffic. and chocolate. always works.

Worzel Gummidge (Phil Harding), Catweazle (Mick Aston)

I loved those shows! Now I know why I really do like TimeTeam, it’s all the familiar faces and the great stories behind the ‘digs’.

Worzel Gummidge (Phil Harding), Catweazle (Mick Aston)

B.stard – you made me look up Wikipedia to make sure I wasn’t going mad.

Exercise – it releases endorphins and makes you feel good. If you can exercise and get the adrenaline going then you get a better rush. If you can get out during the day, then you’ll also get a good hit of sunlight, which will pick you up too.

My tip – get a bike (perferably a mountain bike). Get out to Mt Stromlo (AKA Stromlo Forest Park), and ride Australia’s premier mountain bike park – it is addictive!
If that’s a little too extr33me then try getting out for a ride on the fire trails in Canberra’s nature parks – much faster and funner than walking. Otherwise you could just go for a chilled ride (literally) on some of Canberra’s bike paths – I’d recommend around Lake Burley Griffin. Get some good warm outdoorsy clothes too, it makes living through winter in Canberra heaps better.

miz said :

Time team’s good, though I read a crime comedy novel recently (by MIke Ripley, UK comedy/crime author and archeologist) where dissing the Time team show was an amusing motif of the book! I think it was ‘Angel Underground’.

if you want good UK humor with eccentric themes, try any of terry pratchet’s books. re-reading hogfather at the moment…

lots of dryed frorg pills

i wholeheartedly back thumper on this one. Timeteam rocks.

Skidbladnir, enjoyed the extra stuff on SAD. Admittedly, it was a guess based on an old UC release: http://www.canberra.edu.au/media-centre/releases/current/2007/july/05-sad

As to Time Team, what other program gives you Baldric, Worzel Gummidge (Phil Harding), Catweazle (Mick Aston) plus lashings of archaeology? Good stuff.

The best show coming out of the UK at the mo has got to be Junkyard Wars.

Time team’s good, though I read a crime comedy novel recently (by MIke Ripley, UK comedy/crime author and archeologist) where dissing the Time team show was an amusing motif of the book! I think it was ‘Angel Underground’.

Why not join Rat Patrol OZ and combine meeting new friends with healthy exercise with getting out and about during the winter with consuming large amounts of alcohol?!

Brilliant! (and so is Canberra)

Skidbladnir said :

Or…
watch DVDs of Timeteam

Time Team, aka “Baldric digs a hole”, is really quite a boring show, Thumper.
We’re trying to beat the depression and feeling of dread, not encourage it.

hey hang on, baldric never digs the hole, its probably the only show where he gets to host…

makes you wonder what thumper does for fun in summer, doesn’t it?

Or…
watch DVDs of Timeteam

Time Team, aka “Baldric digs a hole”, is really quite a boring show, Thumper.
We’re trying to beat the depression and feeling of dread, not encourage it.

It’s greyer than usual so far this winter – usually we get the bluest sunny clear skies.
I endorse the doona and vid suggestion – with hot chocolate (or mulled wine), and a friend! And if the sun comes out, sit near a sunny window.

…hang on, I just had a thought. Perhaps you could by a bike and go for a ride?!

1. Exercise helps treat anxiety and depression
2. Exercise keeps you fit.
3. Riding your bike will help you explore Canberra and get out amongst it.
4. Riding you bike does not involve petrol, so there goes that pickle.

yellowpges.com.au and search for bicycles in Canbizzle.

I back up Growling Ferrets comment: “Petrol is expensive everywhere – and its not actually Kevin07/08’s fault”.

Go to Vietnam, England, Italy or France for example. They are under exactly the same squeeze (some countries more in fact – £1.08 per litre minimum in the UK – thats well over $2.10 per litre). Somehow I don’t get the impression they are blaming their leader. They are accepting that fuel reserves are running out, oil is costing vastly more and the entire globe is feeling the pinch.

Now…back to the topic (saving JB a few keystrokes there).

I hate hearing people bag Canberra.
A while back I completed a course where people from interstate applied, got accepted fully knowing that moving here for a few years was part of it. Then they complain non stop.
Who was holding a gun to their head? Nobody.
Stop whining and get out their and enjoy the place.
It’s the best city to do whatever you like. All you need is a little brain action and something fun and interesting that you have never done before is less than a twenty minute drive away.
All our tourist attractions are constantly changing their content so it’s hard to see/do the same thing twice even if you have been before.
Or just leave!!!!!!

me, I just lock myself away in my shed with an old oil heater and facet stones for my wife. She encourages this behavior, mainly for the pretty stones that she wears after we get them set. The ACT Lapidary club has a workshop in woden near the ice skating rink, if you are into lapidary at all. we occasionally go on field trips to a god forsaken place to collect sapphires, crystals etc, it is a lot of fun for adults and kids alike. (hmmm. must remember to renew my membership – it has lapsed)

FFS

Join a sporting club – every code is catered for in Canberra, and you will instantly find 10/20/30 new friends.

Complaining that Canberra is boring coz its cold outside sounds like you would prefer to sit at home wtih a jar of vas and watch redtube all day…

ps – Petrol is expensive everywhere – and its not actually Kevin07/08’s fault

how about thinking about something that makes you smile… such as masturbating yourself into a coma?

Something to try…
1) Put your winter woolies on.
2) Go to a park/reserve that you haven’t been to before and go for a wander.
3) Return home and make yourself a nice hot cuppa.
4) Remember that the days are already getting longer and spring is just 6 weeks away.

look, no-one likes winter all that much, some become hermits.

We all wait for the spring change, flowers, sunshine and regular coffee at the cafe next to yarralumla nursery (well, I do, anyway). winter is not that bad.

Winter just means that we go indoors at a cafe, restaurant or bar, the big gas heaters are turned on, and you can enjoy the company of your family and friends over a christmas in July feast, when turkey, plum puddings etc can be eaten without forcing everyone out of a stifling heated house, into a hotter back yard.

If we go to a sporting event like, say, a hockey or rugby match, we can sit in our cars with the heater on, rug up in jackets, thermals etc and wander around on the sidelines.

Booroomba rocks are great in winter, looking down at canberra from the rocks in the morning makes you feel that you are looking at the ocean, with several hills looking like islands in the fog.

the air is clean, the bushwalking is great, close to home, and you can visit all the places that you always wanted to, they won’t be full of people, as the “cold” makes sure that the tourist numbers are down.

If you don’t like it try living somewhere like darwin where there are two seasons, wet and dry. no winter, but then, no temp below 30 degrees.

I am certain that you’d complain about that, too. (everyone new there does, eventually)

Way to go.
The first part of beating a depressed mood\episode is admitting that there’s a chance it is there.
Actually identifying a stressor is secondary to actually sorting out the mood.

If you’re “at the point of leaving” it sounds more like just a reactive adjustment depressive mood instead of an actual clinical depression (But I’m not a doctor, so don’t base your decisions just on what I say).

One of the “identifying depression in the work place and dealing with it in colleagues” training sessions I did a while back had the full list of coping mechanisms people might want to try…
From my local copies of notes:
*: problem-focused coping, which is the practical and physical dealing with stressors by actively problem solving, and restraint, which is waiting for an appropriate opportunity to act.
*: avoiding, minimizing, distancing, or seeking value in negative events.
*: efforts to diminish stress by utilizing available situational or environmental factors. The most commonly investigating mechanism in this category is social support.
*: personal approaches or individuals’ cognitive orientations. This category includes constructs such as an individual’s hardiness, sense of coherence, and locus of control.

@ Scribble RE: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):
It seems to be primarily caused by lack of natural sunlight in winter, and a very short daylight cycle associated with the higher latitudes.
We’re about 25 degrees too far north to be affected by clinical cases of SAD.
(SAD is most common in latitudes above Scotland, which is at 55degrees north. Canberra is at roughly 35 degrees south, 35 degrees north is the one that runs through Kashmir, Cyprus, and the Isle of Crete)

I know, Canberra has porn – hehe.

Why should it be…”what has Canberra got to offer?”

Get out and about, winter is on of the four seasons that Canberra experiences. It has it’s own joys (walking the dogs at 6am on a cold, frosty morning), just like spring, autumn and summer.

Canberra probably has more to offer (within a reasonable distance and at reasonable cost) than any other city in Australia

Hi smokey4: I do understand where you are coming from to a point. I think there is a lot of people who feel the “Winter Blues”. I’ve recently moved back to Canberra from overseas, and while I love it here, I’ve gone in to hibernation mode this winter. While living overseas, it was also in a very dark and cold environment over winter, but there was absolutely heaps to do, it was easy to get around and relatively cheaper if you were earning the local currency.

I agree with everyone who’s suggested to take up a hobby, maybe like a community college course for 8 weeks or so which will bring you in to the slightly warmer weather. I did one of these courses recently and it was really good. Exercise also might help you perk up a bit (and stay warm).

Have you only recently moved here. Perhaps if your job is giving you hassles, start applying for a new one. Might be just the ticket.

Good luck, I hope you decide to stay in this great town.

Beyond Blue and Vitamin D should do wonders.

Perhaps you have a chronic ilness that you are not aware of?

My (Treated) T2 diabetes mixed with my (treated) sleep apnoea and a few late nights in a row leaves me prone to the occassional random attack of depression.

It usually only lasts a week or so and my wife helps me through like a legend

Try anywhere else on for size and you’ll find it equally as dissapointing. Water, Environment, IR dismissals and fuel prices have sweet f.ck all to do with actual location in Australia.

The issue is that the previous lot did absolutely nothing but sweeping the muck back under the carpet for 12 years. Its actually quite normal that when the maid then needs to clean the carpet that there’s a cloud of dust.

Come back down to reality.

Naturally, whomsoever decided Canberra would be a good place to put the national capital obviously didn’t like the coast or warmer climes, but if that is your natural tendency, follow your own lifestyle choice. Heaven forbid you are stuck here because you have overreached your working capacity and are sucking off the teat of the Government in fear of the real world.

What’s ruddy Kevin’s policies got to do specifically with living in Canberra?!? Sounds to me like you need a hobby!

Or am I missing something? If I lived in say, Melbourne, do strangers knock on your front door and invite you to do something fun, or do you still have to put some effort into enjoying yourself?

For the SAD, find a sunny spot and soak up the photons (apparently very bright light can help as well).

For the ennui, head to the visitor info centre on Northbourne Ave, grab a handful of brochures and pretend to be tourist for a weekend (see also the LP Guide to Experimental Travel for tips).

And in future consider avoiding questions like “What has Canberra got to offer? Why should I stay?”… it makes you sound like a 12 year-old (I’m bored/are we there yet).

Fuel prices? No. It’s an incentive to find another way to get around, such as, using your legs.

Rent/house/general cost of living prices? Yes.

Smokey4:
Are you starting up the “Leav’in Canberra” marketing campaign?
I don’t think you’ll get the same junkets overseas that the government was giving out to the PS staffers if you are encouraging people to actually move away.

Find something to do – Canberra has so much to do it’s hard to complain.

As for the Rudd govt “upsetting the masses”, you’re kidding right? They are the most populist, LCD-driven government I’ve ever seen! They just caved on the emissions trading scheme entirely for populist reasons.

Small Bars.

Living in NSW I realised how badly they suffer for only allowing big licensees. So you end up drinking in a barn with animals.

First night back I stopped into The Front for a quick one while waiting for my pide (another reason to stay in Canberra) and it felt like I’d been away years too long.