The holiday ornaments are down and life, presumably, is back to normal.
For people who hate the clutter and hubbub of holidays, this may be a good time.
Others find themselves tempted to retreat under the covers. They wonder why they feel flat, sad, worried or just plain disinterested.
There’s a name for the condition, which doesn’t just show up after Christmas and the New Year parties. It’s known as post-holiday depression and the holiday in question could be returning from a long-awaited vacation to face reality.
“The holidays may make whatever was going on to begin with exacerbated,” said Mary Joye, a licensed mental health counselor in Winter Haven.
“Mostly, it’s about processing the holidays. They suspend things for some people.”
Added to that, she said, as the holiday lights go off and the music gets turned down, levels of dopamine can decrease, too.
Her best advice for dealing with the blues after holidays end?
Focus on something else that makes you feel happy.
“I get sad when I take my tree down,” Joye said, “(but) when I see that empty space I feel a sigh of relief. ..It’s clean and uncluttered.”
In some ways, your life may also feel less cluttered after the holidays.
It can be easier to find time for activities like reading, running and seeing friends. Maybe plan for – and take – a mini vacation.
Joye encourages retaining a spirit of giving throughout the year, but also being open to receiving as well.
“We get dopamine from giving, but we need to receive it to be able to give it,” Joye said.
Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that affects emotions.
With garden-variety post-holiday depression, symptoms are likely to have eased by now even though the unusually cold weather may not have helped.
But what if they haven’t?
It may be time to consider if something stronger, approaching actual depression, is affecting your mood. You may need to see a mental-health professional.
Depression doesn’t wear a neon sign
“Depression is not always obvious,” said Watson Clinic dietitian Rita Harrison, who also has a master’s degree in social work and a background in mental health.
“You can’t look at someone and know they’re depressed.”
Persistent sadness or anxiety, a feeling of hollowness and loss of interest in activities or pleasures you once enjoyed are the top warning signs, Harrison said.
Others are feeling worthless, feeling powerless to change a situation, loss of energy and increased fatigue.
She gave that warning in January to a diabetes support group run by Watson Clinic and Lakeland Regional Health, reminding the attendees some research finds just shy of one third of people with diabetes also experience depression.
Having depression may increase the risk of developing diabetes by 60 percent, Harrison added.
If people felt exhausted, or burned out during the holidays, that feeling may not have gone away. The reasons could stem from physical illnesses like diabetes, Harrison said, but they could stem from emotional factors common in dealing with chronic illnesses.
Advice she shared for avoiding diabetic burnout could benefit others trying to avoid it too:
“Don’t strive for perfectionism. It can result in self-defeating negative talk and beating yourself up.”
Recognize it’s normal to feel overwhelmed at times. Remember you aren’t alone and treat yourself with kindness.
Setting goals is common at this time of year.
Those goals need to be realistic, Harrison said, cautioning that non-athletic people won’t want to start a walking program by trying to complete Lake Hollingworth’s almost 3-mile hike on their first day.
Making resolutions about doing more of what you “should” do often isn’t the best approach. Joye said she works with her clients to help them identify what they feel down about and what they don’t want in their lives.
That can help in figuring out what you do want and what could make you happy.
“I’m big on guided meditation,” Joye said. “It helps the brain know what it wants…A person’s subconscious tells them a lot if they’ll listen to it.”
Robin Williams Adams is at robinwadams99@yahoo.com