Some people respond well to lifestyle changes, he says. Some of his patients take daily swims in cold lakes; one built a refrigerated room and several avoid summer daylight and heat. "One patient," he says, "was known to his friends and co-workers as 'the mole' because he literally never went outside in the summer daylight."
Smith doesn't want antidepressants, so she's working harder on the temporary fixes.
"Last year I ordered a Cape Cod rain-sounds CD," she says. "Whenever there was a heat wave, I would crank up my humidifier and air conditioner, close the blinds and meditate listening to the rain sounds. It really did the trick to put me, momentarily, in a different space."
This year she plans to paint the bedroom walls pale blue with faint undertones of gray and purple, a color called rainy day, and she's launched a website (www.seasonalsad.com) to reach out to others suffering from summer SAD.
In this perpetually sunny city, she says she hopes to form a support group for people who thrive in June gloom. If none of this works, she'll work on persuading her husband to move.
For now, however, she still has a sense of humor about it all.
"I realize this all has a slightly psychotic tone, but I'm not crazy, I'm not into goth and I don't want to be a vampire," she says. "I would actually like L.A. if it just didn't have so much sun."
