Everyone recognizes "spring fever," the giddiness that lifts the spirits as the short, dark days of winter become the longer, sunnier days of spring. But, have you ever noticed the decrease of energy during the fall and winter month? Doctors first noticed this opposite, annual winter depression, 150 years ago, but the condition remained a theory until the early 1980's, when researchers began linking the darkening of people's winter moods to the lack of sunlight from November through March. Today, this condition is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Seasonal Affective Disorder is a form of depression brought about by shortened days and decreased sunlight during the winter season. The symptoms of SAD, which occur every winter like clockwork, include lack of energy, increased desire for sleep(especially during the day), larger appetite and weight gain.
             Back in the late '70's, Neal Owens was a petroleum salesman with an odd problem. "Every spring and summer," he remembers, "I was my company's top salesman. But come fall and winter, my sales fell to last place." Owens' boss accused him of goofing off each year around the holidays, but Owens insisted that he was not. "I just seemed to lose my get up and go in winter." Owens thought that at first he was sick, so he went to see his doctor. His doctor ran many tests, but the results all came out normal. Owens wound up seeing a psychiatrist, who diagnosed depression, and prescribed various stimulants and antidepressants. They helped, but Owens still "felt out of it."
             One day in 1982, Owens saw a television show about depression. It talked about the study of a new kind of depression, called Seasonal Affective Disorder, that struck people around the same time every winter, and caused other symptoms, like winter weight gain and the desire for sleep. "Hey
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