New Year and depression: where is the connection?

According to Dr. Jennifer Veeder, a specialist in women’s health, two-thirds of women immediately after the New Year and Christmas holidays feel depressed, devastated. Men are also not immune from post-holiday spleen – however, they encounter this type of emotional disorder twice as rarely as women.

Clinical psychologist Gerber Rappaport, author of the book Holiday Blues, believes that post-New Year’s depression is mainly for those of us who treat the holidays with a perfectionist position – people who organize vacations and take full responsibility for ensuring that everyone in these the days were certainly happy. “Usually, these concerns fall on women, and as a result, they are more likely to complain of emotional devastation,” Rappaport emphasizes.

Where does depression come from?

There are two main hypotheses explaining the occurrence of the post-New Year depression. The first one is “deluded hopes”. “We expect too much from the holidays, looking forward to the New Year (finally) getting closer to family and friends, to experience a sense of warmth and togetherness,” says Ronald Pais, professor of clinical psychology, author of the article “Shadows of the Post-Holiday Blues.” “Many people live in anticipation of a miracle and, nothing less than spiritual renewal. When that doesn’t happen, frustration sets in.”

There is another hypothesis under the conditional name “connection break”. We spend winter holidays with family, friends, in the fireworks of new experiences. And with the release of work, the rhythm of life changes, communication with loved ones sharply de-energizes, and we can experience painful loneliness.

“Although we still do not have enough research, those that can be relied upon confirm that the so-called post-holiday depression is still a relatively mild emotional disorder,” says Ronald Pais. And it lasts from a few days to a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, during the subsequent winter months, doctors and psychologists are faced with a much more serious condition – winter depression.

Post-Holiday Depression VS Winter Depression

We are talking about an affective seasonal disorder that occurs due to a short daylight hours. Lack of light reduces the production of brain chemicals, such as serotonin, which are responsible for our good mood. Protracted winter depression affects about 10% of the inhabitants of countries mainly with a northern climate. This condition is characterized by the need for prolonged daytime sleep, weight gain, absent-mindedness and general weakness, loss of interest and, in some cases, even suicidal thoughts.

“For many years we mistook seasonal affective disorder for prolonged post-holiday depression, but these are fundamentally different conditions,” emphasizes Ronald Pais. – People, as a rule, are able to get out of the post-holiday emotional impasse on their own. Autumn-winter depression, which develops every year and lasts for several months, is a disease that often requires specialist help.

How to prevent post-holiday depression?

• Treat the holidays without super-expectations, because our life will not change for the better on its own just because of a change in the calendar.
• Do not take full responsibility for organizing the holiday and creating a New Year’s mood, but distribute responsibilities between households / friends.
• Actively maintain relationships with loved ones even after the holidays: initiate joint outings, invite guests over, organize parties.
• To help each other. “Shifting the focus from our own problems to helping another person in need of attention can increase our resistance to depression, and in general make us happier,” says psychiatrist Hinda Dabin from the University of Maryland Medical Center.