holiday blues

7 Steps to Beat the Holiday Blues

The holidays are filled with images of a great tasting turkey, a white Christmas, a perfectly decorated house and warm family gathering. But those dreams of a perfect holiday gathering can quickly become nightmares — leading to bouts of depression, says Jay Zimmerman, a staff psychologist with Ball State’s Counseling Center.

“The holidays are very stressful because people want the holidays to be perfect,” Zimmerman says. “Many people have images of perfect family gatherings based on hopes or what they see on television. That puts us under a great deal of pressure.”

Other factors contributing to a more stressful holiday season this year may be the loss of a job by a family member or other economic concerns or having a friend or relative in the military stationed in a war zone.