Symptoms and Signs of Seasonal Affective Disorder: Parent Magazine reports "It's sometimes easy for parents to overlook symptoms of SAD, or dismiss them as normal mood swings. Aside from feeling sad or depressed, your child may be irritable, feel tired, have difficulty concentrating, experience changes in school performance, or have decreased interest in things he usually enjoys. Your child's eating habits may also be affected: Some people with SAD have changes in their appetite or crave carbohydrates, says Cathryn Galanter, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist and visiting associate professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and King's County Hospital Center, both in Brooklyn, New York. But even if your child is showing a few of these symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean he has SAD. "It's not uncommon for people to want to stay in during the winter or to feel more tired," points out Dr. Galanter. The timeframe and severity of symptoms are the biggest telltale signs that your kid is experiencing more than the normal winter blahs. If symptoms persist for two weeks, or they're so severe your child is having difficulty functioning, contact your pediatrician or a licensed mental health professional who has expertise working with children."
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www.parents.com/health/mental/does-your-child-have-seasonal-affective-disorder/

Scary movies are the mainstay and fun of Halloween, but are they too scary for our kids?    Can these movies increase our kid's fears, anxieties or worries?  

Research says that any of these movies are too much for any child under the age of 7, they are not able to tell the difference between what is real and what is made up.

How do you know it is too much for your kid?  They are struggling with sleeping, they are more upset or have more worries, they start to worry more about things like being killed, hurt, etc.    The purpose of the movie is to scare you, create tension, raise your heart rate, make your scream.  But once the movie goes off, those feelings should as well.  When they don't or they come back, then it is too much for your kid.  

Reading, Writing AND Regulation

There are reports that state students who do not read in the summer struggle more in the fall.  Their reading abilities stagnate or decline.  Can we have the fun in the sun and take time to read as well?    Make it a family activity!

The National Institute of Mental Health has some great resources on managing stress.  They report that stress affects everyone, all ages, genders and races.  Stress is defined as a state of mental or emotional strain as a result of demands or difficult circumstances.    This could be homework, pressures from work, money issues, etc.  Your stress can impact your child's stress and your child's worries can impact your stress level.

Not all stress is bad.  Sometimes stress can motivate you to prepare or improve.  Examples include someone who gets bad news about their health, their way to coping with this stress is to make changes to their eating habits or their exercise habits.   That stress motivated them to make a change.  If your child is stressed about a test or an assignment, helping them prepare or finish will help them manage the stress.

It is important to know when you are feeling stressed, what does it feel like to you?  Problems sleeping, not eating, eating without thinking, getting frustrated easily, low energy, etc.  These are all signs of stress.  

Check in with your doctor, are these things caused by a medical issue or is it stress?  

What can you do when feeling stressed?  Start with the basics: get the right amount of sleep, get exercise (walking 30 minutes a day, yoga, playing outside (like tag, etc)), eat healthy.  Learn and use relaxation: learn how to take deep breaths, be creative (write down your stress, paint, draw, even the adult color pages, ), talk to a friend, maybe even host a family dance party for 30 minutes.  Take a pause from the stress, laughter and breathing do make a difference.

Could it be more than stress?  If it seems like the triggers are low and the feelings continue, this could be symptoms of depression or anxiety.  Use any of the referrals to get the help you or your student deserves.  

​For more information on conditions that affect mental health, resources, and research, visit www.mentalhealth.gov, or the NIMH website at www.nimh.nih.gov. In addition, the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus  service has information on a wide variety of health topics, including conditions that affect mental health.