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Holidays are usually viewed as a time of happiness and rejoicing, but for some people, it can be a period of painful reflection, sadness, loneliness, anxiety, and depression
Feelings of sadness that last throughout the holiday season, usually from November through December, are often referred to as the holiday blues
While less serious than clinical depression, these feelings can have a major impact on your ability to function normally during this time of year
Interesting to note how the daily suicide rate for the months of November, December, and January are actually the lowest out of twelves months of the year. (“erroneous media coverage” about how they have the highest) -> kind of a counterpoint, but contrast??
Holidays are time of high emotion & demands -> can leave a lot of ppl feeling stressed & exhausted
Holiday blues are not officially recognized disorder, but these types of mental health problems still should not be ignored
In a survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) conducted in 2014, 64% of the people with an existing mental illness reported that the holidays made their condition worse.
Most common symptom of holiday blues is persistent or recurring feeling of sadness that begins during holiday season
This feeling may vary in intensity and duration
Some people may feel down periodically, but experience brief periods of feeling more upbeat
Even when participating in things that they would normally enjoy, people with the holiday blues have trouble enjoying themselves → happy holiday related events (social things, family gatherings, gift exchanges) can trigger anxiety/sadness → comment: these festive events often highlight the festivity/happiness that you are unable to experience, making you feel sad about the fact that you can’t be happy
(this is tangential research) — modern western societies expect ppl to be happy and not sad (western culture: ads that emphasize instant gratification & motivational speakers & self-help books) → strong societal emphasis on pursuing happy feelings
Occasional experience of negative feelings is often dismissed as deviant or dysfunction, considered bad for mental health. Although feeling sad, stressed, angry, or anxious at times serves an adaptive purpose, the functionality of these negative emotional states is rarely mentioned in modern societal discourse
No hate on western culture / societies with the pursuit of happiness as eastern cultures pursue success and ignore emotions entirely from my personal perspective / experience BUT being sad is important and valid
Social norms influence way we behave, think, and feel → in the case of emotions, we have a general conception of how others around us evaluate the experience of certain kinds of emotions, and how socially appropriate it is to experience or express particular feelings
In recent study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, researchers from the University of Melbourne and KU Leuven (research university in Belgium) examined how the pressure to live up to these social emotion standards may have implications for the way we view or present ourselves, which is termed “self-concept”
To summarize some of the findings and observations from this study: the societal norm to be happy & not sad may encourage ppl to present themselves in an (overly) positive way, aiming to conform with societal norm → as such, perception of others’ expectations that we are not to feel negative could instigate a socially desirable response in which people forsake each negative statement about themselves in order to present a self-image that corresponds to the prevailing cultural norm
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND: possible that the societal norm to be happy & not sad may be unattainable (holiday blues), inevitably revealing a discrepancy between our actual emotions and desired cultural norm → this can prompt negative self-evaluations and the ironic amplification of of these negative, “unwanted” emotional states → during the holiday season, everyone is happy and merry, expressing gratitude → if you feel like you shouldn’t be sad, this ironically makes you sadder
Causes:
Exhaustion,
Financial difficulties (pandemic!)
Not being able to go home for holidays
Nostalgia for holidays of the past
Poor social support, isolation, and loneliness
Stress
Dealing with extended family → especially if your relatives and you experience friction
Unrealistic expectations for the holidays
ALSO: because holidays mark an impending new year, ppl may also begin to reflect on past year & experience feelings of regret / failure → may think about goals that they had & the things that they wanted to do or accomplish and feel upset if they did not meet those expectations
Overcommercialization of holidays creates expectation that ppl are supposed to feel nonstop joy and holiday cheer (going back to whole point about societal expectations for emotions)
Diagnosis
Holidays blues is not an officially recognized psychiatric condition in the DSM 5th edition. The DSM is the official manual usually used to diagnose mental health conditions. But that does not mean you should NOT seek help. You still should see a doctor if the symptoms of holiday blues are severe and long in duration.
“While the majority of people in the survey reported feelings of happiness, love, and high spirits over the holidays, those emotions were often accompanied by feelings of fatigue, stress, irritability, bloating, and sadness” (Psychology Today)
Set reasonable expectations
It’s good to set goals for yourself. Maybe you want to get a decent amount of decorating done or festive holiday baking or even shopping for gifts. It’s important to be reasonable with what you can do. This will prevent any disappointments that can worsen, or contribute to your holiday blues.
For those of you over 21, drink in moderation
Alcohol, being a central nervous system depressant, can actually exacerbate bad emotions
Limit your alcohol intake, or try to avoid alcohol as much as possible
Surround yourself with family and friends
As we are in the COVID era, please social distance and quarantine yourself before visiting who the CDC outlines as the most at risk / vulnerable.
I’ve been seeing a lot of people being more lax about gathering restrictions and proper PPE etiquette. Please, when you are in a public space wear your mask properly. This means up and covering your nose. okay this is me ranting but I was at the INDOOR mall, properly masked and socially distanced of course, but there were people that would come out of a store and take off their mask??? so they would just wear their mask in the store, but not outside of the store where (because its an indoor mall) is still very indoor and around a lot of people. don’t be like that. that’s really off topic LMAO
Get lots of sleep!
It’s important to be well rested to be up and at-um?? for the next day. little sleep increases your irritability the next day, making it difficult to approach a new day with a new light.
I’m talking to you, high schoolers! It’s break! Get lots of sleep while you can.
Yeah, these sound obvious, but it’s important to be more aware of what you are doing and keep track of what you are doing and why you are doing it. You may already surround yourself with loved ones, or at least try to, without realizing it, but just remember to be grateful for those moments because it's really healing you in ways you don’t know. It’s all part of the coping process!
Katherine Nordal, PhD, executive director of professional practice at the American Psychological Association: “Unlike the holiday blues, depression doesn’t often go away on its own.”
Please do further research on the specifics of your condition and consult your doctor if you have any of the symptoms that are associated with depression.
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