Script: Hello, everyone, welcome back. Christmas and New Year is supposed to be a joyful time, so why are some people depressed during the holidays, or even started to feel depressed before the holidays? Today we are going to talk about Christmas Blues, or Holiday Blues. “Blues” means feelings of sadness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness in the United States, 64% of people report being affected by holiday depression, and it is most often triggered by financial, emotional, and physical stress of the season. So, why is it that the holidays make feeling okay so hard? Here are some of the reasons. 1. Far too much comparison. Christmas and New Year holidays have been overly commercialized and romanticized. Most people ‘s impression of Christmas and New Year is that the holidays are filled with joy and laughter, and the table is filled with delicious food. The Christmas tree is decorated with shiny ornaments with presents underneath. You can see the snow falling outside. Party after party, food, wine and beautiful clothes. Maybe a two day trip to a ski resort. Then we compare the reality with our imagination and expectation, and we compare this holiday with the previous happier ones, when our grandparents, parents were still around. We compare our holidays with our friends’ holidays, who post their stories and videos on Facebook and Instagram. Their lives seem perfect; perfect spouses, perfect children, perfect job, even their dog is perfect. 2. Stress is high. Now that most people are pretending that the pandemic is over, parties are resumed. More get-togethers, more gifts to buy, more meals to prepare. It is a stress to your wallet as well. 3. End of year self-reflection leads to negative thinking. You criticize yourself for what you did, or didn’t do this year. 4. Loneliness is a common trigger. Maybe this year, you are alone. Maybe you are single this year, just broke up with your partner. Or maybe you are away from your family because of school or work. Some people, just feel lonely even though they are surrounded by family and loved ones. 5. Winter depression, or seasonal affective disorder. It has to do with shorter daylight hours in the winter. In next week’s episode, I will talk about how to cope with and pull through the holiday blues, and I will share my own story. Vocabulary 1. Romanticize – idealize, make something seem better than it is. 2. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons — SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. Symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. These symptoms often resolve during the spring and summer months.

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