It is wonderful to see the sun shining at last this summer. People are wearing summer clothes and all around me I see smiling faces. Sunshine makes people happy. In fact most of my happiest childhood memories are of long hot summers, playing out side and having water fights with my friends or splashing about in a half filled paddling pool and sucking lemonade ice lollies. Even memories of happy Christmases are ones where the ground was frosty and sparkled under a bright blue sky.
In Northern Europe, as many as 10 percent of the population suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) to some extent, from mild symptoms to very severe. While it is more usual for the disorder to affect 18 to 30 year olds it is also known to effect children. In fact studies in America have shown there to be a link between SAD and puberty, especially in girls.
Children with SAD will show the following symptoms during winter months from around October to March, although those with more severe SAD will even have these symptoms during dull summer days.
• Poor behaviour
• Irritable
• Sleep problems, including falling asleep during the day and disturbed sleep patterns
• Difficult to wake up
• Headaches
• Generalised fatigue
• Increased appetite, especially for carbohydrates
• Sadness and depression
• Anxiety
• Tantrums
• Weepy spells
Children with SAD will often do worse at school during winter months than they do in summer too. They will have poor organisation skills and find remembering things and concentration to be almost impossible. Unfortunately these symptoms are often not diagnosed as SAD and the affected children are labelled as difficult or lazy.
So how can you help a child who has SAD without having to move to the equator? The most effective therapy for SAD is light therapy. Human beings bodies have rhythms that are affected by the levels of natural sun light that are available. Artificial lighting in schools cannot replace natural light as it does not have nearly enough intensity to affect the hormones that control these rhythms. Light therapy uses broad spectrum bright light to compensate for the lack of natural sunlight available during winter months. A special lamp or Light Box is employed for the sufferer to look at or sit under for around half an hour to 3 hours a day according to the severity of the disorder. A Light Box seems to be a poor second choice compared to the blazing ball of sunshine I can see from my sindow, but at least it won’t give you skin cancer or make you look like a walnut! And in the absence of the sun on a cold November morning I think it would be very welcome!
The sun is shining brightly outside my window right now and I know that The Witchlings are racing around outside in the sunshine with Grapper as we speak. They are happy and smiling and full of life. I only hope they will still be smiling in November!
Incidentally, if you are an adult who already suffers from SAD and are planning a family, try to aim for a spring birth. Childbirth is a colossal strain and the stress of having a baby is thought to be one of the triggers of SAD. In fact there is some argument that post natal depression is actually a form of SAD that is caused by childbirth.

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