Helping Students Manage Seasonal Affective Disorder

As fall turns to winter, daylight hours shorten, and the sun sets earlier, students, especially teens, can be susceptible to sadness, lethargy, and disinterest in school due to the change in the seasons.

If you’ve noticed your student’s mood or behavior change significantly with the seasons, they may have seasonal affective disorder.

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

The National Institute of Health defines seasonal affective disorder (SAD) as “a type of depression characterized by a recurrent seasonal pattern, with symptoms lasting about 4−5 months out of the year.” Winter-pattern SAD, or winter depression, starts in the late fall or early winter and goes away during the spring and summer. Less common, summer-pattern SAD starts in spring through summer months. Both types can impact a person’s daily life, including their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder in Children and Teens?

SAD symptoms frequently match other kinds of depression, such as:

withdrawing from social activities
changes in eating habits
loss of interest in school or hobbies
displaying low energy or lethargy
expressing increased anxiety, hopelessness, worthlessness, or guilt
increased feelings of irritability or frustration

How is Seasonal Affective Disorder Different from Depression?

While both seasonal affective disorder and major depressive disorder are related, they are not one in the same. Major depressive disorder (also known as depression) is a chronic mental health disorder that is not typically impacted by environmental factors like exposure to sunlight. For those with seasonal affective disorder, the onset of symptoms usually coincides with the changing of the seasons and tends to disappears when the season changes again.

How Does SAD Impact Academics?

While the rate of seasonal affective disorder tends to increase with distance from the equator, anyone can experience SAD, even if they have never experienced it before. And as we might expect, the greater a student’s depressive symptoms, the more it has an impact on the student’s performance in school, attendance in class, and enjoyment of social interactions.

At-Home Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatments

Any new negative feelings your student starts experiencing, whether seasonal depression or not, should be discussed with a mental health professional, your student’s teacher, and their school counselors for more specific advice and treatment plans. However, there are some things your family can do at home to help cope with the colder months.

Light Therapy

The winter months usually mean less exposure to natural sunlight for kids. Daylight hours are shorter, the sun sets earlier, it might be too cold to play outside... and due to a lack of sunlight, your student may start to experience symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Luckily, we don’t need a perfectly sunny day to chase away the winter blues.

Light therapy lamps, also known as light therapy boxes, simulate natural daylight to regulate certain chemicals in the brain that affect mood (serotonin) and sleep (melatonin).

The Mayo Clinic offers some advice on choosing and using light boxes. Just adding 20 to 30 minutes of light therapy within the first hour after waking up can make a difference in helping your student’s circadian rhythm adjust to the shorter daylight hours and boost their overall mood, helping them feel awake and alert in the morning.

Develop a Routine

Establishing a routine can go a long way in helping your child manage SAD. Not only do routines encourage consistency, they offer a form of stability for your student. Having set schedules also alleviates anxiety, which can help your child feel safe and secure.

Families can develop a helpful routine by establishing regular mealtimes and bedtimes. Seasonal depression in kids can manifest as oversleeping, so a regular bedtime and wake up schedule will help them regulate to ensure they are receiving the proper amount of daytime light.

Encourage Healthy Habits

If you’ve noticed your student has been sedentary, sluggish, alone, and prioritizing junk food, you may find adopting healthier habits like eating nutritious meals and exercising helps turn their mood around.

When helping to manage seasonal affective disorder in children, nutritious meals can benefit children in many ways, including brain development. Fresh, healthy food can help them improve their mood, process thoughts and feelings, and generally think more clearly.

Exercise can also be a positive outlet for releasing stress. Even online schools like Connections Academy integrate virtual PE classes into the curriculum, so that students at every grade level can regularly engage in physical activity.

Assist with Homework and Class Assignments

Helping your student with assignments when they have been diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder can help alleviate added stress and help them feel more confident at a time when learning can be tough. Caregivers can speak to their student’s teachers to get a better understanding of the syllabus and to keep track of any important test or assignment due dates.

Families may want to sit with younger students and help them complete assignments or even play rewards-based games. For online high school students, caregivers might ask more questions or engage in deeper discussions on subjects they’re learning to help build an interest in their studies.

Spend Quality Time Together

Depression in kids may look different than it does in adults, but spending quality social time together is essential for positive mental health for all.

Through quality time, you’ll learn how they’re feeling and how you can help. And it doesn’t have to be a huge lift. You can plan quality time throughout the week to ensure you’re keeping up with your child and their emotions. You could bake together, play board games, or even watch a movie to show your support.

Be Patient

Patience and compassion are essential as you help your student deal with emotions tied to seasonal depression. While your student may be irritable and withdrawn, they may not understand exactly what they’re going through.

You can show compassion for your student with seasonal affective disorder through positive affirmations or having open and honest conversations about their emotions.

Children who are impacted by SAD may feel like they’re the only ones experiencing it, as a caregiver, you can let them know they aren’t alone.

If you or someone you know is in immediate distress or is thinking about hurting themselves, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You also can text the Crisis Text Line (HELLO to 741741) or use the Lifeline Chat on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website.