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Coping with christmas depression


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  • SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

    Also visit the online treatment locator.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.

The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.

English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.

In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.

The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.

The service is confidential. We will not ask you for any personal information. We may ask for your zip code or other pertinent geographic information in order to track calls being routed to other offices or to accurately identify the local resources appropriate to your needs.

No, we do not provide counseling. Trained information specialists answer calls, transfer callers to state services or other appropriate intake centers in their states, and connect them with local assistance and support.

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Last Updated: 08/30/2022

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What is New Year depression and how to deal with it

Winter brings many changes to the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people: it gets colder, daylight hours are shortened, everyone gets to and from work in the dark. Of course, for many, the winter season is all about holiday traditions, gifts, and entertainment. Unfortunately, millions of people at the same time are forced to struggle with anxiety, despair and breakdown. nine0003

New Year's depression is a depressed state, accompanied by anxiety and unwillingness to participate in the general holiday. Scientists believe that this phenomenon has certain causes, and that it can and should be fought.

When should you sound the alarm?

New Year blues for many people is easy, without any consequences and ends by itself. Therefore, it is very important not to miss the moment when slight sadness and regrets about the unfulfilled develops into a real severe clinical depression. In addition, you need to know that it is after the New Year holidays that a disease called seasonal affective disorder often worsens. What signs should alert you? nine0003

  • constant depression
  • lack of strength, not going away even after rest
  • hypersomnia - the presence of excessive duration of night sleep, episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness in which the individual feels an excruciating need for food
  • decreased sexual desire.

If you or someone close to you has one or more of these symptoms, you need to see a doctor for help. nine0003

How to deal with New Year depression?

  • Try to set yourself realistic goals and objectives. Do not expect too much from the holiday: it will not radically change your life, and most likely, a miracle will not happen after the New Year's chimes. Don't expect your celebrations to be perfect: something can always go wrong and you need to be prepared for it.
  • Set yourself firm boundaries: too many party invitations? Too many financial costs? Set yourself a limit to save money and energy for your closest people. nine0018
  • Feeling lonely? There are many ways to get rid of the feeling of loneliness during the New Year holidays: chatting with friends and neighbors, walking together, going to the cinema, skating rinks and theaters, and even chatting on the Internet - all this allows you to get rid of sad thoughts and tune in to the festive wave.
  • Create new traditions. You can come up with some action that will be exactly your symbol of the holiday: a trip to the forest, buying yourself or your loved ones a long-desired gift, some kind of fun pastime together - all this will help get rid of old painful memories and create new ones that will be connected exclusively with a festive mood. nine0018
  • Take care of yourself: remember that during the New Year holidays it is better to limit food and drink, and, on the contrary, increase physical activity.

Causes of New Year's depression

Psychologists believe that there can be several reasons for New Year's depression. By the end of the year, a lot of cases at work accumulate; all people sum up the results of the past year, evaluating what was planned and what was not. The New Year holidays also carry a financial burden: you need to prepare for the holiday, buy gifts, organize a New Year's table, on which many Russians spend their last money, after celebrating the New Year, finding themselves "stranded". nine0003

Psychologists consider the fact that many people expect a "miracle" and noticeable changes in the New Year, but when nothing changes after the holiday, people are overtaken by powerful disappointment. Films with a New Year's theme can also contribute to the New Year's depression. Fairy tales with a happy ending and the triumph of good create unrealistic expectations not only for children, but also for many adults. And often a comparison of the surrounding reality with fairy tales plunges viewers into the abyss of new experiences that life is going downhill. nine0003

The situation can be aggravated by alcohol intake, which, as you know, only deepens negative experiences. In addition, an excess of communication with not very close people, which often happens at New Year's corporate parties, can also play a role: such communication drains strength and destroys the festive mood.

New Year's depression is most often a temporary phenomenon that passes as soon as the fuss of the New Year holidays is left behind. However, if you notice that the decline in strength and mood does not go away with time, and the symptoms of depression drag on for a long time, it is very important to seek professional help in time. nine0003

Psychiatrists have named ways to cope with New Year's depression - RBC

Photo: Andrey Lyubimov / RBC

holidays and relax. The reason for the so-called New Year's depression is most often not the holidays themselves, but the depressive conditions that a person already has, which can worsen due to a change in habitual behavior during working hours. This was reported to RBC by a psychotherapist and psychiatrist Yevgeny Novitsky. nine0003

“Work and daily activities help us to stay in good shape and get distracted from our inner worries. Holiday Space reveals and brings to the surface our true state. You just need to treat yourself as loyally as possible and not extort the feeling of a holiday out of yourself. Just relax and indulge your little desires, whatever. I want to curl up and moan under the covers - please. Do not eat healthy food and do not clean the house - please, ”Novitsky recommended. nine0003

In his opinion, such an attitude will help to relax and “reboot”, including those who have experienced burnout during prolonged work in self-isolation.

adv.rbc.ru

“For those who have stayed in isolation and accumulated a lot of repressed emotions, you can arrange an emotional detox. Throw out anger, allow yourself a slight hooliganism, leave the eggs in the "figure of the enemy," advises Novitsky.

adv.rbc.ru

If you are unable to meet with friends and relatives, the psychiatrist recommends trying to make online communication more sincere and lively: discuss issues that have been worrying you and your loved ones for a long time, share secrets that you have long wanted to share, and show maximum empathy.

For those for whom 2020 was marked by serious losses, the psychiatrist advises to reflect on their damage and try to accept it.

“The most serious, but almost the most important option is farewell. nine0063 Even if you lost not a person, but something very significant material. Mentally go through the stages of mourning: first allow yourself to get angry at the loss, yearn for it, and proceed to the pleasant stage: try to understand what in the lost thing most attracted you, what feelings it gave. And then look for how these qualities could be manifested in yourself.

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