Coping with Depression during the Holidays
The holidays can be a particularly difficult time if you’ve recently lost a loved one or if you are feeling sad and lonely while everyone around you seems to be enjoying the festive season.
Sadness during the holidays, sometimes called the holiday blues, can be caused by many different reasons, including the following:
• Stress
• Tiredness or fatigue
• Financial worry
• Disappointment
• Being overcommitted to social events
While the overwhelming stress of the holidays may be the source of sadness for many people, others may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder, or seasonal depression, which usually occurs in the colder, darker months of winter.
To combat the holiday blues and stress, it’s important to find ways to manage your feelings so they don’t consume your life. Seeing a counselor or attending a support group may help, or visiting your doctor who can check for physical reasons for your depression and prescribe antidepressant medications if needed. Seasonal affective disorder can be treated with phototherapy and medications.
Here are some more tips on relieving the holiday blues:
• Set reasonable expectations on what you can accomplish or can’t do.
• Try to be optimistic about the future.
• Don’t compare your holiday celebrations of today with those you remember from childhood. This can make you feel more sad and disappointed.
• Limit the amount of alcohol you consume, since it can increase your thoughts of depression.
• Volunteer to help others.
• Slow down and make some time for yourself.
• Take time to reconnect with old friends and family members.
AmeriPlan USA discount health plans may be able to help you combat the holiday blues. If you don’t have health insurance, the discount healthcare plans are an affordable alternative to receive substantial discounts, including medical visits, prescriptions and mental health services.
There are no enrollment periods or any insurance paperwork to fill out. Your membership won’t be denied because of any pre-existing conditions. Instead, you’ll be able to utilize your AmeriPlan medical plan immediately. AmeriPlan USA offers a variety of affordable discount healthcare plans, along with discount dental plans.
AmeriPlan USA offers AmeriDoc, a telemedicine program where members may call or email a qualified physician 24 hours, seven days a week. You’ll be able to have quick access to a doctor, all from the comfort of your own home. AmeriPlan medical plans may help you receive discounted medical services to find out if you’re suffering from the holiday blues or more serious clinical depression.
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