Christmas Eve is a time of family gathering, eggnog, kissing under the mistletoe, and gift-giving. But for some, it can be a lonely and stressful time as sometimes high expectations and dysfunctional faultlines. That’s pretty normal to go through as many of us have gone through but if it is getting persistent, showing more intensity in terms of symptoms of depression on Christmas Eve, and doesn’t go away long after the holiday season, then there could be something much worse waiting as an underlying problem. Let’s find out how!
“The Christmas Effect” or Christmas Depression?
“The Christmas Effect” is a real deal and is something that as an English language term summarizes symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety during the Christmas season. As mentioned before, Christmas and depression are not mutually exclusive. While one can exist without the other it can happen together to cause you something similar to “winter blues”. It is a pretty common occurrence during the holiday season. This effect can come due to a multitude of reasons such as family disputes, bereavement, loneliness, addiction, or financial troubles. Many also call it Christmas depression, and of course, it has recognizable symptoms:
- Negative thought processes, where everything is nihilistic
- Self-reproach and guilt-ridden
- Social anxiety and avoidance behavior, i.e. avoiding gatherings full of people
- Highly irritable and easily provoked
- Excessive emotional bipolarity
- Brain fog and extreme fatigue
- Increased risk of substance and alcohol abuse
- Self-harm and suicidal ideation
- Unhealthy sleep patterns. Oversleeping and undersleeping, are both norms during this time, often leading to problems such as insomnia
- Unhealthy eating patterns. Overeating and undereating, are both norms during this time, often leading to dangerous eating disorders
- Extreme impulses that do not calm down easily
These symptoms can always get worse during Christmas and depression then becomes a confirmed output, only this time it is much worse. When we talk about Christmas depression, there are things that are attached to it that you should know about. Let’s start with a seasonal affective disorder.
Read More: Holiday Anxiety: What and When To Do Something About It
Seasonal Affective Disorder
The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and depression are extremely different. The difference lies in the scale of time. If the onset or the worsening of aforementioned symptoms tends to get in the way of executive functioning (our ability to do our everyday tasks properly) during a specific season, predominantly in winter, hence the name ‘winter blues’ is passed on a lot, but that term reflects on the milder version of the Christmas depression. Infrequently, it can also arise in summer time but it’s extremely rare. Around 5% of the adults in the USA suffer from SAD, which tends to last 40% of the period in a year(1). It usually arises between the ages of 18 and 30(1).
Causes of Depression Over Christmas (Also Called SAD)
The causes of depression over Christmas or during the holiday season are not unknown but one one cannot specifically pinpoint a specific source. Although, there are hordes of different ways this type of disorder can come into motion. These contributing factors tend to vary from one affected individual to another. Usually, these factors tend to be family history, surrounding environment, and even something like trauma or bereavement as mentioned above.
One factor could be that the less light someone gets, the more likely one’s circadian rhythm (which is a human being’s internal clock that keeps us aware of the day and night cycle) will be disrupted. The decreased sunlight during the winter or in other words the Christmas season can essentially directly affect it. The circadian rhythm is also disrupted due to an imbalance of hormones such as serotonin (which is responsible for regulating behavior, mood, memory, and gastrointestinal homeostasis), and melatonin (produced as a response to darkness, which helps in regulating our circadian rhythm and to sleep better) can capable of affecting the proper workings of our circadian rhythm and therefore is able to induce something like Christmas depression(2). People with SAD tend to produce overly high amounts of melatonin, which probably is a big contributor to the imbalance found in circadian rhythm, which often leads to Christmas depression(3).
Read More: What Is High-Functioning Depression?
Risk Factors Contribute To Christmas Depression
If we are going through Christmas depression brought on by SAD, then it is applicable for us to think whatever is a risk factor for SAD, then it is probably a risk factor for depression at Christmas time. It could be that long winter nights in areas such as Alaska in the USA or Canada as a whole tend to have longer nights, which may contribute, especially when compared to sunnier states like California and Florida. It also tends to be more frequent in women than men.
Diagnosing Depression at Christmas Time or SAD
Criteria can be laid out for healthcare professionals to use a checklist to double check if someone has SAD aka Christmas Depression or not. Usually, the criterion is based on these parameters(3):
- Depression symptoms, or the way a depressive episode manifests
- Frequency and intensity of the depressive episodes during the winter season to ensure it is something like Christmas depression
- The depressive episodes occur during a particular season, winter in this case, for 2 years in a row
Additionally, you could be diagnosed with subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder instead of SAD if it is the case that there are only minor symptoms that are arising. If the symptoms continue to change past the season, you might be diagnosed with something like bipolar disorder or a major depressive disorder.
Read More: Symptoms and Causes of Depression – How to Treat Them?
Treatment for Feeling Depressed at Christmas
Treatment is available if it is the case if you have always been feeling depressed at Christmas. You would be treated with the following: counseling, psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of all.
A common example of psychotherapy (talk therapy) is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps mental health professionals talk to an affected individual through the negative thought processes that tend to be a problematic factor contributing to their behavior and also helps them look inward and find resolutions for their problems.
Medications like antidepressants are the go-to treatment for something like Christmas depression. Often going by the name Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI), these focus on increasing the hormone Serotonin, which as mentioned before can help with regulating mood and therefore decreasing depression biologically. For medication, an expert authority such as a psychiatrist may be consulted. Example of these may include(4):
- fluoxetine (Prozac)
- paroxetine (Paxil)
- sertraline (Zoloft)
- bupropion (Wellbutrin)
Another type of treatment for feeling depressed at Christmas is something called Light Therapy(4). This is a way of replicating natural light to induce and correct the balance in circadian rhythm, especially during the winter period and in areas that are found to be in perpetual darkness most of the time such as Alaska. There can be side effects though: dizziness, headaches, and eye fatigue. This type of therapy to treat Christmas depression should be strictly avoided if there is a comorbidity of bipolar disorder or the presence of recently done eye surgery, an eye disease, or if the affected individual is suffering from light sensitivity, which can itself be a side effect of the medication described above.
In addition to these treatment methods, Vitamin D supplements can also be used to treat SAD as well. However, studies have shown they might not entirely be helpful, so more studies need to be done(5). Adopting healthy lifestyle habits such as getting regular exercise and sun exposure also helps minimize SAD symptoms(4).
Read More: Depression in young adults: Signs, Causes, and Treatment
Summary
From now on, you won’t have to feel depressed at Christmas anymore. This is because and as you have read before, treatment is available to treat something like Christmas depression. You can get treatment for this and other conditions such as but not limited to OCD, an eating disorder, or even psychosis at the Inland Empire Behavioral Group. Through us, alternative treatment methods like telehealth psychiatry and psychiatric medication management are also available.
