In the first week of January, decorations are taken down, festive lights are turned off, and our spirits are significantly lowered. Although it is very isolating to be lonely after such a happy period of the year, it is more common than you think. This phenomenon is called post-holiday syndrome, and it occurs in more than half the population. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64 percent of people become significantly sadder during this time.
Post-holiday syndrome, which is also known as post-holiday depression or post-vacation blues, can be defined as the intense feeling of sadness or stress after the holidays. After a huge event in our lives, it is hard for our brains to adjust back to our normal routines. Symptoms include feeling less energetic than usual, being less social, losing interest in activities, and sleeping more than usual. Essentially, it is a form of depression that spawns for a short period of time after the holidays. Although its duration is short, it still has a negative impact on people.
During this time, the weather is also cold and dark. The days are also getting shorter, and there is an apparent lack of sunlight. Sunlight is incredibly important to raising your happiness, it stimulates the release of endorphins and serotonin, which are hormones in your body that make you happy. Especially in New York, we are prone to harsher winters in months like January and February. Seeing as it is colder, people are also staying inside less, leaving them less exposed to sunlight which decreases happiness during a time where the adrenaline from the holidays is wearing off. This can leave one feeling incredibly depressed.
There are also incredibly high expectations for the holidays. They are an incredibly nostalgic time where people spend a lot of time with their families and feel a lot of joy. When they all end, it is easy to get put in a slump due to our regular lives abruptly resuming. All these factors can be really hard on people, especially on students like us at Cardozo who have currently been going through finals week which brings added stress to our lives. So, what can we do about this?
There are a wide variety of things you can do to help support yourself during a sad period in your life. Being positive is incredibly important, because your mindset heavily determines your mood. Appreciating the things in your daily life is a very good way to do this, no matter how small they are. In addition, staying physically active is a very good way to boost your mood, as it helps to increase the production of serotonin which will make you happier. Similarly, eating citrus fruits will help because they contain vitamins to help increase your production of serotonin. Doing what you love everyday are also essential to boosting your mood. Although it seems simple it is easy to forget to make time for yourself.
Most importantly, talking to people you trust about what you are going through can greatly help. Post-holiday syndrome can potentially lead to suicidal thoughts. If you are struggling with these thoughts, the suicide hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and can be easily reached by dialing 988.
Going through a hard time after the holiday season has concluded is a normal thing for people to experience. The depressing experience feels incredibly lonely and difficult to get through. However, by reminding ourselves to practice mood boosting behaviors, we can overcome these hardships we face and live to see happier days.