Originally Posted by
MindfulMan 
I'm very fortunate to live in LA and NOT in one of the Valleys, where it's 10+ degrees hotter. We do get a few days of hot, last week VERY hot...it was 108 at my house. But that's rare, not even a yearly occurrence. I have AC, but try not to use it most days. It's also not all that humid. Another thing about SoCal that makes summer a bit easier is that it's semidesert, so it cools WAY down at night. I grew up on the East Coast and I remember the hot summer nights. I lived at the beach in Venice for 15 years without air and rarely wished for it.
I have pretty bad classic SAD, even getting depressed here in SoCal in the winter and, when I lived at the beach, during "May Gray" and "June Gloom." Most of the time SoCal is perfect for me. When I lived in Michigan, I wanted to slit my wrists by March every year. I LOATHE winter. I can visit it for a few days....Thanksgiving in Alaska or Christmas in Philly, but always glad to be back to California.
I have a friend who has "reverse SAD." She hates heat and the long days, she never liked California and is ecstatic to be back on the East coast and treasures the snow, cold and short days of winter. She gets anxious and depressed in the summer. About 10% of SAD cases are like this, more are short-day depressive.
Give me summer anytime.
I'm on the East Coast and have friends in SoCal...what a difference! Out there, most of the time it seems to be more of a dry heat and not the humid feeling like you're trapped under a huge sweaty armpit. I remember how out there, the overcast morning clouds would usually burn away by afternoon and there were just vivid clear blue skies.
I remember reading something about the "reverse" SAD that you mentioned. Can't recall the details of the article right now but it was something that really interested me. (I'm forever in search of reasons why things or people are a certain way!)
Winter can be nice, but I've always been of the feeling that it should snow (and a big snowstorm at that) to make it worth it. I think snow is pretty. Just once or twice though, and then I'm DONE.
