The Mountain and the Tree

Couldn't see my usual doctor today, so I had an appointment with someone I'd not seen before. She had a final-year student with her, so I suppressed the usual "answer the questions I need to to get my new medication" reflex and went into everything. The student asked a few questions about the medical certificate I needed, so with luck he's learned something about the disability benefits system - I'm very much more than willing to take a few extra minutes to help future GPs learn how it works!

And more than anything, I like their willingness to help. "How long is this for? - Dr A gave you two months? I've put three, to be on the safe side."

The most I'd managed to get out of anyone before going to this practice is a month at a time, and that grudgingly, so this has really cheered me up.

This is one of the best discussions of the effects of depression and SAD that I've seen in a long time. For those of you I haven't discussed these things with, I basically get the same thing as the OP describes (and them amplifies on in comments; the comments there are good and useful): depression - which is not at all the same thing as unhappiness - most of the time, and an extra layer of it comes along with the cold and the gloom.