The "Sorrow" of Christmas...

Christmas, for many people, is the biggest celebration of the year. It is the feast that will give them the opportunity to meet loved ones, to have nice time, to rest and to enjoy the whole festive atmosphere. However, there are some people for whom Christmas, and generally celebrations, are martyrdom. Such days they feel overwhelmed by negative emotions such as: sadness, pessimism, indifference, anhedonia, and generally depressed mood. Psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health counselors all agree that this season tends to cause melancholy or sadness for those who are emotionally vulnerable.

Christmas Melancholy describes a situation of occasional sadness experienced by a person before, during and/or after holidays. It is an emotional state that reminds of depression without being an emotional disorder that needs treatment if the symptoms stop at the end of holidays.

The melancholy and the negative mood of these days can be due to a number of reasons, such as loneliness, the belief that "I have to go well because it's festive", the financial problems that do not allow us to spend the festivities as we imagine or, more generally , because there are problems that have existed during the whole of the rest of the time and have remained unresolved as recent losses (segregation, separation, illness, death), psycho-traumatic life events in childhood associated with denial in the mind of the little child between the experience of the holidays and his emotional world (e.g. abandonment, family disharmony, loneliness, etc.), lack of friends and supportive circles, previous episodes of depression, and a general feeling of impasse in the life of the child, intensified during periods of stress for the individual.

Some people face the depression of holidays in a passive way, such as patience to go through. Some others with the witticism: "Because of the days", increase alcohol consumption. Of course these ways do not help the situation nor they solve the problem.

Some tips that you can follow to confront the sadness of holidays include:

Initially freely express your true feelings. Because it is Christmas does not mean that "we must feel absolute happiness".
Making a review of last year's events, try to delineate new goals, but always realistic.
These days do not make decisions like "New Year's Eve I'll cut the cigarette".
Set realistic expectations for the days of celebrations. If you are pursuing unattainable goals, frustration is certain. Think especially in the winter that everything is moving slower, because not you.
Share the tasks within the family so that they do not just bear the burden and the obligations

Organize your time correctly and start your priorities. Make plans from the previous ones, so you know how and with whom to spend your vacation. Uncertainty and postponement of decision-making add tremendous pressure.
If there are financial problems, you can find alternative suggestions for both gifts and entertainment. Do not buy things you can not resist financially. It is most likely later to regret it.

Try to enjoy "small" things, a walk, a small gift for yourself, a smile.
Find the time to relax and rejuvenate, even through the pressure of things to happen quickly and as you should, this will give you more energy.

Smile and think that life is fine only when we believe in it... Discard any negative thought... Happiness comes when we have loved ones beside us and above all when we are healthy, physically and mentally.