In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Autumn Leaves.” Changing colors, dropping temperatures, pumpkin spice lattes: do these mainstays of Fall fill your heart with warmth — or with dread?

Happy Autumn!!! Today is the first day of Autumn in the United States. It being the first day of Autumn is why I chose to do this (past) daily prompt. Yes, I know I have already blogged today for Blogging 201, which I am enjoying and yet to blog for Writing 101, which I am enjoying as well. I just thought it would be cool to blog about Autumn since it is the first day of Autumn.

I don’t mind early Autumn because of all the beautiful colors it brings. It is mid to late Autumn that I personally dread. I dread Autumn because that is when my depression typically starts to get worse. Don’t get me wrong I struggle with my depression all year, it just gets worse in mid to late Autumn as the days get shorter and as the weather changes from dreary rainy days and to frequent wind storms that love to bring the major rain. I guess you can say my depression is affected by the timing of the year. I don’t just dread mid to late Autumn because of the short days and horrible weather, I also dread winter for the same reason.

Due to the shorter days and not so good weather that Autumn and Winter bring, I make sure I take care of myself. I make sure I have good sleep hygiene. That means go to bed at the same time every night and getting up at the same time every morning or at least as much as possible. I also go for two daily walks despite how horrible and miserable the weather may be. I also make sure I am eating on the regular basis and making sure I’m eating as healthy as possible. (We all know that late Autumn to mid Winter brings the holidays where eating healthy can be difficult.) Not only do I make sure I get the proper sleep and exercise and eat healthy, I make sure I take my meds as scheduled and go to my appointments with my therapist and psychiatric nurse practitioner. Doing all the above things don’t always make me feel better but at least they wont make me feel worse nor will the above activities make the situation worse.

Not making the situation worse is what works best for me on the dark gloomy days of late Autumn through Winter. For those of us who struggle with a mental illness, just knowing the time of year our symptoms are at their worst is helpful in itself especially if you are at the beginning stages of recovery. It is also helpful for the people in our lives that help us; weather they are professionals or friends and/or family.  Having supportive people is also extremely helpful. I know that the people in life are well aware that mid Autumn to late Autumn through Winter are when I struggle the most with my mental illness.

Now that I have explained why I dread Autumn, it is now time to end this post. I need to work on my Writing 101 assignment and most likely be posting that later on. I need to give my eyes a break for now. Have a great first day of Autumn. Peace Out!!