The holidays are a time to be thankful and spend time with friends and family. Holidays are supposed to be a happy time full of reuniting with people we love, sharing food and sharing stories.
Unfortunately, the holidays are also a time when depression is running rampant. During normal times as many as one in ten teens and adults deal with depression. During the holidays that number can spike up to 50% or more.
Why Do I Get Depressed During the Holidays?
Every person’s story is different. For some, the holidays are a reminder of being alone or losing someone important in your life.
During the holidays we see thousands of ads, hundreds of movie titles and tons of people walking around happy and full of holiday spirit. This can have a negative effect on people who deal with loneliness and depression on a day-to-day basis. It can also spark depression in people who have recently had a major life change.
For me, holidays are an overwhelming time. There is so much chaos as people rush about looking for presents and food. Large and loud gatherings of people take place and there is an underlying pressure to “have fun”.
On top of the chaos of the holidays, I deal with seasonal depression; when the weather gets dark and cold, I get depressed. There are millions of people around the world who deal with the same issues.
How Do I Deal with Holiday Depression?
It is important to remember that, if you are depressed during the holidays, YOU are NOT alone. There are millions of people just like you who are dealing with depression during this time of year.
While there are many medical ways to deal with depression, there are also things you can do right now that can help to reduce the amount of stress and depression you are experiencing.
Physical Exercise
Physical exercise releases endorphins, “feel good” hormones, into your bloodstream. Doing as little as 10-15 minutes of physical exercise can bring your mood up significantly. Easy ways you can use physical exercise to pick you up are:
- Walk around the block and do slow, controlled breathing while you walk
- Take a short jog
- Do push-ups, sit-ups and air squats (5-10-10 is a good start)
- Get on your bike and ride to your favorite spot
Help Someone
Yes, helping someone else can help you. This doesn’t mean you have to take a drive down to skid row and hand out sandwiches. Helping someone else can be as simple as opening the door for people, offering to buy groceries for the person who is struggling financially, talking to a friend who needs someone to talk to during the holidays, etc.
When we focus outwardly on improving the lives around us, we find that there is less of a focus on our own pain and depression. This should not be confused with ignoring our pain or trying to dumb our pain. Reaching out to someone to help them comes from a different part of our being. Instead of running from your own pain, you are running towards helping someone else be happy. In return, you will also find that you are more happy, less anxious and less stressed.
Read a Book
How is reading a book going to help me not be so depressed during the holidays? Well, this is an interesting one. The act of reading a book will not necessarily improve your mood, but what you are reading can have a profound impact on how you feel.
Read or listen to books that inspire you. Books that give you vision and hope for the future. If you love to travel, read about travel, if you love animals, read about animals. The sky is the limit when it comes to books.
If you don’t like reading but you love to consume written material you can always sign up for Audible and listen to books on your smartphone or computer.
Harmful Holiday Depression Habits
Some of the most common ways people deal with the craziness of the holidays are alcohol, drugs and food.
While there is no problem for a lot of people when it comes to alcohol and food, others may find themselves binging. Drinking or eating to excess in order to change the way you feel can be extremely harmful.
I remember a few years back I was dealing with holiday depression. Instead of using exercise, reaching out to a friend, reading, or any other healthy habit, I went out and got totally wasted.
What makes matters worse is that I was supposed to be at a holiday parade with my children and completely lost track of time. I missed the first part of the parade and when I showed up I was noticeably drunk.
In my selfishness, I went out and got drunk to try to feel better and in the process of doing so, I created a holiday scar for my own children.
To this day, even after achieving almost two years of sobriety, I am still dealing with the fallout of the bad choices I made.
My choice to turn to alcohol as my coping mechanism ended up causing my daughter extreme depression, anger, anxiety and like her father didn’t care about her.
As with alcohol, drugs and food binging can also cause long term and sometimes permanent damage. If you are dealing with alcohol, drug or food addiction and you are stuck in a depressed state. Please reach out to me or call the helpline at the top of our Addicion/Recovery page.
Conclusion
While the holidays can be a fun and exciting time for many people, it is also a time when people deal with deep emotions, anxiety and depression.
If you are having a hard time this holiday season, please reach out and get help. You are not alone. If you have questions or need to talk, please contact me and I would be more than happy to work with you to help connect you with resources.
Thank you for reading this far. If you know someone that may benefit from reading this, please share and subscribe for more information in the future.
God Bless!
