Seasonal Affective Disorder in Children
What is it?
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that only comes on with the change of seasons, most commonly experienced when the weather gets colder and the sun goes down earlier.
SAD has all of the same symptoms as major depressive disorder, and it can occur in kids and teens just as depression can.
Whether there is a formal diagnosis or not, a lot of people report having a hard time being their normal, cheery selves in the winter time.
Between severe lows in temp, less light, holiday stress or holiday blues after they pass, and less sports, it can sometimes feel like there is a lot working against us in the midwinter.
How can we help?
SAD is often treated with cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, and can help kids create healthy daily routines to combat symptoms and help with energy levels.
Sometimes antidepressants are used to treat SAD, though not as commonly because meds require consistency.
Sticking to routines can help kids and adults alike when they are struggling with depressed feelings. Having consistent sleep, meals, homework, family activities, social events, and sports practices can help keep everyone’s spirits up.
Healthy habits can also make a huge difference. Ask your kids or teens what they think this might look like. It can help if they are excited about the activities they are going to be doing on a regular basis. Some examples of this would be healthy, home cooked meals that you can make as a family, crafting together, working out indoors to try to burn off some energy (creating an indoor obstacle course usually is a hit), bundled up walks, and plenty of water.
What does SAD look like?
In order to determine if your kid or teen might have seasonal depressive disorder, look for changes in mood and behavior, decrease in motivation (messy room, grades dropping), refusing to do things they normally love, isolation from friends and family, irritability, and changes in sleep/ appetite.
A bad day here and there does not indicate seasonal depression, but a pattern of changes might.
What does progress look like?
Set realistic expectations. If your kid is truly struggling, things won’t get better overnight, and this can sometimes show up in their hygiene, ability to do chores in a timely manner, effort in school, their bandwidth to handle stressful situations, and more. It might take a little while for the progress to start showing, even once you have made so many changes to try to help.
It might also feel like everyone is so cooped-up with the cold weather that the only thing you can do is go to the gym, but families get so busy with work, school, and hobbies.
Try to get in your weekly physical activity by playing basketball in the driveway together, having dance parties in the living room, doing gymnastics or karate together, or whatever it is that your family enjoys and home can accommodate.
