We may be naive, it may not be the most appropriate time, but we are willing to turn the tables and remove December’s label of being the month of depression. Although we cannot change the statistics, which say that cases of depression are increasing at this time, we can prepare ourselves so that this is not the case in the future. This year, in December we forgot about the depression.
Reasons for depression in December
- In December we get depressed by the cold; for the short, wintry days; due to lack of light. We also get depressed because it is a month that is marked by one of the most important festivities of the year: Christmas. Christmas implies previous days of social and work commitments. And at Christmas, what is not there is more noticeable.
- At Christmas we get depressed because a Christmas Eve dinner full of family conflicts awaits us, or because we are going to spend it alone; because we are going to spend money that we do not have on gifts; because we have to multiply on Christmas day; because a New Year’s Eve marked by nostalgia awaits us and a New Year full of resolutions that we are not going to fulfill.
- In December we get depressed mainly because we have not met our expectations, due to pure and simple dissatisfaction with life. Because we don’t really know how to enjoy what we have. So it’s time to lock away sadness, guilt and nostalgia and never let them out.
December, the month of happiness
- If we set our mind to it, we can turn all those reasons for depression in December into reasons for happiness. Difficult? Not so much. It just takes a change of perspective. We can do nothing to bring back those who are not here, but that does not mean that we cannot remember them on these dates with more affection than sadness. May the memory of the good times we lived with them not steal from us all the moments we can live with those who are.
- This can also help us to take family commitments from another point of view. Surely there are people in our family that we really want to see again. Let’s focus on those people we like and turn a deaf ear to the criticism of others. The smile cannot be missing in this month of December, not as a sign of hypocrisy, but as a reinforcement of how happy we are willing to be.
- If we look around us paying attention to what we have and not what we lack, our life will be fuller. It is not necessary to give up wishes or to fulfill dreams, but to use what we have, affection, love, hugs, smiles, experience… to encourage us to continue and achieve everything we want. December is a festive month, not a month for depression.