I'm curious if anyone else finds themselves sensitive to the seasons, especially around the Equinoxes & Solstices.

I was diagnosed Bipoar II about 6 years ago &, at that time, would tend to be very manic around the Equinoxes. Not so much the Solstices.

But there was definitely a switch that would happen at both the Equinoxes & the Solstices.

I would clearly sense the expansion that would begin at the Spring Equinox, then Summer Solstice would begin a period of heightened extroversion & resiliency.

After another manic episode at the Fall Equinox, I could sense again the contraction that had begun. I would get increasingly more introverted & sensitive.

After the Winter Solstice, the introversion & contraction would be almost unbearable. I was basically non-functional & socially phobic in the Winter.

Then the Spring Equinox would come again. I would be manic for the week before & week after, then it would subside into a more sane expansion & extroversion.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Treating the Lyme, in combination with just eliminating stressors & retreating from the world in general, has drastically reduced the Bipolar.

But I still very clearly have these "phases" of the year. I realize that this is the natural seasonal cycle, but I seem to be hyper sensitive to it. The expansion is so severe that I almost feel invincible and the contraction is so severe that it's physically painful. I literally become a different person depending on the time of year.

From a constitutional standpoint, I think I am Pita, red hair, strong build. But I have a clear Vata issue. Nervous anxiety. Weak digestion.

In a way that somehow seems related, the times of the year where Earth predominates in TCM, around the Equinoxes & Solstices, late Summer, are when I feel most human.

And it's not just that I don't feel as "sick" or just have more energy. I literally feel INFUSED with some quality that is not there the rest of the time. Something that makes me feel like it is now OK to be alive & be in the world.

Or, in another way, it's as if I am being affected by the Yang expansion that happens at that time of the year & it is literally bringing me back to life. And then the Winter Yin contraction sucks me so far in I feel like I want to die.

I also wonder if it is a bacterial issue. I wasn't breastfed & I took a lot of Antibiotics when I was young. And I've clearly been invaded by Lyme & who knows what else.

If we're truly more bacteria than we are human cells, is it that I have too much of the wrong kind of bacteria in me that is affected by the seasons?

My most recent discovery is that I have many, many symptoms of Pyroluria (apparently often present with Lyme). I'm in the process now of trying to get tested.

My Pyroluria symptoms are mainly neurological & lots of sensitivities. I wonder if there are other Pyrolurics out there that have this type of cycle. Has the lack of Serotonin & sensitive nerves made me overly sensitive to subtleties that other people don't even know exist?

Sorry for the long post, but this is a pondering that I've had for a long time & there seem to be many aspects to it.

And now that the Summer Solstice is almost here & I am finally feeling human again, I wanted to see if I could maybe wrap my head around this.

Thanks!