YES, YES, YES.
This is our DD.
We finally put this together when she was about 8yo.
It's a combination of things, and so we've used a variety of strategies to get a better handle on things. For one, problems which would seem small or annoying at other times of the year tend to be consuming or massive between late November and early March.
There are several things that contribute to the seasonal affective issues, IMO, with a HG child.
1. They realize sometime in late October, usually, that the proportion of "new stuff that I'll be learning this year" is pretty low when compared with "slow pace of instruction" and "review" not to mention "busywork that I could do half-asleep." This disappointment is not insignificant in a lot of instances.
2. Poor weather and short days make it difficult to get NATURAL light in large amounts-- or a lot of exercise.
3. Any illness exacerbates both of the first two problems, and it's that time of year.
So what we've done about this (living near the 48th parallel, it gets fully dark here about 4:30 this time of year... yikes) is:
a) we have a dog. A very intelligent, energetic young dog. This dog MUST be walked daily-- or she is incredibly disruptive and destructive. So DD walks her very briskly for about an hour each morning as soon as it is fully light out (right now that is about 8 am)-- this provides two VERY essential things for battling any affective disorder: daylight and exercise.
b) we use broad-spectrum lights in strategic locations in our house-- in DD's overhead light in her room, and in one lamp in our living room. Use these judiciously, however-- because they can interfere with the ability to GO to sleep if you sit under one too late in the day! These are just fluorescent bulbs, about ~$15 bucks at most home-improvement stores, by the way.
c) Good sleep hygiene, and this involves screen time, too. NO computer/tv within an hour of sleep time.
d) maintain a schedule as well as you can-- be flexible, of course, but do NOT allow sleeping during the daytime, unhealthy coping mechanisms, etc.
To the OP-- we live in this part of the world as well. Winters are long and grey here, it's true. But don't discount the academic disappointment hypothesis I listed above. I do think that this can be a major exacerbating factor.
DD mentioned this to me yesterday-- that she is SO much happier "this year" than ever before. Part of it is the exercise, which we've made non-negotiable aside from illness (and we make her prove it with her peak-flow meter or a fever, frankly)...
she attributes it to her two AP classes this year, which she pretty much spends 60% of her 'school' time on. Learning and working at something close to her readiness level has made a HUGE difference in her attitude about school, and about everything else, too.
