Dec. 23, 2008

Once upon a time when I was working for a newspaper, my editor had a brilliant idea: I should write a long piece about depression and suicide at the holidays. What a cheery subject!

However, as a young and enthusiastic reporter, I toiled over what turned out to be a very good piece on how many people suffer real depression at the holidays and how suicide rates are higher at the holidays than at any other time of the year.

It won’t surprise many of you that my editor decided to kill my painstakingly researched piece on the grounds that it was “too depressing.”

By making this little joke, I’m not in any way making light of holiday depression. It is real and, for many it is debilitating. One close friend tells me she’d rather get in bed and sleep until the holidays are over so she doesn’t have to think about past happy Christmases with friends and family who are now gone.

If you’re prone to the blues during the holidays – or after the glitter of the holidays ends in gray January days, for that matter – there are things you can do to ease your own pain and perhaps that of others as well.

1. This truly Number 1: Give to some one else. Go to your local homeless shelter or soup kitchen and serve up holiday meals, clean toilets, do laundry or play with kids for the day. There are always others who will genuinely welcome your presence, your help and your concern. You may find this can be an ongoing part of your life that will serve as a permanent cure for isolation that leads to depression.

2. Move. No, don’t pack up your wordly goods and move to another state. Move your body. Being stuck ion a particular mental state implies lack of movement in your mind. Move your body and your mind will follow. In scientific terms, endorphins, brain chemicals released during exercise, act as natural anti-depressants. In real-life terms, moving off the place where you are stuck moves you to a new place, and hopefully a better place. Don’t feel like exercising? Do it anyway. A walk down the street, a half an hour on an exercise bike, or better yet, a brisk hike with your local Sierra Club or a rousing game of pick up basketball will work wonders.

3. Supplement. Rhodiola rosea is an absolute favorite of mine for addressing depression quickly, with few or no side effects. Research has shown the rhodiola is at least as effective as prescription anti-depressants with two wonderful additional benefits:
• It acts much more quickly, usually producing results in as little as a week. You need to take most prescription antidepressants for four to six weeks before you’ll even know if it is going to work.
• It doesn’t have the side effects of many prescription anti-depressants, which can include weight gain, depending depression suicidal thoughts and violent behavior. Rhodiola has actually been shown to promote weight loss.
My friend, Dr. Hyla Cass, with whom I wrote 8 Weeks to Vibrant Health (Take Charge Books, 2008), recommends taking 100-300 milligrams of a standardized rhodiola product daily. You can buy it at your health food store or nutrition outlet.

You’re not alone if you suffer from holiday depression. It sometimes help just to know that and that there are simple things you can do relieve the pain so you can find the way to happier holidays.