Chasing the Blues: Tips for Coping with Holiday and Winter Stress

Not everyone loves either the holidays or their aftermath. For many of these folks, it's not even simply a matter of the holidays themselves. The first crisp days of autumn can signal a deep dread over the long, cold, dark months of winter that some Floridians and Southern Californians with their moderate climates despise as much as those living on the frigid wind-whipped shores of Hudson Bay or Nova Scotia. Winter, like death and taxes, always comes and yet many would prefer to avoid it even more than tax time or funerals.

Even before Halloween dawns with its candy and trick-or-treaters, you can already feel overwhelmed with the signs of the upcoming holidays. You also see people grit their teeth and clench their fists as they enter stores filled with garishly-decorated silver and even pink Christmas trees, electric menorrahs, and music-playing Kwaanzaa cards. Those who avoid the malls and shopping centers are treated to "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" commercials during breaks in evening news coverage detailing war, layoffs, fears of a killer bird flu, sky-high fuel prices, record level bankruptcies and those whose lives remain shattered in the aftermath of the late summer hurricanes.

Yet it does not take a stressed wallet, job insecurity, loved ones in combat, or the very real effects of a natural disaster to develop a nasty case of the blues. The approach of the nearly six week-long holiday season - followed sharp on its heels by the stark, often frigid grayness of January and beyond - affects almost everyone, directly or indirectly.

Some experts believe that for every person who genuinely enjoys almost every moment of this time of year, as many as 10 others experience significant symptoms of anxiety and depression. Between those two extremes, many others report their emotions are far more likely to shift broadly, unpredictably, and often.