Feeling down as the new year gears up? If you are, don’t be surprised, or feel alone with it, because this post-holiday sadness is a recognised phenomenon. If it can hit the young and active, who have all the company of work colleagues and young family about them, it can certainly hit those in the retirement age bracket, especially if they live alone.
Sometimes referred to as the ‘holiday hangover’ or ‘post-vacation depression,’ this feeling of being down can include a range of symptoms from anxiety, loss of appetite, and disrupted sleep, to feelings of sadness and loss. For some, the situation lingers longer than is manageable (in which case, it’s time to consult your GP for advice).
Getting through post-holiday sadness starts with understanding what’s going on for us. For those who have been fortunate enough to have had family and friends around them during the holidays, the sudden departure of those they love brings an understandable feeling of emptiness. For those of whom Christmas and New Year has only served to remind them even more acutely of their loneliness, there can be an intense feeling of having missed out on what everyone else seems to have enjoyed.
Regardless of which camp you fall into, the festive season has a way of getting everyone hyped up. That’s because it isn’t just about days of getting together with friends and family, it’s also about enjoying public get-togethers, decorations, jingles and carols, and the media-sharing of special festive recipes and tips. All of which builds up a heady anticipation of what’s to come. As we dash out for a special pre-Christmas hair appointment, choose a new item of clothing for an end-of-year function, put up the Christmas tree, meet the plane and long distance family coming home for the holidays, pack our holiday bag for the beach, or simply stock up the pantry for the days when the shops close down, our brains are filled with endorphins – the natural chemicals that make us buoyant. The upshot is, it’s a very hard act to follow. No wonder, then, when the hype dies down and we find ourselves returning to our everyday routine, some of us come crashing down.
If this crash is effecting your own mood, what can you do to help yourself? The first course of action is not to judge yourself for the way you feel, and to understand you won’t be the only one having to cope with these unpleasant symptoms. Next, if you’ve had an enjoyable holiday period, give yourself time to process what made it so worthwhile. Was it places or people, relaxation or relationships, food or friendships? Once you figure it out, plan to build on these experiences, not only for the next holiday, but for the spaces in between. If you’ve valued the opportunity to be with friends or loved ones, look ahead to how you can make more time for each other. After all, it doesn’t have to be Christmas for you to invite a friend to lunch, or to gather together family for a pot luck dinner. A weekend at the beach can celebrate any occasion – often all it takes is one member of the family (which could be you) to put up their hand, muster the troops and do the project management.
If you’ve experienced the holiday period alone, and you’re not anxious to repeat the scenario again next year, now is the time to make plans for change. Is there a singles early-bird vacation you can book into now, and look forward to with anticipation? Is there a volunteer organisation you can put your hand up to work for – one where you might meet others looking for company next holidays? Becoming more social may not be easy, but it will be worthwhile.
Practicing gratitude for what you have enjoyed about the holiday period will help get you through post-vacation blues. If you holidayed with friends or family, check back through the photos you took, and print out half a dozen to pop onto the door of your fridge or the back of the loo door – when you look at them, they’ll be a mood booster. If you didn’t get to experience the holiday of your dreams, make a mood board of what you would rather have been doing. The pictures and sentiments you gather will help guide you toward achieving something more in tune with what you desire, come December.
Post-holiday blues aren’t what any of us wish for, but they are a very real thing for many. By accepting the situation for what it is, while at the same time working in creative ways toward recovering from it, we can all do our best to manage this tricky period.