Handling Holiday Blues

This time of year, many people find themselves feeling mildly depressed, even after a happy and exciting holiday with friends and family. Some people wonder if this means they have a problem, but most of the time there’s nothing to worry about.

Holiday blues are rooted in an emotional rhythm common in human beings. Anything producing an extreme high will set the stage for a later low. The cause for these ups and downs is partly physical: elation consumes greater quantities of body energy, since all systems are operating at an accelerated rate. Eventually however, the body depletes its reserves and we feel physically and emotionally fatigued. Mild depression is therefore relatively predictable. You can expect to face it following a busy holiday, or the birth of a baby, or a job promotion, or even after a restful vacation.

The bottom line is that we usually can’t avoid holiday blues, but we can anticipate them. Then we can reduce the friction around our homes by preparing our families to ride them out.

This article was featured in Today January 4, 2010.

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