by: Paige Gilmar
Posted:
Updated:
BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — We all know about holiday cheer. It’s advertised on store windows, in holiday cards, and even the way we greet each other. But there’s a lesser-known feeling that can come with the holidays. And that’s the holiday blues.
“I do get sentimental,” says Kristin Larsen, owner and founder of mental health service Simple Kindness. “I tell you what when I put on some of those holiday, Christmas songs, you know?” ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas.’ That hits me hard because I might not be home for Christmas. So that’s holiday blues. Or you know, I’m sure people can relate to that if they’ve got something. Or you pick out an ornament when I decorated my tree, and it brought back a memory, back to the past. Yeah, I was happy. And I’m like, those people aren’t here anymore, so that’s holiday blues.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, defines the holiday blues as feelings of anxiety or depression around Christmas time. This means that people can experience sadness, fatigue, loneliness, isolation, or more. However, unlike clinical depression or anxiety, the holiday blues are temporary. Still, health professionals say this is a very real feeling that sometimes comes with very real consequences like self-harm or even suicide — and that they can stem from many sources, including the financial stress of gift-giving or trying to meet unattainable social expectations during the holiday season.
“I see the hectic and chaotic shopping that everyone’s doing to prepare,” says Larsen. “I think when it all settles down, we’re getting ready, and we get too caught up in it. And then we’re let down. We’re let down even before Christmas.”
It can also come from not being with family or losing a family member.
“Some of us aren’t even with our loved ones during this holiday season,” says Larsen. “I’m not with mine. I might not even be home for Christmas, so many people are alone. And that’s another thing to think about. Not all of us have family.”
“I lost a lot of family around the holiday,” says Bismarck local Warren Whitelightning. “My mom, my dad, my brothers, my sisters. I’m just glad that they don’t have to feel any pain anymore.”
Because these experiences are so common, NAMI says the majority of people, 64%, experience the holiday blues each year. And 24% say these feelings really affect them. But there is hope, and many health workers recommend there are ways to curb the holiday blues. This can be eating and drinking in moderation, taking time for yourself, exercising, and sticking to a healthy routine and sleep schedule. You should also set reasonable expectations for yourself when it comes to social obligation and buying gifts — or even rethinking what the holidays mean to you.
“It’s just another day,” says Whitelightning. “You know, just like a birthday. I’m 54 years old. It’s just another day gone by. Why celebrate it? It’s just another season, just another season.”
But Larsen says there’s one more way you can feel a bit better this holiday season — and that’s by capitalizing on what the season of giving really means.
“Through my Simple Kindness… right?” says Larsen. “And I really can stress this. It’s being kind to others, offering up something, doing something that holds serving of others. You’re going to feel better. You yourself will feel better when you help others.”
And Larsen says giving all starts with refocusing.
“Let’s all look for the good right now,” she concludes. “There’s so much that we can focus on that might not be good going on. But let’s just open our hearts this season. And that’s also just going to help everybody.”