Holiday Blues - Feeling Sad, Lonely or Depressed During the Holidays?
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What To Do When Your Days Aren't Merry and Bright
For some people the holiday season can be a very difficult time time of year. It is a time of sadness and loneliness, a time of self-evaluation and reflecting about the past and a time of anxiety about the future year.
For many people instead of the holidays being a time when "the days are merry and bright," they are more likely to be experiencing the blues for many different reasons. Those who have lost loved ones or who are separated from loved ones at the holidays can find it to be a very blue time.
In addition with the current state of the economy and unemployment rates, many people are likely to be feeling the financial blues.
Take a look at and learn a bit more about the "Holiday Blues." With a bit of understanding about this common emotional state, your holidays might be a little less blues.
The material for this page is from many of the articles and presentations that I have give over the years about surviving the Holiday Blues including the material in the Holiday Blues Brochure created as an online resource.
Blue Christmas Ornament modified from Lusi's Last Christmas.
For many people instead of the holidays being a time when "the days are merry and bright," they are more likely to be experiencing the blues for many different reasons. Those who have lost loved ones or who are separated from loved ones at the holidays can find it to be a very blue time.
In addition with the current state of the economy and unemployment rates, many people are likely to be feeling the financial blues.
Take a look at and learn a bit more about the "Holiday Blues." With a bit of understanding about this common emotional state, your holidays might be a little less blues.
The material for this page is from many of the articles and presentations that I have give over the years about surviving the Holiday Blues including the material in the Holiday Blues Brochure created as an online resource.
Blue Christmas Ornament modified from Lusi's Last Christmas.
Winter Icicle Blues
Icicles from Microsoft Clipart
Vote on the Holiday Blues
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Blue Christmas - Damian McGinty from Glee
The audio version of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" from Damian McGinty. Rory (Damian) is feeling a bit blue not being home with his family at Christmas. From musicfromgleeVEVO.
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Defining Holiday Blues
Holiday Blues can be defined as
A feeling of sadness, loneliness, depression and even anxiety that often occur in and around the holiday season.
What are the Holiday Blues?
One definition for the Holidays Blues is- "a feeling of sadness, loneliness, depression and even anxiety that often occur in and around the holiday season."
The Blues end and people generally get better once the holiday season is over and get back into their normal daily routine.
Hole in the Heart by biala9
Why People Feel Blue During the Holidays
Factors that Contribute to the Blues
There are many different reasons that people feel blue during the holidays and many of different factors that can make the holiday season a time that leaves people feeling blue.
Factors contributing to the blues include:
Factors contributing to the blues include:
- 1Increased stress and anxiety
- 2Increased financial pressures
- 3Fatigue
- 4Unrealistic expectations
- 5Inability to be with family
- 6Memories of past holiday celebrations
- 7Over commercialization
- 8Change in diet
- 9Change in daily routines
Who is at risk?
Feeling Blue this Winter?
Boy in Snow by Sheldizle
Who experiences the Blues?
People who have had lost a loved one, experienced financial setbacks or are separated from their loved ones at the holidays are often at risk for feeling the blues.
Those who might be at risk for feeling blue at the holidays include:
Those who might be at risk for feeling blue at the holidays include:
- 1Someone who has a death in the family
- 2Someone who has experienced financial setbacks at the holidays
- 3Someone who is separated from loved ones at the holidays with work, military obligations or other reasons
- 4Someone who has experienced other losses - moving, recent difficult medical diagnosis
- 5Someone who has experienced a change in lifestyle - getting married, getting divorced, new baby
- 6Someone who tends to be depressed, stressed, anxious
Those Who Feel Blue
People who have had lost a loved one, experienced work or financial setbacks, or are separated from their loved ones at the holidays are at risk for feeling the blues.
Coping with the Holidays When Far Apart
This lens also includes some resources for coping with the holidays for those who are apart from loved ones.
Recognizing the Blues
How can I recognize the Blues?
The Holiday Blues often present with:
- Headache
- An inability to sleep or sleeping too much
- Changes in appetite that cause either weight loss or gain
- Agitation and anxiety
- Excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt
- Diminished ability to think clearly or concentrate
- Decreased interest in activities that usually are enjoyable, such as: food, sex, work, friends, hobbies and entertainment.
Coping with the Blues
Basic Ways of Coping with the Holiday Blues
For anyone feeling blue during the holidays can follow some very basic, common sense steps to help in coping with the blues.
- 1Take things one day at a time and if need be one hour at a time.
- 2Try and maintain a normal routine. Keep doing your normal daily activities.
- 3Get enough sleep or at least enough rest.
- 4Regular exercise, even walking, helps relieve stress, tension and improve moods.
- 5Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Limit high calorie foods and junk food.
- 6Avoid using alcohol, medications or other drugs to mask the pain.
- 7Do those activities or things and be with the people that comfort, sustain, nourish and recharge you.
- 8Remember the healthy coping strategies you have used in the past to survive challenges. Draw on these strengths again.
Get Your REST Helps in Handling the Holiday Blues
One of the best ways to handle the Holidays and cope with the holiday distress is to Remember to get your R-E-S-T:
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Reasonable expectations and goals.
Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Get plenty of rest and relaxation.
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Exercise daily.
Eat and drink in moderation. Enjoy free activities.
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Simplify to relieve stress.
Set a budget for social activities and gifts. Simple gifts can still bring happiness.
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Time to relax and remember.
Spend time with caring, supportive people. Keep in mind that traditions can be changed.
Understanding the Blues or the Holiday Blues
Holiday Blues - Pyschologist's Advice
Connections psychologist Ryan Denney, gives tips to help cope with depression and sadness during the holidays from the HattiesburgClinic.
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Good News on the Blues
The Holiday Blues are intense, emotional and upsetting, but they also tend to be short-term lasting around two weeks.
Books to Helping Cope with the Blues
Kindle Books on Holiday Grief
Kindle Books available on Holiday Grief.
Search Amazon for More Books on Holiday Grief
How to Cope with Holiday Depression - Video Series
iVillage Expert Rachel Blackston, M.A., M.Ed. a mental health counselor, looks at various different aspects of Holiday Depression.
curated content from YouTube
Resources on the Holiday Blues
- Mental Health America: Holiday Depression and Stress
- The holiday season can be a time full of joy, cheer, parties and family gatherings. But for many people, it is a time of self-evaluation, loneliness, reflection on past failures and anxiety about an uncertain future.
- Tips to to tackle the holiday blues - Holiday Guide - TODAY.com
- For many Americans, the merry months of November and December become less "holly and jolly" and more "strained and stressful."
- Making the Most of the Holiday Season
- Given our country's economic woes, the holidays have the potential to create additional challenges this year. Few people seem to have extra resources to spend on gifts, parties and extravagances.
- Coping With Holiday Stress: 10 Keys to Creating Healthy Holidays
- Keys for creating healthy holidays by coping with holiday stress from the Cigna Wellness Workbook.
- Tips for Healthy and Happy Holidays in Tough Economic Times
- During these tough economic times, it's only natural that people are feeling more stressed than usual, especially during the holiday season when people have lots to do and feel pressured to be "merry."
- Tips for parents on managing holiday stress
- The holidays can be a stressful time for parents, especially if you're wondering where to get the money to buy holiday gifts.
- 10 Tips for Managing Family Stress at Holidays | Your Mind Your Body
- Holiday cheer...or is it holiday fear? While many of us are eagerly awaiting the arrival of family to help celebrate the holiday season, many are dreading the
- Coping with the Holiday Blues or Depression: Making it Through Christmas and New Year when Blue or Depressed | Suite101.com
- Some people do not feel merry during the holidays, instead they feel blah or blue. Holiday blues, feeling sad or depressed, are a common, normal reaction for many people.
- Making it through the Holiday Blues
- While the holidays are traditionally a time when people are merry and happy, for some, the holiday season can be very challenging.
More Lenses on Coping with Grief
Holiday Blues in the News
Other Causes of the Holiday Blues
What else might the Blues be?
During the holidays there are several different things that people can be feeling or experiencing. People who are feeling excessive stress, anxiety, grief or depression may benefit from talking with a professional.
- 1Holiday Blues
- 2Stress
- 3Anxiety
- 4Grief
- 5SAD - Seasonal Affect Disorder
- 6Depression
A Different Perspective on a Charlie Brown Christmas
When to Be Concerned about the Blues
Feeling Depressed?
Brown eyed girl by Torli
Getting Professional Help for the Blues
Anyone who is experiencing the "blues" consistently over a period of several weeks (more than 2 weeks) should seek professional help.Some of the people that can be contacted to help someone feeling more than the blues include: physicians, primary care providers, mental health care providers, counselors, clergy, crisis lines, support groups, or mental health centers.
Talking with a professional or taking a mental health screening test can help assess whether it's the "blues" or depression.
Image Source: Modified Microsoft Image.
When to Get Help
Anyone who experiences the Holiday Blues constantly for more than 2 weeks should seek professional help.
When to Be Concerned
You should be concerned if you or a love one is:
- 1Constantly sad, anxious, or in an empty mood
- 2Sleeping too much or too little
- 3Having insomnia middle-of-the night or early morning waking
- 4Experiencing a change in appetite either reduced or increased.
- 5Having a loss of interest or pleasure in activities, including sex
- 6More irritable or restless
- 7Experiencing difficulty thinking, concentrating, remembering or making decisions
- 8More Fatigued or having a loss of energy
- 9Feeling inappropriate guilt, hopelessness or worthlessness
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10Experiencing thoughts of death or suicide
** Anyone with suicidal thoughts or suicidal ideation needs to seek immediate care with their physician, crisis line or the nearest hospital emergency department.**
Winter Lights Blues
Winter Lights by Boogy_man
Getting Rid of the Blues
One way to handle the holiday blues is to do something nice for someone else.
How to feel less blue during the Holidays
There are several things that can help in making it easier to manage the blues.
- 1Determine your priorities and establish realistic goals for the holidays.
- 2Delegate some responsibilities to others.
- 3Take time for yourself.
- 4Minimize financial stressors by setting a budget and sticking to it.
- 5Enjoy free holiday activities.
- 6Think about giving a free gift from your heart. Your time or your presence.
- 7Be around supportive people.
- 8Volunteer and help someone else.
- 9Create a New Holiday Tradition.
- 10Find a new place or a new way to celebrate.
Ways to Get into the Holiday Spirit
More Resources on the Holiday Blues
More articles on Coping with the Blues.
- Holiday Blues - General Information
- The holidays are supposed to be a joyful time of good cheer and optimistic hopes. From the University of Maryland Medical Center.
- Beat the Holiday Blues
- University of Maryland experts examine the causes of depression around the holidays, and offer advice on how to manage the stress and anxiety associated with this time of year.
- Healing the Holiday Blues
- Healing the Holiday Blues -- a holistic approach to coping with depression by Kenneth Porter, M.D. from Beliefnet.com
- Those Holiday Blues
- From Dr. Gail Carlson, School of Medicine from the University of Missouri Extension.
- The Blues: Holiday or Anyday
- Information on the Blues from the Journey of Hearts website.
- Holiday Hangover Blues
- One of the most difficult times for stepfamilies can be the holiday season. This article offers some helpful suggestions for stepfamilies in beating the blues.
- Holiday 'blues' can be lessened with a few easy tips
- Holiday blues effect many people, but there is something to can do about it from Michael Moran, M.D., at the Adult Psychosocial Medicine at National Jewish Medical and Research Center.
- Suggestions for Dealing with the Holiday Blues - LegacyConnect
- Holidays and special dates can trigger episode blues, feelings loneliness, depression and melancholy, especially if one is still in an active grieving process.
Help Coping with the Holiday Blues
The brochure has information for anyone feeling a bit blue during the holiday season.
Much of the information on this page was taken from this brochure and other articles that I have written on the Holiday Blues.
You can download PDF file of the brochure to print have it as an actual brochure as a resource or to give to someone that might need it.
Download the brochure by following the link below or click on the image.
Holiday Blues Brochure
A brochure that I made several years ago as a downloadable resources to help people cope with the blues.
- Holiday Blues at the Holidays
- A free PDF File brochure about Coping with the Holiday Blues
Holiday Blues Do End
Melting the Winter Icicle Blues
Icicles by Bewinca
Holiday Blues End
The Holiday Blues end and people generally get better once the holiday season is over and they get back into a normal daily routine.
Remember that the Blues are Short Term
The Holiday Blues are often emotional, intense and upsetting when being experiences.The good news is that they tend to be short-term, lasting at the most around two weeks.
One way to shorten the holiday blues is to do something nice for someone else and to do things to get you into the holiday spirit.
The Blues end and people generally get better once the holiday season is over and they get back into a normal daily routine.
Blue Snowflakes by rknds
Music to Lift the Holiday Spirits
One of my best antidotes for feeling blue is listening to uplifting and inspiring music.
News About the Holiday Blues
- Bank Holiday blues we don't mind having!
- WHEN the rest of the area is toasting the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Hebden Bridge will be welcoming a different kind of royalty. The Hebden Bridge Blues Festival returns to various locations around the town on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with some the ...
- Holiday Blues
- By Chris Reed :: May 28, 2012 By Chris Russell :: May 23, 2012 By Chris Reed :: May 21, 2012 By KMFP :: May 18, 2012 By Chris Russell :: May 17, 2012 By Chris Reed :: May 14, 2012 By KMFP :: May 11, 2012 Memorial Day and the weekend leading up to it is ...
- Beat the post-holiday blues by blowing money on video games
- The holiday weekend is over with, and you're back at work. Not out 'n about, enjoying the sun. Sucks. But hey, it's way too hot anyway, so why not stock up on some games to enjoy in an air conditioned room later tonight/next weekend?
- No relief for holiday travelers at Cocke County rockslide on I-40
- That could mean holiday blues for drivers using the region's roads this Memorial Day weekend. More than 23000 vehicles a day travel that section of I-40 in both directions. Traffic snarls may result as two westbound lanes narrow to one around the 451 ...
Blog Posts about the Holiday Blues
Donate to Donors Choose
One way to cope when you are feeling blue is to do something nice for someone else. Donating to your favorite worthy cause is one way.
DonorsChoose.org is dedicated to addressing the scarcity and inequitable distribution of learning materials and experiences in our public schools.
Comment on the Holiday Blues
What do you think about the Holiday Blues?
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healthylivingideas
Jan 7, 2012 @ 7:13 pm | delete
- I live in the southern hemisphere where everybody goes to the beach at Christmas time but I still used to find Christmas one of the most difficult times of the year to deal with depression.
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flycatcher
Dec 31, 2011 @ 7:18 pm | delete
- What an important topic! Like so many of us in northern climates, I know how the winter-time reality of Seasonal Affect(ive) Disorder can make it tough to shake off the Holiday Blues and exacerbate other depressions. Exercise does help with SAD, I've found, especially if it's outdoor exercise in daylight hours.
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MiddleSister
Dec 25, 2011 @ 8:15 pm | delete
- You've done a great job of gathering resources and information for the holiday blues. Nice. Thanks.
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Iain84
Dec 14, 2011 @ 12:54 pm | delete
- the Winter Blues sucks. Next year I've decided to go to Mexico! I don't think they actually have a winter there!
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sockii
Nov 26, 2011 @ 7:27 am | delete
- Great lens on a sensitive topic. From personal experience I know the holidays can be really difficult the first year after a beloved family member has passed on. It can be difficult to start up new traditions or ways of remembering that person without getting the blues. ~blessed!~
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About the Author
Benefits Donors Choose
This lens benefits Donors Choose, an organization dedicated to addressing the scarcity and inequitable distribution of learning materials and experiences in our public schools. by Comfortdoc
Kirsti A. Dyer MD, MS, FT is a respected physician, an expert in life challenges, loss, grief and bereavement, professional health educator, professor,... more »
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