Michael Abrahams | ‘Tis the season to be melancholy

Last week, I called a friend to check up on him. I told him I realised it was “that time of the year” again, meaning Christmas, and I wanted to know how he was doing. He expressed gratitude and told me I was one of the few people who understood what he goes through every year at this time: holiday depression.

For many people, Christmas really is “the most wonderful time of the year”. As the season approaches, you see them wearing festive headgear, driving around with Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer’s nose on the front of their vehicles, with antlers protruding from the driver’s and passenger side windows, and playing Christmas songs. They look forward to putting up Christmas trees, decorating their homes and yards, consuming cake, ham, and sorrel, giving and receiving gifts, and partying and gathering with family and friends.

CHRISTMAS PEOPLE

My wife is one of those Christmas people. She starts celebrating Christmas from, like, summer, and every year, we have to watch This Christmas and listen to Chris Brown sing that song in the movie. But hey, I still want to live in the house, so I smile and nod and go along with it.

But there are some people, like my friend, who dread the end-of-year holiday season. According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, 38 per cent of participants said their stress increased during the holiday season. For them, as the season draws near, it is like tracking a hurricane and bracing for impact. Christmas is an unpleasant time for many people for a variety of reasons. Even those who love the holidays can feel stressed due to the emotions and demands they may be exposed to. But for some, the sadness can be overwhelming.

Some of us are more vulnerable than others. For example, people with pre-existing mental-health conditions may be even more prone to experiencing holiday depression. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64 per cent of people with an existing mental illness report that their conditions worsen at this time of the year.

Holiday depression, or Christmas blues, is real. However, feeling sad during the winter and holiday months may also be a sign of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of major depressive disorder that occurs in seasonal patterns during certain months of the year. People who live in areas with cold, dark, and prolonged winters are even more at risk of developing this. The difference between the two is that holiday depression has relatively mild symptoms, starts around November or December and lifts shortly after the new year begins, while SAD tends to be more severe and typically lasts about 40 per cent of the year, starting in the late fall and early winter until the spring and summer.

MANY REASONS

There are many reasons why people may be sad at this time of the year. For some, it is the first Christmas since the death of a loved one, or it may be the anniversary of the death of someone special to them. It may be the first holiday season since a break-up. Some people may have recently lost their jobs. Others may have financial issues and may experience challenges in participating in the gift-giving that is customary at this time. For people who are already lonely, the loneliness may intensify as they see others around them gathering with friends and family, and they have no one or very few people around them. Some have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and know that this may be the last Christmas they are alive. There are also those who will see family members at gatherings that they do not want to see, such as relatives who abused or sexually molested them in childhood.

If you are a Christmas-loving person, I wish you all the best for the season. I also ask you to remember those who may not be having such a great time. Please remember to reach out to them, especially those who are lonely.

For those of you who dread this time, please remember you are not alone and that this will pass. Try to incorporate activities into your lifestyle that will lift your mood such as exercising, meditating and eating healthily. If you find your sadness to be incapacitating, please do not be afraid to seek professional help. Therapy may help you to overcome some of the issues contributing to your low mood.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams.