Illuminating a seasonal disorder

About this time each year, Lisa Morris starts yearning for more light in her life.

The 31-year-old mother of two from Middle River suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition that prompts her to turn on a specially designed fluorescent lamp for up to an hour every morning when she rises.

Purchased from a medical supply outlet, the light helps ward off the ailment's most common symptoms: persistent fatigue, oversleeping and an increased appetite for sugary and starchy foods that often leads to weight gain.

"The light therapy does do the trick - but I still have my moments where I just want to go up and lay down in my room and not get up," Morris says.

The winter solstice occurred shortly after 1 a.m. today - the lowest point in a pattern of diminishing sunlight that begins each fall as the tilt of the earth's axis sends the northern hemisphere away from the sun. Today we get only 9 hours of sun.

Although SAD symptoms typically begin in September and October as the days get shorter, experts say the solstice period is when the effects of seasonal depression can be most pronounced, particularly if the condition is left untreated.

"It can really affect people for a major chunk of their lives, in a big way," said Dr. David Neubauer, a Johns Hopkins psychiatrist.

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