Norman E. Rosenthal

Early in his career, Rosenthal learned the Transcendental Meditation technique while in South Africa, but found that as a medical student and a medical resident he didn't have time to practice. Then 35 years later, after one of his patients had a dramatic improvement as a result of TM, he began practicing again and then began recommending it to his patients. In 2011, he published Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation, which debuted at number seven on the New York Times' Best Sellers: Hardcover Advice, How-To And Miscellaneous list. Earlier that year, Rosenthal published preliminary research on the potential influence of TM on posttraumatic stress disorder. Collaborating with Eric Finzi, Rosenthal found that botulinum toxin (botox) injected into the muscles of the forehead produced antidepressant effects in people with depression.

Rosenthal co-authored the book, How to Beat Jet Lag in 1993 and in 1998, he was named clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School. He became the Medical Director of Capital Clinical Research Associates in Rockville, Maryland in 2001 and is currently its CEO. He received a special recognition award from the Society for Light Treatment & Biological Rhythms (SLBTR) in 1999 and published the book The Emotional Revolution: How the New Science of Feeling Can Transform Your Life in 2002.

Rosenthal has written three books on the topic of SAD; Seasonal Affective Disorders and Phototherapy (1989), Seasons of the Mind: Why You Get the Winter Blues and What You Can Do About It (1989) and Winter Blues (2005). In 1984, he developed the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire, a widely-used screening tool for seasonality. As a result of his research and publications, "it is now widely acknowledged that winter depression has a sound medical basis, involving changes in the body's mood centers" associated with exposure to light. Rosenthal later identified a form of reverse SAD which some experience in the summer season.

Rosenthal is referred to as the pioneer of research into seasonal affective disorder. In 1984, he coined the term and began studying the use of light therapy as a treatment. Rosenthal's interest in studying the effects of the seasons on mood changes emerged when he emigrated from the mild climate of Johannesburg, South Africa, to the northeastern US. As a resident in the psychiatry program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, he noticed that he was more energetic and productive during the long days of summer versus the shorter darker days of the winter.

In 1980, his team at NIMH admitted a patient with depression who had observed seasonal changes within himself and thought previous research regarding melatonin release at night may be able to help him. Rosenthal and his colleagues treated the patient with bright lights, which helped to successfully manage the depression. They conducted a formal follow-up study to confirm the success. The results were published in 1984, officially describing SAD and pioneering light therapy as an effective treatment method. The research on SAD and light therapy is inconclusive and in some ways controversial, as not all researchers agree with Rosenthal's conclusions on the effect of light therapy and at what time of day the light should be administered.

Rosenthal began a private practice in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 1979. At the same time, he began a research fellowship with Frederick Goodwin at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. This was the beginning of a 20-year career with the NIMH as a Researcher, Research Fellow, and Senior Researcher. Rosenthal became the director of seasonal studies at the institute and in 1985, led research with 160 participants on the effects of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and later studied the psycho-physiological phenomena of "spring fever".

Rosenthal was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. He attended King David High School and graduated in 1963 with "top marks" among the Transvaal Province students in his class who spoke English.

Norman E. Rosenthal (born 1950) is a South African author, psychiatrist and scientist who in the 1980s first described winter depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and pioneered the use of light therapy for its treatment.