During the holiday season, it's nearly impossible to turn on a television or walk into a store without being bombarded with images and videos of holiday joy and cheerfulness. While the intention of these messages is to spread joy, the constant reminders of happy times can have the opposite effect on those who struggle with the holidays. If you experience depression during holiday seasons, then you aren't alone. Holiday and depression can be twin sides of a coin, but the good news is there are ways to cope and enjoy recovery from holiday depression and anxiety. The following are a few helpful tips and tools for how:
Ways to Cope and Overcome Holiday Depression
- Avoid family conflict. One of the biggest holiday depression causes is a conflict with family members. We have all felt pressure from family members for one thing or another, and/or have family members who insist on oversharing or pushing limits with things like a political speech. If part of your depression around the holidays comes from the stress of facing such conflict, then good holiday depression tips include knowing your limits and aim to avoid family conflict. If your family tries to pressure, put your foot down. If you dread hearing your uncle's political sermon, walk away. We know that taking a more dominant approach to family members can be hard and positive but firm approaches are something we try and nurture at our recovery center.
- Start a new tradition. At our recovery center, we have a lot of our clients who have previously associated the holidays with parties and going overboard. Thus, depression during the holiday season can often stem from no longer partaking in those events and activities that were such a part of their life. Recovery from holiday depression causes like this often is best done by finding and creating new holiday traditions. Traditions that don't involve drugs or alcohol.
- Make exercise a priority. From Halloween to New Year's Eve, there is a lot of food involved, and very few of it is really good for you. Additionally, the colder weather and shorter days tend to also have people stay inside a lot more often. But the truth is this is the exact time when you need to go out and get exercise. The more stress and depression you feel, the more you need to go outside and exercise. Hiking in the woods, biking around the neighborhood, and playing a game of pickup basketball with your friends are all great ways to drop the calories and get in a better headspace. While there is certainly an invaluable place for antidepressants, exercise has been proven to be a natural treatment for depression. So if you're feeling depression during the holiday and are struggling with drug and alcohol recovery during this season, then one great way to combat that is to get up and get moving.
Need Help with Depression Treatment? Contact the Renaissance Recovery Center
We are situated among some of nature’s most beautiful, energetic and healing backdrops. The power of the word renaissance lies in its meaning: Renewal of Life And Vigor! We promote healing and wellness. We hope this list of holiday depression tips helps get you on the right track, but if you need more personal help we hope you reach out to our team at Renaissance Recovery Center enter directly.
