This blog post was written by Kristen Peairs, Nutritionist and Meditation Guru at Nivati. You can see more of their content on the Nivat platform and on the Nivati blog. If you want to learn more about Nivati, click here.

Every year, it feels as if December is one big party. Everywhere I go, holiday music is playing, and lights are shining. Social invites from family, friends, and colleagues are bountiful. The hours spent sleeping go down, and the hours spent bustling go up. Don’t forget about the abundance of holiday-sparked emotions! Happiness, sadness, joy, frustration, and more are frequently a part of the whole experience. 

When I pause and reflect on the entirety of the season, I realize how much extra energy it takes to move through it. Regardless of how I, or any of us, feel about them, the truth is that the holidays provide ample opportunity for heightened stimulation on every level. 

When January rolls around, it’s normal to feel tired, worn out, sad, aimless, and even depressed. These feelings are referred to as the post-holiday blues or post-holiday depression. For anyone already grappling with mental health, the after-holiday letdown can make life feel even more challenging. 

To gauge the reality of post-holiday mental health struggles, a 2011 study looked at the number of psychiatric services and admissions requested after the holidays. It found an increase “in the overall utilization of psychiatric emergency services and admissions, self-harm behavior, and suicide attempts/completions” during the post-holiday period. The post-holiday blues are a reality that affects many people.

Even before I had heard the term “post-holiday depression,” I’d grown to expect feelings of reduced desire to engage and be active after the holidays. All of my get-up-and-go-oriented New Year’s resolutions never stood a chance of motivating me to move my body when the inner feelings of “blah” were so much stronger. How did I handle my bluesy self? 

Understanding, compassion, and self-nurturing with a dose of discipline became my magical formula.

Understanding the Holiday Blues

In order to feel compassionate toward oneself, it’s helpful to first understand some causes of the post-holiday blues.

1. Adrenaline come down

All of the holiday hustle and bustle can mean pushing ourselves beyond normal limits for energy output. The stress hormone, adrenaline, keeps us able to forge ahead despite being hungry, stressed, or tired. However, when we are functioning beyond our regular capacity for days and weeks on end, there is a cost to our bodies, particularly for our brains and nerves. 

Constant doses of adrenaline, with its ability to heighten perception of all of life’s stimuli, can aggravate nerves and blood vessels which may result in symptoms such as elevated blood pressure, headaches, and anxiety. Our bodies are designed to have up time and downtime. A whole month of up time may yield a period of downtime. During the downtime, the body works to replenish the brain, nerves, and vessels while also recalibrating hormones to bring the whole system back into a healthier balance.

2. Dietary changes

Another reason for post-holiday blues relates to dietary changes. The holidays are filled with opportunities (and excuses) to over-consume caffeine, alcohol, and refined foods high in sugar, fat, and salt. If we have said, “yes” to more of these opportunities than usual, then we may very well experience more mental and physical symptoms. It is well documented that caffeine, alcohol, and processed foods negatively affect mental health. Even if we return to our normal healthier diets after the holidays, it still takes time for the brain and body to recalibrate.

To read more about the best and worst foods for mental health, click here.

3. Emotional exhaustion

Heightened holiday emotions can take their toll. Extended periods of stimulus that cause us to feel abundant emotion can leave us feeling depleted when the stimulus is gone. As with adrenaline come-down and dietary changes, it takes time for the brain and body to recalibrate.

Self-Compassion

Once we understand some of the reasons we are experiencing the post-holiday blues, we can have compassion for our minds and bodies. They are tired and need time to recover. Remember, after a period of elevated activity and emotion, it is common for the mind and body to feel fatigued and slow. Trying to push ourselves to do and be more during post-holiday depression can be detrimental to feeling better long-term.

Self-Nurturing

When considering how to deal with post-holiday depression, let’s begin by imagining what our body might need to support its recovery. With just this one question, we are on our way to feeling better.

Common activities that many people find nurturing are rest, nourishing food, time in nature, time with a supportive community, gentle movement, meditation, and self-reflection. Nurturing activities generally don’t feel exciting and are not adrenaline-inducing. They may not even feel inviting, but they do help us to slow down and reconnect with ourselves, which supports our brain/body recalibration.

Learning how to deal with post-holiday depression is an individual experience that will take an amount of time that is dependent upon each of our unique circumstances. Reach out for support as you feel called. For most of us, it is a temporary experience that does pass.

Discipline

From my experience with the post-holiday blues, I’ve learned that I recover more quickly when I insert a little bit of discipline into my life. By discipline, I don’t mean hardcore, punishing, or self-destructive discipline. I mean discipline that reflects the compassionate commitment to what I want. For me, that involves setting gentle boundaries of my own choosing. 

A gentle boundary keeps me aligned with my long-term wellness goals when the bluesy me has other ideas. 

For example, my bluesy self might crave junk foods, but I choose to eat whole foods because I know they help me feel better in the long run. To support my commitment to eating whole foods, I refrain from buying junk food, and I keep a list of restaurants that serve dishes that support my health goals. 

While these activities may not be exciting, they do a good job of keeping me on track for feeling better.

Another example of a compassionate boundary occurs when my bluesy self wants to spend hours scrolling on my phone or watching TV. When I catch myself with this craving, I choose to do some journaling and gentle movement first. If I still crave the scrolling and TV after I’ve completed my journaling and movement, then I let myself have the time to enjoy the scrolling and TV.

When recovering from the post-holiday blues, give yourself time. Remember to be compassionate and engage with activities that nurture you toward the health that you desire. Set gentle boundaries and do your best to stick with them. You can do this.

For more tips from Kristen, check out: Healing from Grief Through Technicolor

Disclaimer

By participating in/reading the service/website/blog/email series on this website, you acknowledge that this is a personal website/blog and is for informational purposes and should not be seen as mental health care advice. You should consult with a licensed professional before you rely on this website/blog’s information. All things written on this website should not be seen as therapy treatment and should not take the place of therapy or any other health care or mental health advice. Always seek the advice of a mental health care professional or physician. The content on this blog is not meant to and does not substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.