New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Did your New Year resolutions make our top ten list?
Depression at Christmas
Survey on Depression at Christmas shows quite clearly what many of us have long suspected - that Christmas is difficult for vast numbers of people. It is a particular problem for depressed adults, who often feel worse as the festive season gets underway.
Over 45 per cent of those who responded said that they dread the festive season. Interestingly, New Year doesn't fare any better than Christmas. The results of the survey show that many people find coping with Hogmanay and all the supposed jollification equally difficult. In fact 43 per cent of respondents said that they did not like New Year 'at all'.
And when asked: 'If you're already depressed, does Christmas tend to make it worse?' more than 57 per cent replied that it often or always does.
deedee65PA's Story
I suffered from depression for years before anxiety/panic entered my life. I had a pretty rotten childhood, with a clinically depressed mom, whose only means of dealing with it was to deny it. She would "escape" from us every night, leaving my sisters and I in the care of our brothers. She was there for us if we needed her, but never emotionally. I remember telling her I love you Mom, but she never said it back. When I asked her if she loved me, she'd just say something like, "I love all my kids." We were the poor family in an upper-middle class neighborhood, so I was the subject of a lot of teasing, and had very few friends, which has caused me, as an adult, a lot of self-esteem issues, along with never being able to trust anyone. I remember spending hours in the school psychologists office, making up things to tell him, because my mom made me promise I wouldn't tell him anything about our home life. It's like she knew I was sad, but she didn't want me to blame her. And, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone outside the immediate family either, as if being sad made me (or her) somehow flawed, or a bad person.
6 years ago, I went into such a deep depression, I tried to commit suicide. I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to die, but I knew I wanted to go to sleep and not wake up. Which is kind of ironic, because dying in my sleep is one of my biggest fears now. I was hurting so bad, and couldn't convince anyone I was in trouble, so I found a way to make them listen, and boy did they. Before I knew what happened, I was on the psych ward of my local hospital, and my life was fallling apart. I separated from my husband for 5 months, I became suddenly single, and scared to death that I had finally fucked up for good this time. Things slowly got better, Jim and I got back together, and the depression faded, for a while.
Two years after that, my middle sister went into a depression, checked herself in to her hospital, and tried to kill herself while there. Although my attempt was only a 'minor' one, hers nearly killed her. She was on life support for 2 weeks, and had to spend 6 weeks in the hospital, under constant watch. She had to undergo numerous shock-therapy treatments, because she was so imminently suicidal. She's doing better now, I'm happy to report. I only wrote this because I think it's important to show that mental-health issues really do run in the family.
Two years ago, I had my first panic attack, but of course didn't know it. My doc knew it though, and put me on Ativan. That bottle lasted me nearly 2 years. The attacks were few and far between, and mild enough to manage, I thought.
Then a year ago, my big sister, Lisa, died in her sleep. No one knew she was sick, not even her. She had an undiagnosed heart condition. Her kids found her. To say the least, it was absolutely the worst thing that ever happened to me. Lisa was my best friend in the world, the one I went to when I had no one else to go to. That's when the depression and anxiety started to rear it's ugly head again. Then, some sick, twisted person from my church had the nerve to say that I wasn't getting over my grief fast enough, and that was probably because I was afraid Lisa was in hell, because she wasn't 'saved' before she died. Needless to say, I started spending a whole lot of time away from that place. I believe that added to my depression/anxiety.
January 26th, Jim was in a car accident. He was fine, but I couldn't get all those 'what if's' out of my head, and the anniversay of Lisa's death was approaching, so my panic went into high gear. I had to quit my second job, and I spent the night before the anniversary date sitting up in bed, afraid to go to sleep. After that, I spent two weeks just laying around, convinced I was dying that very moment. I had numerous ER trips, until finally, I got some help in the form of meds and just started therapy 6 weeks ago. I took a 4 week leave of absence from work, because I was so afraid of something happening to me while I was there, and not being able to take care of my girls. It was during that time that I started scouring the internet for any info I could find on anxiety/PD, and I found tapir. Thank God! I was so relieved to know that I wasn't alone in this, and that knowledge in itself was pure therapy for me. It kickstarted me into getting my shit back together. So, thanks tapirites.
Stress, depression and the holidays: 12 tips for coping
Stress and depression can ruin your holidays and affect your health. Being realistic, planning ahead and seeking support can help ward off stress and depression.
For some people, the holidays bring unwelcome guests — stress and depression. And it's no wonder. In an effort to pull off a perfect Hallmark holiday, you might find yourself facing a dizzying array of demands — work, parties, shopping, baking, cleaning, caring for elderly parents or kids on school break, and scores of other chores. So much for peace and joy, right?