It’s inevitable that with so much holiday cheer in the air, there are going to be a few Scrooges to say, “Bah humbug!” to your smiling face. It’s easy to laugh off their grumpy manner as we go about our own lives, facetiously anxious about shopping, wrapping gifts, baking, etc. However, there is another group of people that exist, and those are the ones who are struggling just as much as the Scrooges are to get into the celebratory holiday mood. They don’t want to bring anybody else down with them, so they quietly go about their own daily lives as they struggle internally about their lack of happiness.
If you’re one of those people, then I see you. I’ve been there. I am there.
But what’s the deal? There’s something called seasonal depression, which creeps up in the fall/winter months for most cases. It’s a strange phenomenon —to go from feeling normal and full of life during the summer and then all of a sudden feeling purely unhappy at your core, without knowing the reason.
Several studies show that a person has a greater chance of dying between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day than any other days of the year. This time of year accounts for 93 percent of all deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Don’t worry; I’m not saying that you’re going to die, but this time of year is not all it’s cracked up to be, free of despair and loneliness. With so much ongoing commotion and excitement, it can be easy to get caught up feeling isolated and like sharing these feelings can be a burden. However, read the statistics.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, 4 percent of the entire United States population suffers from diagnosed seasonal affective disorder (or seasonal depression) while another 14 percent of the population suffers from general winter blues. That might not seem like a large percentage, but when taken into a count of people, that’s almost 64 million people who are going through what you feel.
Yeah, and you thought you were all alone, right?
Whether you’re coping with the death of a loved one, feeling isolated, stressing yourself about finances, or don’t even know the reason for why you’re feeling this way, the holiday season is just as notorious for depression as it is for caroling with friends while you drink eggnog under the mistletoe. Something that always helped me personally was going to New York City (or any city) and seeing the homeless people who are sleeping on the sidewalks or in the train stations with nobody to love them and nowhere to go. Whenever I feel especially alone, I think of those people. I volunteer to help those who are less fortunate than I am, whether that means working at a soup kitchen or buying presents for children who won’t be waking up to multiple packages to open on Christmas morning. It’s extremely true that helping others is a surefire way to help your heart feel better, forgetting your own problems, even if it’s just for an hour.
This holiday season, don’t forget that there is always somebody in a worse place than yourself. Time heals all wounds, and it’s only a matter of time before you begin to feel better. Day by day, the pain will subside as you either get closer to warmer weather, move on from the pain of loss, or remember that you are not alone on your journey. You are one of 64 million who are fighting an uphill battle, but will come out the other end stronger because of it because you are strong yourself.
