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HOLIDAY DEPRESSION
Traditional colors around the holidays are just one of the things we might look forward to annually—the golds and browns and yellows and oranges of Autumn that play out during Thanksgiving’s season, and the reds and greens and whites and silvers and so many other vibrant and festive colors of Christmas. BLUE is not a color we associate w/ the holidays, but blue as a color symbolic of feeling down and low and sad and peaky and cetera is a common phenomenon of the holidays. Holiday depression frequently occurs in the New Year, after we “let down” our often frantic schedules of balancing family and work as usual, all the while creating the best holiday season ever. So as we sit down to ponder our New Year’s resolutions to be better and do better and feel better in the months to come, we just might begin to feel quite bad about not having accomplished as much as we aspired to in the past year. Definitely an excellent reason to experience a depressed spirit. And yet the seeds of depression can begin along with the beginnings of holiday planning, such as the anxiety we might feel about wanting to do everything the best we can—is this beginning to sound familiar?—to feeling disappointment that we fall short of our goals—still familiar? Also, anxieties and disappointments from holidays past are most likely present, and painful. And that is only one “seed” of potential depression. Even if we are a quite young adult, we likely have plenty of not so awesome recollections of holidays past—the anxiety and disappointment of “missing the mark of perfection”, family feuds and humiliations, and the losses through the years of people we care for who have moved away, fallen out of touch, or died. Holiday depression can occur during and after the days we put so very much of ourselves in to. And let’s face it, because these Autumn / Winter holidays are meant to be joyful, when any of us genuinely feels blue, it can be considered “bad form”, and the negative response we get from others because we feel negative, only magnifies the spiral of depression. So let us be prepared, should holiday depression happen to any one of us. First, be aware of any symptoms if they occur: · Apathy · Inability to enjoy what you usually take pleasure in · Lotsa’ minor illnesses and / or aches and pains you don’t usually have · Over-eating / over-drinking · Over-sleeping or insomnia · Lack of focus, forgetfulness, difficulty making decisions Pervasive sadness amongst others who enjoy the festivities is also a pretty obvious symptom! Many causes of holiday depression have been brought forward in the earlier columns of this holiday period, such as unrealistic expectations, financial worries, perceived lack of appreciation from others, unhappy memories, fatigue /exhaustion from overdoing, guilt from “not doing enough” and on and on. Other columns have also offered counter-attacks on the above mentioned conditions. Yet we all need to hear, more than once, those suggestions which, while offering solace and solutions, also remind us that we can change, and offer suggestions for how: · Be with people, even when you are uncomfortable, because isolation creates and encourages depression · Stay healthy with enough rest and exercise and nutrition—you will feel more energized and hence less likely to slide into depression · Choose social commitments wisely—it is ok to say ‘no’ · Stay within your holiday spending budget · Acknowledge your real feelings, knowing you are not alone, after all, Holiday Depression is of the norm · Let go of your ‘magical’ and unrealistic thinking about all of the above and enjoy the magic · And deeper than the magic of the holidays is the deeper, more genuine and actual origin of this season—a time of love and sharing and spiritual renewal
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