European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine shedding Light on Winter blahs National geographic w inter had held Peggy in its dark grip every year since she was 11 she overslept gorged on cookies and lost Contact with friends. She could concentrate in school her grades dropped on the 0b. Her work suffered then quite literally. Peggy saw the Light and she s been doing Fine Ever since Peggy suffered extreme Winter blues in medical terminology seasonal affective deader sad Wilder cases Are known As s sad. For Susyn Drumal sad one in live americano has some of the symptoms said Norman e Rosenthal. A psychiatrist at the National inst Lule of venial health in Bethesda. Of d he cited a study comp eled a Lew years ago of the relationship of geographical latitudes and sad the farther North people live the likelier they Are to experience Winter depression that study concluded in Sarasola. Fla. For Sample the percentage afflicted was Only 8 9 in Nashua n h. At the other extreme it was 30 2 Only in the past decade have Rosenthal and others been studying this pervasive but neglected condition. They presume that in the absence of sunlight some people develop abnormalities in certain brain chemicals but they re still seeking details on How this process works their most important finding is what they see As a solution for most sufferers Bright lights that s what cured Peggy a  of d Westerner who later moved to new England he"., is one of the Case histories cited m Rosenthals recent t c Wjk ser tvs of the mind any you gel the  8,  Fri hat you can do about in Rosenthal Cund Hal a Tew Hourdas y c p j Uro to a Bank cd Fli Yorcic int lights v.  a r.-. F. C Lime pull As Many As Eutt a of 0 of a  a \ of their depress in before the Light  it i or discovered. 11.0 7 in or a. A of i. A i1,1 they had a psychological Pfob Jan recognition thai they re suffering from an a tire physiological state is a great Comfort Rosentha said and so. To some degree is an acceptance that you Don t have to be quite As functional All year round that you can have a bit of a fallow season and that s not the end of the  a Light Box costs about $400. Early models stood upright and users sat in front of them for As Long As four hours a Day. The fluorescent tubes emitted a full spectrum of Light. Now researches have Learned that higher intensity Light boxes installed on a slanted Frame produce the same results in Only a half hour a Day elimination of the ultraviolet spectrum reduces some negative Side effects without decreasing effectiveness for Winter depression it is u Don t  Imp for such conventi nol 1 Glt treat a Portalo solution May be on Iho Way Caria Hellikson. A Scatsi e  j is  to  Rocen Hal and acc Raj Era nerd. A Phade re a neuf physicist. On a Jamal Battery to ored Light hint Cou do mounted at tie front of a a Carnot permitting wearers to go about their Normal routine no Light treatment Shou d be tried without a physician s guidance. Ror Anthal and others caution Neil Owen president of a to Aryland company that manufactures Light boxes says he refers a prospective customer to a doctor before Selling a Box among his customers is the u s slate department several boxes have been ordered to lest their effectiveness Anion embassy employees who got the blues in the soviet Union and other european countries thai have Long dark Winters above the 50th parallel North. Sad is a pretty significant kind of problem said t c Feir. A state department physician in Vienna. Austria who has jurisdiction Over some of the Emba Sves we loot1 at this the lights with considerable interest Foj it pc r like scene others  of lira  of i treatment if Cru Are a lot of  g teens in Barrow Alaska Chat in the fading Light of a Winter afternoon. Alaska s Long Winters produce Many cases of seasonal affective disorder. Psychiatrist Norman e. Rosenthal uses a Light Box to help prevent seasonal affective disorder. Or a. 0 it the a " he i.r. Cons d or in self a a i Nat  do Pic sin  a /.a-, s Crit in ijliluji.-. I. Ato to vol t of Uri to j a ii Nat p american Ipi Iii ots  to. " ,. 1989. And 10 soviets visa cd  b i , the exchanges Are continuing giving an International dimension to the search for solutions to an endemic malady Ihal annually lays Low untold numbers of the world s Northern citizens monday february 12, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 13