Let’s face it, the holidays are really set at almost the worst time of year. Since they happen right at the end of the year they are placed just a few days after the shortest day of the year. Or another way to say that, is that all of the days following the holidays have some of the most darkness out of any days of the year.

And not only are they going to be dark, they are also going to be cold.  It’s easy to feel bummed out and depressed after the holidays are over. After all, that’s the fun part of winter. The rest of winter is dark, cold, and entirely lacking in exciting holidays, feasts, or celebrations. If you are feeling down after the holidays and aren’t sure what to do about it, be sure to check out everything you need to know on how to combat the post holiday blues!

The Day-After Blues Are Perfectly Normal

You Aren’t the Only Person Who Struggles With Feeling Low After the Holiday Festivities Are Over

One of the worst parts about the post holiday blues is the feeling of loneliness. We don’t have any reason to have social gatherings and meet with our loved ones throughout January and February. And in the modern world, we aren’t even supposed to be having social gatherings at the holidays, let alone for no reason on a weekend in February.

And because of this, I just want to be clear to point out that all kinds of people deal with post-holiday blues. There is nothing abnormal or unusual about you. And even more importantly you aren’t alone.

One of the common symptoms of sadness and depression is a feeling of isolation and loneliness. And I know first hand that helps to know that other people share the same experiences and struggles that you do. Even if you feel alone, there’s something comforting in knowing you aren’t the only one. You might feel lonely, but there’s a whole group of other people who also feel lonely. Which means you are just part of a group of sad and lonely people. And once you are in a group, it becomes a lot harder to feel isolated and alone.

Why Your Post Holiday Blues Might Be Worse This Year

An Interruption to the Holidays Might Be Contributing to It

With the onset of a global pandemic, almost everybody had their plans interrupted. If you are anything like me that means you missed AT LEAST one Thanksgiving and Christmas with your loved ones. And probably all the other holidays you would normally celebrate with gatherings of people. Because of this, it kind of puts more pressure on the holidays this year.

Since we are now into calendar year three of living with a global pandemic, we have missed out on an awful lot. And this means that when we finally do get to enjoy something, it seems like it’s an even bigger deal than it used to be. Now this means that everything you do can feel especially exciting.

And the pandemic world has had this effect on everything from large to small. So when it’s something as important as Christmas or New Years it’s even more drastic.

After having two years of our lives ripped away from us, it makes something like the holiday season an even bigger deal. And while it is usually a bit of a bummer for the holidays to end and to know you have several months of winter left,  it is especially hard to go from the jubilant high of the holidays to the monotonous lows of the pandemic world. There is an even greater serotonin shock going back into quarantining and social distancing after so much fun and excitement. This might be causing you to feel a lot more bummed out this year than you usually are after the holidays so keep that in mind.

How to Know When It’s More Than Post Holiday Blues

Differentiating Between Rational Sadness, and Irrational Depression

I have experienced both holiday blues and clinical depression. And I can tell you first hand what the trick is to knowing when it’s something more. Listen, it’s hard for the holidays to live up to the expectations we have for them. It’s easy to feel let down and to feel burned out or depressed after the holidays. But there are a few simple ways you can deal with your holiday blues.

First, you need to take stock of why the holidays disappointed you and why you are feeling down about it. If you can be honest with yourself about your expectations and how they conflict with reality, you are going to be able to identify where you are being irrational about your sadness or disappointment.  

Were your expectations just way too high? Were they unreasonable? Did you build it up into something in your head it could never possibly be? If so, that’s fine, just acknowledge the problem this time wasn’t the holidays themselves, it was the unrealistic expectations you set for them. Just take the time to really identify what aspect it was that brought you down, so that way you can avoid making the same mistake next year,

Next, take stock of what made you feel happy or good about the holidays. After you have recognized and acknowledged what it was about the holidays that brought you down, now you can combat those feelings by taking the time to focus on what was good about the holidays. Try to hold onto the things that made you smile or brought you feelings of joy. And try to focus on these positive aspects of the holidays. Dwelling on negative emotions isn’t going to do anything productive for you so instead focus on what was good and what you hope to make happen again in the future.

If after you have taken the time to acknowledge your emotions, and tried to build up your positive emotions, and you are still feeling down, hopeless, sad, defeated, or isolated then I have some unfortunate news for you. There’s a good chance you are more than just sad about Christmas. You might be struggling with some mental health issues.

But don’t worry. Tons of Americans battle some sort of mental health struggle. In fact nearly a majority of us have reported symptoms of mental health struggles throughout the pandemic. And even outside of the pandemic there are depressive disorders that are specific to the seasons. About 5% of American adults suffer from seasonal affective disorder. Which is a depressive disorder that is triggered by the changing of the seasons.

And guess what? New Year's day happens less than 10 days after the changing of the seasons. So if you are getting sad after the holidays every single year, there’s a good chance you are suffering from SAD or another depressive disorder. But don’t worry. You can speak with a mental health care professional who can help because there are a plethora of treatment options in the modern world.

Well there you have it. Everything you need to know about the holiday blues. And I think most importantly, you now know how to differentiate between some “post-jubilations” depression and a genuine medical depressive disorder. And remember, even in the before COVID times 10% of Americans suffered from a depressive illness. With women being twice as likely as men to suffer from one. Those numbers have only gone up during the pandemic times.

So there is nothing wrong with you or unusual about you. Whether it’s the holiday blues, or a genuine depressive episode, there are millions of other people out there struggling with the same things you are. And the pandemic has made everything from post holiday blues to the symptoms of actual mental disorder, more extreme.