For many people, the holiday season is a time filled with happiness and celebrations with family and friends. But for some people, this time of year can also evoke feelings of loneliness, stress and anxiety.
According to University of Arizona psychiatrist John Racy, the holiday blues are very real and more common than most people might think.
“I think special occasions almost always arouse feelings, expectations and obligation, and the degree to which they arouse those feelings brings a certain amount of weight,” Racy said. “So, in my mind, I classify them from very heavy to very light.”
For example, Racy classifies Labor Day as a very light holiday because there are very little expectations associated with that holiday. Thanksgiving, however, is a much heavier holiday, filled with family gatherings and obligations. In Racy’s opinion, Christmas is the heaviest holiday because it’s impossible to forget.
“Christmas is a big gorilla in the room,” he said. “It’s like a huge magnifying glass on the human condition. (This time of year) exaggerates and enlarges everything. What’s positive is more clearly positive. And what’s negative is more vividly negative.”
While most people are quite happy during the holidays, Racy said there are many people who feel very ambivalent during this time.
“I think there’s a number of people who have mixed feelings about it,” he said. “They see the positive of it, but they also see the burden of it. Whether it’s gift giving or having to do something that you don’t want to do. And there is also the commercial pressure — the constant reminder, the jingling of the bells at every store and the music in the mall.”
According to Racy, there are also a number of people who feel completely miserable during the holidays. Holiday depression can disproportionately affect minority groups and people with low income.
“You can imagine how and why some people might feel miserable around this time,” Racy said. “The homeless, for example. The people without resources, the people who suffered a tragedy or a death or the people who are in the middle of a huge family conflict. Because of the magnifying glass quality of Christmas, those negative themes emerge more loudly.”
According to a study by the American Psychological Association, while many people feel happiness throughout the holidays, they also report feelings of stress, irritability and fatigue. Participants listed top stressors as lack of time, lack of money, commercialism and the pressure of family gatherings.
Women and senior citizens can also be disproportionately impacted by the holiday blues, according to the APA. A survey found that women are significantly more likely than men to worry about having enough money for gifts. Women are also more likely to experience an increased workload during the holidays. For seniors, the loss of someone or the idea of getting older can dampen holiday spirits.
According to Racy, the best way that people can cope with holiday sadness is to be around people that make them happy.
Ignoring the commercialized messages that come around this time of year is difficult, Racy said, but he encourages people to remember that simple gestures of kindness and personal sentiments are much more important that material gifts.
“Do a kind act for another human being,” he said. “That is more powerful than almost anything you can imagine.”
