Do you ever experience a post-holiday depression or emotional hangover?
This year, maybe the holidays met your expectations, exceeded them or depleted you. Whether you’re a lover of the holiday season or you thrash through it painfully, you may experience a dark-mood day or dark-mood week that follows the end of the season.
This is normal…and there’s plenty you can do about it!
Why does this happen and what can you do about it?
First…a personal story…
Two days before Christmas, I attended the funeral of my amazing and beloved uncle who died from pancreatic cancer. He was profoundly loved and admired. I could write many posts about his impact on the hearts and minds of countless people (including me!) – but I’ll save those words for another day. I digress… Following the funeral, I was talking with a family friend who was discussing some wonderful new and unexpected things that were happening professionally for her and her husband. With a big smile, she said, “What a difference a year can make!” It was at this moment that I knew I had to write this post. For her and her husband, the holidays this year (versus last year) are a marker of progress, joy, abundance, connection and hope (I couldn’t be happier for them!). However, for so many others, the holidays are a marker of loss, lack and loneliness.
To be sure, my holidays will never be the same, now that I lost my uncle. I will feel his absence always, but especially at this time of year when he isn’t walking in the door wearing his signature cowboy hat and giving me a big bear hug, making his delicious gravy, or raising his cynical eyebrow in irreverence at some benign comment from a member of my family. Yes, what a difference a year makes.
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Why the HOLIDAY BLUES happen: The holidays are a reminder of time passing, change taking place, the losses and gains of years past. During the holidays you are literally surrounded by expectations of how you are supposed to feel, what you are supposed to do and what you are supposed to want. If you don’t feel that this is “the most wonderful time of the year” or you don’t have access to buying extravagant presents or maybe you don’t want to go to your company’s holiday party – you may feel like something is wrong with you. You may feel isolated and alone. Now, add in the lack of sunlight and you’ve got the perfect recipe for feeling blue. You may think you are the only one who feels this way. But, YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE!
Why the POST-HOLIDAY HANGOVER happens: Whatever happened during the holiday season is now in the past, but you still reverberate with what could have been or what was that is now over. Either way, you’re back to the regular routine, the days are dark, and your mood might be too.
More importantly, here’s what to do about it.
Here’s some simple and effective ways to care for yourself in the weeks that follow the holidays …
