From sad to glad: is your child suffering from seasonal affective disorder?

DOES YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER:

* show great difficulty waking up and getting ready for school?

* experience daytime drowsiness and feel the need to get more hours of sleep in the winter?

* complain about mean teachers and insist that they've become excessively strict and unfairly demanding?

* doze during homework? receive lower grades in the winter than in the spring?

* blame the outside world instead of himself/herself for everything that's wrong?

* feel tired and washed out?

* become cranky, irritable, and even throw temper tantrums?

* suffer from head, stomach, back, and muscle aches that mimic the flu all winter long?

* seem reluctant to accept chores or other family responsibilities?

* crave junk foods, especially those loaded with carbohydrates and sugar?

* lack energy for anything and withdraw from friends, family, sports, music, and other activities where he/she previously showed energy and interest?

* show signs of bulimia, especially in January?

If you answered yes to some of these questions, your child may be one of one million kids who--as young as nursery school--are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Five percent of high school seniors labor under this disorder. Such children may be labeled as "learning disabled" with pediatricians eager to prescribe medication.

A Johannesburg, South Africa, medical student, who experienced many of the symptoms listed at the left when he moved to the northern latitude of New York City to complete his education, identified SAD in adults first, and then children. Dr. Norman Rosenthal's first patient was himself. As a psychiatrist and psychobiologist seeking answers to these strange behavior patterns, he joined what Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson describes as "the world's largest and most distinguished organization dedicated to maintaining and improving health through medical science."

At the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, Dr. Rosenthal found numerous patients and even staffers who experienced the same signs and symptoms in response to differences in environmental light. In 1980 he named the condition Seasonal Affective Disorder.

The malady isn't new. Sixteen centuries ago, Hippocrates wrote, "Whoever wishes to pursue science and medicine in a direct manner must first investigate the season of the year and what occurs in them."

Research soon discovered that SAD causes disturbances in brain chemistry and boasts a genetic component. As Dr. Rosenthal recently explained during a review of his latest book about the emotional revolution at a bookstore near the NIH campus, "We've now identified the brain's location for the molecule of emotion. It's near the brain's mood regulator--both of which have become off kilter with SAD."

Marilyn Benoit, M.D., practices psychiatry in the Georgetown section of our nation's capital and is a past president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. While she doesn't suffer from SAD, her son does. When his grades plummeted from honor roll to near failure she made the SAD diagnosis and relocated him to sunnier, warmer California. He successfully completed high school, college, and graduate school.

Types of SAD

Many children experience the same signs and symptoms as SAD adults. Forty-two percent of grownups report the onset of their condition happened during childhood. March, April, and May are the most frequent time of the school year when SAD symptoms first occur.

Traditional SAD (the most common type) begins in autumn and makes the SAD child want to be like a hibernating bear and be left alone. As the days lengthen during spring and summer, the symptoms for the 10 million Americans who suffer from this category of the disorder reduce.

Winter Blues, a milder form, affects a total of 25 million Americans. Here kids feel best during May, June, and July and then begin withdrawing from people as early as October.

When the sun is shining at its brightest, Summertime Blues or Reverse SAD occurs as an even milder form of SAD.

Last, when the sun goes down at night and the evening star, Hesperus, rises in the sky, some people suffer from the Hesperian Depression brand of SAD.

Resetting Your Child's Circadian Clock

SAD does have a nemesis. It's found deep within the brain's circuitry where the body's regulating clock (the circadian system) ticks off the hours of our lives. The "face" of this internal timepiece is located in the retina of the eye. This amazing clock is sensitive to daylight and darkness, and can be balanced using several forms of light therapy:

Dr. Rosenthal's original light box is the treatment of choice with SAD kids and teens. It's used from 30 minutes to two hours in the morning to, as Rosenthal says, "bathe the eyes in light." The child sits 18 inches away from the box and simply directs his or her eyes toward it without staring at the box. This simple remedy makes SAD kids happy in as quickly as seven treatments.

Harry Riley Spider, M.D.'s form of light therapy began its clinical application in the early 1920s as photo therapy (Syntonics). Today it's utilized worldwide for SAD sufferers. Certified eye doctors select two different colored lens filters, which are then inserted into an instrument called a syntonizer. SAD kids sit and stare at the light for 10 minutes, followed by a different set of filters for an additional 10 minutes. Using this method, a SAD child becomes a glad child in about 20 sessions. Many doctors use portable at home syntonizers to treat their patients (see www.syntonicphototherapy.com for more information and a list of participating doctors).

Predawn simulators are set to turn on at your child's bedside lamp one hour before he or she normally awakens. This allows light to penetrate through closed eyelids and can make a SAD kid a much happier one during the day.

Light visors stimulate the receptors in the brain when a SAD kid looks at the light. This device is available at many health-food stores.

Environmental light reduces SAD symptoms when low lying branches outside the home are trimmed or brighter wattage lightbulbs are used in the home to distribute light over a wider area.

Even brighter colored furniture can make a difference.

Dr. Rosenthal suggest making one room or an area in your home the "Solstice Room," filling it with lights and bright colors. In the wintertime, turn up the heat and have your child drink warm beverages. Conversely, for summer SAD kids, turn down the temperature and keep their liquids on the cool side.

Teach and Monitor

Parents of SAD-affected children can bring high school biology's human anatomy and physiology from the classroom laboratory right into the home laboratory as they teach their children to self monitor and treat themselves for the disorder. Here are five ways that your son or daughter can stimulate important nerves or increase blood flow in an effort to uplift their mood and overcome bothersome symptoms:

1. SMELL: Cut into an orange to release essential citrus oils and ease SAD symptoms. Smelling the orange wedges on a plate or whole oranges arranged in a fruit bowl works wonders.

2. SIGHT: Look at oranges (or other bright colors) to stimulate the optic nerve and enhance mood and energy.

3. TOUCH: Give your SAD kid (or teach him or her to self-perform) a facial massage. This stimulates pressure points and promotes relaxation via the facial and trigeminal (eye, cheek, jaw) nerves,

4. HEAR: The vestibulocochlear nerve has balance and hearing divisions. Watch your SAD child become stimulated, bring his entire body back into balance, and restore the whole neural circuitry while listening to or playing relaxing music, gently rocking in a chair, or swinging in a hammock.

S. BREATHE: Inhaling and exhaling from the abdomen stimulates balance in the whole body and improves blood flow to the heart and lungs through the body's vagus nerve. Many doctors recommend aerobic exercise, which is a natural for kids who like to run and jump. This becomes a fun prescription that's easy to follow as it generates a healthy flow of blood throughout the whole body and subsequently restores balance for the many dysfunctional aspects of SAD.

Food for Thought

Meals rich in carbohydrates do make SAD kids feel mote energetic, primarily because they increase the brain's neurotransmitter, serotonin. However, these high amounts of carbohydrates can cause a sharp drop in blood sugar levels and create lethargy.

The solution is to limit carbohydrate intake for part of the day or only offer these types of foods in combination with other less volatile offerings. Higher protein foods are thought to reduce SAD symptoms. The lowly bean, a basic staple for many vegetarians, is perfect for SAD kids. Give your child the assignment of uncovering which foods are high in carbohydrates and which are high in proteins by doing basic research at the local library or on parent-approved portions of the Internet.

Low levels of vitamin B (thiamine) have been associated with low moods and a lack of energy. Low to normal levels of folic acid, another B vitamin, lengthens SAD episodes. Vitamin [B.sub.6] (pyridoxine) intake helps with SAD's depressive moods. Beans are packed with B vitamins.

While the trace mineral chromium picolinate improves SAD's depression, selenium provides more energy, is a mood elevator, and even improves SAD kids' concentration. Zinc also raises the benefits of any SAD treatment.

God knew, from the first day of Creation, what His human family would need to remain healthy and happy, I like to think that that's why, looking 6,000 years into the future and seeing your son or daughter suffering under the SAD burden, He commanded, "Let there be light."

I Think I Have SAD! How Can I Be Glad?

BY LYNETTE REES

The stresses of getting things ready for the holidays coupled with the long, dark nights can leave you drained and utterly exhausted. Your energy levels might be as low as your mood. Even if you aren't clinically depressed or suffering from SAD, you can still be battling the "winter blues." Try these simple measures to help you bounce back to your old happy self.

Get up earlier. As soon as it becomes light, start your day. You may need to resynchronize your internal body clock.

Go to bed earlier. Not getting enough sleep can cause your body's serotonin levels to drop, sending you into hibernation mode.

Boost energy levels. Take in as much winter light as possible, preferably around midday. Go for a brisk walk. Play with your pet. Breathe deeply. Allow the sun's rays access to your eyes.

Keep windows uncovered. Let in as much natural light as possible. Computer users can station their machines near a window so that they can occasionally look away from the screen and enjoy the view--and the light.

Eat healthfully. Foods such as oats and bananas provide great nutrition. Include plenty of fruits and vegetables; a minimum of five portions per day.

Ask your doctor about "light box" therapy. You'll want to begin this type of treatment in early autumn, before symptoms arrive.

Be kind to yourself. Accept the fact that you experience lowered mood during the winter months. Fight back by planning ahead to reduce stress. Don't overextend yourself. You might even want to explain to your friends and family that you're prone to feeling this way at this time of the year. They'll understand.

Useful Web Sites:

Center for Environmental Therapeutics: www.cet.org Official site of Dr. Norman Rosenthal: www.normanrosenthal.com Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms: www.sltbr.org The Bright Light Box Company: www.sunbox.com/default.asp

Dr. Barbara Arian Kogan, a former optometric practitioner in downtown Washington, D.C., is certified from the College of Syntonic Optometry to provide phototherapy. She has helped many SAD kids become glad kids A postdoctoral nutrition-educated lacto-ovo vegetarian, she frequently writes on vision care and nutrition for worldwide professionals and the public.