My Single Mom Life

Do you get depressed and overly tired in the winter months?
Like a sense of dread, severe boredom, nothing makes you happy?
You end up staying awake all night, sleeping all day, not getting anything done, you call it the winter blues?
It may be S.A.D. seasonal affective disorder.
I'm not a doctor, just someone who used to go through this very badly when I lived up north.
I would be absolutely miserable all winter long.
The short daylight hours, the long, long dark nights, absolutely miserable.

I would sleep off and on most of the day. If the boys who were small toddlers then, took naps, so did I.
I'd actually force a family nap because I needed the sleep, I just didn't want to be awake.
I would have every blind and curtain open during the day, attempting to get as much light in the house as possible, I would leave lights on all night, I would do anything I could to see sunshine, but up north, blah, there hardly was any.
The skies were always gray, snowy, gloomy, and inside, I was the same.
I had bad miserable thoughts, gained weight, I had no energy.
70-80% of S.A.D. people are women.
It's most prominent in people who live in increased latitudes, northern areas.

If I had known then about light therapy boxes, I probably would have tried one.
Since moving here to Florida, I haven't experienced the "winter blues" again.
It's sunny here all the time, even in winter.
We don't have those gray gloomy skies, we are not trapped in our houses by snow, just opening a single window's blinds, lets in so much sun, I don't feel the blues like I did up north.

I'm posting this because I have a friend who I think may be suffering the winter blues or S.A.D. She's become increasingly depressed, is tired all the time, sleeping all day, no energy or will to do anything, feeling like she's in a funk but can't figure out why.
I know she won't go see a doctor about it, but maybe if she just tries light therapy on her own, a few minutes a day to start in the morning, maybe it will help her.
I'm no doctor, already said that, but I mean it, she's freaking stubborn and hates doctors and hospitals, she won't go see one about this.
I just want her to feel better, it's not just some funk, it actually has a name that fits it's symptoms.
I emailed her a few links about it, I hope she at least checks it out and looks into a light box.
It might help her.