[pinkvilla]

I find sun light and heat makes me very anxious. I read about reverse SAD .Anyone else deals with this?? How do you cope especially if you work in an open office with plenty of sunshine and team lunches in hot mid afternoon??

Originally Posted by pinkvilla

I find sun light and heat makes me very anxious. I read about reverse SAD .Anyone else deals with this?? How do you cope especially if you work in an open office with plenty of sunshine and team lunches in hot mid afternoon??

I sometimes get that way, like the light in my eyes is too much stimulation. I don't really like bright lights either. And I can't stand heat too sometimes, it makes me uncomfortable. Bright light and heat at the same time could suck, I could see how you feel that way. I guess I just don't like being uncomfortable, and practically everything makes me uncomfortable. I don't like my hands feeling dry, I'm constantly putting on lotion. What's helping me right now a whole lot is anxiety medication, trying to learn coping methods myself though, don't want to be dependent on medication forever if I can help it. Sunlight is good for you though, you can have mental health and physical health issues from avoiding it, like depression. Maybe learning to like it might help lol. That's what I did with exercise. I hated it all my life until I figured out that it's good for you and has tons of mental health benefits and also helps physical pain, and one day I took a long walk to ease my anxiety and just slow my mind down, and it worked, and I learned to like it. I just kind of learned to enjoy the benefits of it consciously. Like appreciate the good feeling I got after doing it. Sunlight might be similar, like maybe you can just force yourself to spend time in it, and try to think about all the positive things it's doing for you. No expert, but I hope that helps.

Hello pinkvilla,
As the summer comes closer, I am finding that I hate when it is sunny out. I look forward to cloudy or rainy days. The sun, or bright lights really bother my eyes too. I also feel very uncomfortable when I'm hot. When I was little, my mom said I used to whine when I would sweat. I called it "the sweatings." My dad was kind of like that too. He couldn't tolerate the heat well. I actually think there is something more to it than it just being in your head.
Maybe, you could find some kind of cooling patch to wear. You could probably find them near the muscle ache stuff at the store. Or put a small fan on your desk if that is allowed. I'm not sure how discreet you want to be, but you could put an ice pack in with your lunch, and use that to cool down a little. As far as sunlight goes, I'm not sure how to handle that. If you wear glasses, maybe you could get those lenses that automatically tint in sunlight, but I heard they are expensive. Even if you don't wear glasses, maybe you could get those lenses anyway, just to help deal with the sunlight.

[Sunflower123]

I am sorry you're having this problem. I do love my sunshine (have to use a light box in the winter) but it's like I'm almost allergic to heat. I absolutely can not bear it and my personality changes. I stay in unless I go down to the pool and float. I'm always hot and always have a fan on me. I wear flip flops all winter. I went to Russia and everyone was bundled up but me in a tank top and short sleeve shirt. Got some strange looks. It's 80 here now and it's unbearable. My daughter is always cold and thinks I am ill. I feel for you.

I am very sensitive to light and voices. Not just strong light and loud voices, but also the ones that don't disturb most others. They don't cause me anxiety though, but rather irritability.

Is it a physical sensitivity or an aversion to the sunlight? Is it the same in unnatural lighting?

I have noticed a woman in my building must have some sort of sensitivity I think. You can actually have negative physical consequences to exposure to sunlight.

But is can be an aversion too. It is not an indication of who you are. Are you able to move to a location in the workplace that is not near natural light? What about tinted glasses? Are the hours of work at all flexible?

[Gethprime1977]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stranger

I am very sensitive to light and voices. Not just strong light and loud voices, but also the ones that don't disturb most others. They don't cause me anxiety though, but rather irritability.

i hear ya. im sensitive to certain sounds. not talking about the run of the mill nails across the chalkboard. but more like the hard closing of cabinet doors, dropping a book on the floor, etc. its really bad when it happens when im not expecting it. when it does, my nerves go haywire a bit.

[pinkvilla]

It is definitely aversion in my case. It affects me mentally like being irritable.The office space is hard and wherever I sit,it would be sunshine. I am just trying to tolerate it because this is a strange problem which most people will not have. It has gotten better after I have accepted that I am irritable when I am in the sunlight has helped me face the issue much better.

Originally Posted by justafriend306

Is it a physical sensitivity or an aversion to the sunlight? Is it the same in unnatural lighting?

I have noticed a woman in my building must have some sort of sensitivity I think. You can actually have negative physical consequences to exposure to sunlight.

But is can be an aversion too. It is not an indication of who you are. Are you able to move to a location in the workplace that is not near natural light? What about tinted glasses? Are the hours of work at all flexible?

[Tbhimscared]

Originally Posted by pinkvilla

I find sun light and heat makes me very anxious. I read about reverse SAD .Anyone else deals with this?? How do you cope especially if you work in an open office with plenty of sunshine and team lunches in hot mid afternoon??

I get like this too! Maybe not to the same extent as you, because I do love the summertime but if I get too warm or if I can't get in the shade/inside to cool down I get extremely anxious and usually have panic attacks. So although I love the idea of going on long hikes in the summer, I can't because I'm too scared I'll get too warm and not be able to get cooled off while in the middle of nowhere
Maybe you could talk about it to one of your closer coworkers and see if they'd sit with you inside to eat, and maybe you could move to a different part of the office to get a bit less sun? That's a pretty tough situation for you, it must be hard but I hope things get better! You could always tell your coworkers you meet with someone for lunch everyday so you wouldn't have to feel pressured to be outside with them

Would your employer be receptive to making you a cubicle?