Kids with winter SAD often look like behavioral problems, not depression.

Seasonal affective disorder in children and adolescents tends to show up as irritability, fatigue, and school refusal rather than the classic sad mood adults get. Late winter is actually the peak time because the cumulative lack of sunlight has been building since November.

A kid with SAD might not say they feel depressed. Instead, they get cranky, fight with siblings, complain about headaches or stomachaches, and their grades drop. Teens often sleep way more than usual, crave carbs constantly, and lose interest in friends they normally enjoy. It looks a lot like typical teenage moodiness, but the pattern is what gives it away — every year around the same months, and it lifts in spring.

For coping, light therapy works in older kids and teens (10,000 lux for 20-30 minutes in the morning), but skip it for young children unless a doctor recommends it because the evidence is thin and it can strain their eyes. What actually helps across all ages: get them outside first thing in the morning, even if it’s cloudy. Open the curtains wide. Push bedtime earlier by 30 minutes. And seriously, consider a vitamin D supplement — deficiency is common in winter and mimics SAD symptoms. For teens, a consistent