January is often a peak month for the expression of seasonal affective disorder in people of all ages. While adults are often aware of what they experience as annual “winter blues,” many parents don’t realize that some children will also suffer from the mood disorder due to shorter days and less sunlight.
A child may not realize or verbalize they are feeling depressed. Instead, you might notice that your child is more irritable and short-tempered, tired and has little energy and more difficulty concentrating on tasks like school work; and — while symptoms vary — the child may also find less pleasure in things he or she used to really enjoy. Some children will experience a change in appetite or preferred diet, often craving more carbohydrates.
For these symptoms to indicate seasonal affective disorder, they must happen at a particular time of year for more than one year and go away as that time of year passes. Usually it begins in very late fall as the clock changes and lifts in mid-spring as the days lengthen again.
[Read: What Parents Should Know About Teen Depression.]
Some children will only have a few symptoms, such as irritability and lethargy, and these symptoms may occur seasonally but may not rise to the level of a disorder. If, however, your child has symptoms severe enough to interfere with the child’s ability to function — like, for example, you notice that you child’s school performance has begun to suffer — or the child’s relationships become very strained, then this will certainly require treatment.
There seems to be something about diminished exposure to daylight that effect the levels of the chemicals serotonin and melatonin in the brain. Serotonin affects mood and melatonin affects sleep, helping control sleep and wake cycles.
[See: Seasonal Affective Disorder: 8 Ways to Feel Better.]
Treatment for seasonal affective disorder often centers around a medication that increases serotonin levels, psychotherapy to treat depressive symptoms, or both.
Specific to the treatment of seasonal affective disorder for adults is the use of light box therapy. This therapy involves being exposed to a special type of light that mimics the ultraviolet light from the sun without the harmful rays and can be used at home for 20 to 30 minutes each morning. This should be done under the supervision of a mental health professional, however, since some patients who may, unbeknownst to themselves, have the potential for bipolar mood swings can develop hypomania — a milder form of mania. In addition, research on the efficacy of light therapy for seasonal affective disorder has been in adults. The jury is still out regarding children.
[See: 10 Concerns Parents Have About Their Kids’ Health.]
If your child seems to be experiencing a milder version of winter blues or if you know from past seasons that this could be an issue, several things can be helpful in either preventing or managing milder symptoms. These include daily exercise, healthy eating, maintaining a regular sleep schedule — and ensuring the child gets ample rest — and having emotional support. Make sure your child knows they can and should come to you to talk about any feelings they may be struggling with.
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Does My Child Have Seasonal Affective Disorder? originally appeared on usnews.com
