The holidays can be happy times, but it’s not uncommon for some people to get the holiday blues. Since 2020 has been plagued with a pandemic, social isolation, social distancing, racial injustice and economic upheaval, more people might struggle with the holiday blues or perhaps, the blues can be intensified.
The holiday blues is a melancholy feeling – a sad feeling, depressed feelings during the holiday season and symptoms generally wrap up at the end holiday season.
Activities you would normally be happy about such as spending time with family, shopping, visiting Santa, baking Christmas cookies, stress you out and actually make you sad. You don’t find much joy in the holiday activities that you usually do.
There isn’t one cause of the holiday blues. Usually it’s a combination of factors such as stress, time constraints to get everything done (shopping, planning, traveling, decorating, wrapping presents), unfulfilled expectations, holidays being different from the past holidays (this year with broken travel plans and not seeing family or friends because of the pandemic), and not having enough money.
So many people have been looking forward to kiss 2020 goodbye that they might not be sure that 2021 will be any different and that causes sad feelings too.
To push through the holiday blues, you have to make a concerted effort to take care of yourself. This means to rest, eat right, journal, talk, meditate, exercise, and when you’re feeling sad, a natural tendency would be to pull into yourself and withdraw from people.
Making yourself more socially isolated then we currently are by the pandemic can make the situation.
Make yourself reach out to people and get involved with others. Know that you’re not alone and other people deal with the holiday blues. You can reach out to your physician or mental health professional to help you cope.
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