Holiday Depression Can Be Managed, Experts Say

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Holiday Depression Can Be Managed, Experts Say

(December 27, 2007) -- Maybe it was seeing that holiday film featuring the "perfect family."

Coping with holiday stress

The National Mental Health Association offers the following tips for coping with stress and depression:

•Keep expectations manageable and set realistic goals and priorities for yourself. Pace yourself and organize your time.

•Remember the holiday season does not banish reasons for feeling sad or lonely. There is room for these feelings, even if you choose not to express them.

•Leave the past in the past and look toward the future. Life brings changes. Don't set yourself up for pain by comparing today with the "good old days."

•Do something for someone else. Try volunteering time to help others.

•Enjoy free activities, such as driving around to look at holiday decorations or window shopping without buying.

•Be aware that excessive drinking only increases feelings of depression.

•Spend time with supportive and caring people. Reach out to someone you have not heard from recently.

•Save time for relaxing and let others share responsibility for planning and executing activities.

For information visit www.nmha.org. or contact Santa Cruz County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services at 454-4000 or (800) 952-2335 for 24-hour crisis support. Suicide Prevention of the Central Coast provides free, multilingual and confidential 24-hour counseling at 458-5300 or (877) 663-5433.

Maybe it was an argument with your brother over that old grudge. Or maybe it was the fact that you don't have anybody to gather with this season.

The holidays are a land mine of triggers for depression and stress as family, financial and social pressures mount during the last two weeks of the year. While local mental health experts note a measurable rise in depression over the holiday season -- especially among people who live alone or have no family -- the number of suicides or attempts do not seem to increase proportionately, they said.

George Jarrow, director of the Behavioral Health Unit at Dominican Hospital, said the season is actually "one of the slowest periods of the year" for mental health hospitalizations. It seems that, although depression can weigh people down around Christmas and New Year's Day, he said often they "hold it together over the holidays," mostly because family support systems.

Sheriff Sgt. Alan Burt of the coroner's division said there has been one confirmed suicide in the county since Dec. 20, though autopsies on several other deaths are pending. The number of suicide attempt cases treated at local hospitals this past week was not available Wednesday.

Pam Rogers-Wyman, acute service program manager for Santa Cruz County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said depression and stress rise this time of year because of the "pressures we as a society put on ourselves." Family functions, holiday parties, gift-buying and other routine-breaking obligations can drain energy and pocketbooks, as well as conjure up memories of lost loved ones.

"Making good choices for yourself" by setting limits is the best way to reduce holiday stress, she said. At a time when cultural pressures demand you be happy all the time, acknowledging and accepting feelings of sadness is also key to relieving depression, she said. If you are missing a deceased family member or friend, it's best to allow yourself to feel the pain knowing it will pass, she said.

For people who are alone, especially seniors, Rogers-Wyman said it is critical to seek out friends and confidants for support and companionship.

By: J.M. Brown, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Medical News Today

Last updated: 12/07

Holiday Depression Can Be Managed, Experts Say

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