December 17, 2005

• Tis the Season ...

  
  

  The holiday season is perhaps the most stressful time of the year.  People have an increase in their activities, they are trying to shop for the perfect gift, they are trying to make things wonderful for their families, and they are trying to cope with the financial stress of paying for it all.  It is a myth that there are more suicides at Christmas than at any other time of year.  (Actual statics put some day along about the end of April or beginning of May as the most deadly.)  But this is the time of year that media puts the spotlight on the problem. 

  
  

  Many people experience the "Holiday Blues" with the following symptoms:

  
  

  
  
  • headache
  
  
  • insomnia (that would be me, I've been up again since 4 and I didn't fall asleep until almost midnight)
  
  
  • hypersomnia (sleeping too much - don't I wish!)
  
  
  • change in appetite, with resultant weight loss or gain
  
  
  • agitation and anxiety
  
  
  • excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt
  
  
  • diminished ability to think clearly or concentrate
  
  
  • decreased interest in activities that usually bring pleasure
  
  
  
  
  • food
  
  
  • sex
  
  
  • work
  
  
  • friends
  
  
  • hobbies
  
  
  • entertainment

  
  

  Experiencing these symptoms for longer than two weeks changes the situation from "blues" to depression.  But that's another blog.  And for those of you who might be getting worried about me now - let me say that I watched Merchant of Venice last night and thoroughly enjoyed Al Pacino as Shylock.  In fact, my sympathy for that character reached an all time high with his performance to the point that I almost wished that he had been granted the satisfaction of slaying his enemy.  Except that Jeremy Irons was wonderful as Antonio as well.  Shakespeare was simply a marvelous story teller and I would defy anyone to say who the REAL villian of that very human story is.  But I digress.

  
  

  There is one aspect of this Holiday Bluesness that I have been turning over in my mind.  From the outside I look at other people's lives and think, "That problem isn't bad enough to warrant such a response."  Then I turn around and do the same to myself.  I look at the amount of pain that my different circumstances create and try to talk myself out of my hurt.  I'll say, "other people have it so much worse, surely you can handle this little __________" and you can fill in the blank with the problem of the day.

  
  

  But at the bottom it isn't how bad the problem is, it's how badly the problem is hurting the person who has it. 

  
  

  This year, I'm feeling a little sorry for myself.  Things seem very quiet and lonely here.  This will be the first year after about five in a row that Tucker won't be able to spend his birthday (Dec 30) in Arkansas with the cousins. So far he hasn't complained about it much.  I may be more depressed over that than he is. 

  
  

  But all this blueness in my heart has led to my looking around at other people I know and thinking about what their Christmas must be like.  I've been watching for opportunity to do things that will maybe brighten another person's life just a little, let them know that someone else is aware that things aren't all merry and bright.  And maybe we'll all get through it together in the end.

  
  

   

  • 8:38 am
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