6 Tips for Avoiding Holiday Depression
The holiday season is often a time of stress and depression- you may have to deal with unwelcome guests, or face the holidays alone while others are with their loved ones. You may be facing financial issues, or you just don’t like to deal with crowds of people. Whatever the reason, there are some really good reasons for being depressed during the holidays, and there are some great strategies to ease that depression.
Take time for yourself
Realize that your feelings are valid and you need time to process them. Pushing depression away can lead to a breakdown. Take some time to talk about your feelings, write them out, or even just to sit in quiet and think about them.
Be realistic
The holidays aren’t as perfect for everyone as they may seem. All those pretty Pinterest pictures and sweet Facebook posts can have you feeling like your holiday is a failure. It isn’t. As long as you are happy, that’s all that matters.
Take family in doses
You don’t have to surround yourself with all those relatives you may not really want to see. Family can be one of the biggest causes of stress and depression during the holidays. Don’t let family bring you down. Take breaks to step away from them at gatherings, and limit the time you spend at events.
Make a budget and stick to it
If you are down about finances, get creative. Make a budget, stick to it, and get creative about the gifts you will give people this year. Tight finances doesn’t mean you have to skip out on giving people gifts this year.
One way to keep depression at bay is to be healthy. Eat right. Workout when you can. Stick to a routine that makes you happy and comfortable. Just because the holidays invade your life doesn’t mean you have to give up the things that keep you healthy and happy.
You may have to turn down a party invitation or two, but getting adequate sleep has been shown to alleviate depression. Make sure you get in the sleep you need each night to keep you in the right frame of mind.
Do you suffer from Holiday Depression?
Very good post.. I find the month of December to be chaotic – it’s very easy to get overwhelmed with everything going on and as you mentioned, the financial costs …
There have been years where I’ve been very down at Christmas. This year I’m not. I don’t have my tree yet, nor have I done any shopping but the money for gifts is already set aside and I have an idea of what each person is getting.
I think I’ve finally come to realize that at the end of it all December 25th is one day out of 365 days. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Realizing that has allowed me to look forward to the relaxed pace of the season. I host a family dinner on Christmas Eve which means that going into the holidays my house is already tidy. We have a family dinner at my Gramma’s Christmas day which means no cooking for me and good times with people I love. I don’t go shopping on Boxing Day and we usually still have leftovers from Christmas Eve so it’s another day of no cooking and a tidy home – heaven!
Very timely post. I think we all suffer from it to some degree, it’s especially hard when you have lost someone.
But using these tips will hopefully hold it off
good advice. my mind is always going and I get very little sleep
I spread out the holiday MUST DO’S and don’t fret if something doesn’t quite turn out right. If I don’t listen to much to the slower paced Christmas songs I get along fine
Those are great tips! It’s so easy to forget to be realistic. Dreams are great, but you don’t want to set yourself up for disillusionment.
I have on and off over the years, 2 christmas’ ago was very very hard.
These are some wonderful tips, especially the family one… thank you so much!
I really like your sensible tips for avoiding depression during the Christmas Season. I think that probably overspending and not making time for yourself are probably factors. Do your best to avoid these and your other tips will help us all be happy and relaxed.
Awesome post and the tips are great
Great post and tips. Christmas can be hard for many people. We have had a couple rough years but now we take a more relaxed approach Christmas and make it about having fun and enjoying family – not getting caught up in the retail approach to Christmas of spend, spend, spend!
My personal antidepressant is LOTS of dark chocolate!
This is definitely me, as I feel waves of low mood around the holidays and have been like that throughout my life. I try to decline get-togethers when I start feeling overwhelmed, but it isn’t always possible.