Am I Suffering From Holiday Depression?
Is Depression Around the Holidays "Real" Depression?
Yes! Depression that occurs due to the holidays is just as valid a form as depression as when it is not connected with the holidays. These depressive symptoms can include feeling sad or having a depressed mood, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, changes in appetite or sleep, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, guilt or purposelessness and/or thoughts of death or suicide.
How do the Holidays Impact Mental Health?
On the positive side, the holidays can bring a sense of connection around the festivities and gatherings that most people partake in. People see family and friends they may not normally see and can benefit from strengthening and preserving those bonds. The nostalgia of childhood experiences can bring a sense of fondness from the past. Also, the holidays are a time for many people to get a break from work/school so that they can spend time with their loved ones.
On the negative side, the holidays can be very, very stressful. Hosting the events is a lot of work and can place an immense amount of strain on individuals. The expense associated with the food, gifts, travel and time off from work can be a notable burden for people, which adds to their overall stress.
If one has bad memories from past holidays that are unresolved, those emotions will come back to the surface and be quite distressing. The relationship people have with their families can be quite complicated and most have some level of friction or strife associated with them. For parents, the school vacations for the holidays places more pressure on them to find childcare or entertain their kids, on top of their normal responsibilities.
Overall, the same conditions that can bring about positive emotions can also provoke negative emotions. The difference lies in the individual and how they perceive and respond to the cycle of events.
Common Causes of Holiday Depression?
For those who live in the northern hemisphere, the reduction of sunlight can be a notable trigger for holiday depression. Vitamin D is a vital hormone for the mind and the body and sunlight is the primary source. Vitamin D deficiency is known to have similar symptoms as Major Depressive Disorder and SAD. Though scientific research does not prove that Vitamin D deficiency causes depression, the two conditions are commonly associated with each other.
Pressure to attend, host and engage in the vast rituals and festivities of the holidays adds a level of stress and strain to all of us. For those who are already carrying heavy mental loads of unresolved negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, guilt, shame, etc., the contemporary pressures of the holidays can be more than their minds and emotions can handle and they can sink into a state of depression and/or anxiety.
This is particularly true for those individuals who have difficult or traumatic memories associated with the holidays. Experiences of neglect, abuse, death and isolation can easily get tethered to the circumstances in which they occurred. Using a simple example, if a person lost a parent when they were a child near a major holiday, the unresolved emotions from that loss will be activated when the holiday occurs again in the future.
3 Tips to Cope with the Holiday Blues
Tip 1 – Acknowledge that it is happening. Similar to people in recovery, the first step towards improving your wellbeing is to acknowledge you have a problem. You do not have to understand why it is happening. Simply by noticing the pattern and how the holidays are negatively affecting you, you can start the process of making positive changes in your life.
Tip 2 – Take care of your body. Not only does Vitamin D absorption decrease in the winter months due to the lack of sun, but physical activity also drops for many people due to the harsher weather. You can take active steps to counteract these two trends. Vitamin D from the sun can be replaced with supplementation and UV light therapy at very affordable costs. And exercise has been shown to improve overall mood in study after study. So, you have the option to join a gym, partake in winter sports like hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, etc., invest in home exercise equipment, watch YouTube videos of yoga, Pilates, kick-boxing or simply walk a few laps through the aisles of your local grocery. Any movement is good movement. Find something that connects with you and be consistent.
Tip 3 – Allocate time everyday to bear witness to your emotions. This is both very challenging to do but also the most powerful thing you can do for yourself. We tend to want to avoid the painful emotions that we carry within us. And we have so many options at our disposal for distractions. This only harms us further by allowing these emotions to build up within us and with time destroy us from the inside out.
Make a conscious effort everyday to face your emotions. There are many ways to do this: meditation, yoga, journalling, praying, talking with friends or loved ones, daydreaming, exercise, or working with a mental professional. The goal being to voluntarily face and feel our emotions so that they can flow out of us. Otherwise, they build up within us and choke the life out of us like a clogged drain.
For those who are already struggling with their emotions – find allies to walk alongside you on your healing journey. You don’t have to deal with your pain alone.
If you are ready to work on yourself and let go of the pain that you are carrying with you, I’d be honored to walk along side you on your healing journey. The next step would be to schedule a free check-in with Eric Almeida. You deserve support. And there is no extra credit for bearing the weight of your pain alone.