The “holiday blues” can affect anyone, but they tend to be more severe in people already struggling with mental health. In fact, a study from 2014 found that 64% of people with a mental health condition said that the holidays made their conditions worse. And this was before a global pandemic upended our worlds.
If you’re seeing signs of your depression becoming worse this holiday season, the team of mental health experts here at Vital TMS Therapy wants to help. Here, we explore some great coping mechanisms to help people with depression better weather the holidays and why treatment beforehand is important.
Seek treatment now
Heading into the holidays with a treatment plan in place is one of the best steps you can take to keep your depression in check.
At our practice, we’ve had great success using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to address major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. With this non-invasive therapy, we deliver electrical impulses into areas of your brain that control mood regulation. These pulses work to reconfigure your neural pathways and get them “unstuck” from the negative pattern they’re in when you have depression.
TMS is not only effective, but it also works more quickly than antidepressants, which take time to have an effect. More than one-third of people don’t find adequate relief from their depression with antidepressants. In these cases, TMS is especially effective as studies show that 50% to 60% of people who aren’t helped by medications find relief with TMS.
Even if you’re in the middle of your TMS treatments with us over the holidays, you can have some peace of mind knowing that you’re taking the steps necessary to break free from this all-encompassing mood disorder.
Tips for managing the holidays
Holidays can be tough to handle for anyone, mental health issues or not. If you’re worried about your depression flaring over the holidays, here are a few tips to help you through:
- Get out and take a walk — moving prompts the release of feel-good hormones
- Choose your events wisely — attend events that matter and skip those that don’t
- Be kind to yourself — treat yourself as you would a friend in the same situation
- You can leave — you don’t have to stay until the end of each event
- Volunteer — giving your time to others is a great way to get out of your head
- Be honest — alert friends and family when you’re not feeling OK
- Avoid alcohol — alcohol is a depressant, so steer clear of holiday spirits
- Avoid social media — everyone is vying to post happy pictures, whether they are or not
These tips are just the beginning, and we’re happy to sit down with you to develop a more personalized plan for navigating the holidays when you have depression.
To learn more about controlling depression during the holiday season, contact one of our two locations in Washington, DC, to schedule a consultation.
