young man sitting depressed by christmas tree
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People with depression often experience significant challenges during the December holidays. Depression, a.k.a. major depressive disorder (MDD), involves powerful emotions that may feel overwhelming and prevent a person with depression from fully enjoying or participating in the type of social events and family gatherings that form the core of holiday celebrations and activities. Treatment for depression often involves exploring and resolving deep and emotional family issues.

That’s why the holiday season, which for most people does mean visiting or spending time with family, can trigger and exacerbate depressive symptoms, and make getting through those December days difficult.

However, if you have MDD, we want you to know there are things you can do – concrete steps you can take – to manage your symptoms, take care of yourself, and make the holidays the most wonderful time of the year – just like the song says.

Managing Holiday Depression: Lifestyle Choices Support Your Treatment Plan

If you have depression and you’re in treatment, you know most treatment plans include a combination of psychotherapy, medication, complementary therapies – think yoga and meditation – and lifestyle changes. The goal of depression treatment is two-fold: remission of symptoms and/or the effective reduction/management of symptoms.

If your depression is not in full remission – or you’re not in treatment and need advice handling emotions triggered by close contact with family – you can use the five tips below to help manage the symptoms of MDD over the holidays.

Top Tips: How to Get Through the Holidays With MDD

1.Follow Your Plan.

If you’re on medication, take your medication, unless directed otherwise by your treatment team. If you have an appointment for therapy, make sure you go. You spend considerable time and effort learning coping strategies with your therapist, talking through issues, and learning how your medication works. We encourage you to follow though with the plans you make with your therapist, especially whatever daily recovery assignments or tasks you have. The reason they’re there is to help you get through the day. Therefore, use them, and give them a chance to work for you.

2. Use Your Support System.

This is essential. If you’re having a bad day, symptoms of depression may increase the urge to withdraw, isolate, and avoid everyone in the world. This rarely helps improve symptoms of depression. Therefore, if you’re having a bad day managing MDD, then get on the phone and call someone you know and trust. This may be your counselor or therapist, a family member, a spouse, or a friend. If no one is available, you can call a non-emergency mental health support line, like this one provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):

3. Take a Break.

When you feel overwhelmed – at work, school, with family, or in a social situation – it’s okay to take a break. It’s okay to walk away from a situation that makes your symptoms worse. This is not the same thing as self-isolation or withdrawing from family and friends. This is you setting boundaries and taking care of yourself: that’s a sign of healing, rather than a symptom of depression.

4. Take a Walk/Run/Group Class.

Sometimes the best way to take a break is by getting out and taking a walk, going for a run, or taking a group class – exercise, yoga, whatever works for you – at a local gym or fitness studio. A good workout, or time spent doing the activity of your choice, is a great way to get personal time, release endorphins, release pent-up energy, and reset your mind and body. Like taking a break to clear your head, taking personal time for exercise is not running away: it’s another sign of healing, and an indicator you know what you need, when you need it.

5. Start and End With Good Food.

A healthy breakfast is an excellent way to start the day, and a healthy dinner is an excellent way to wind down the day before bedtime. We recommend a healthy meal at lunch, too. Eating three healthy meals a day is the foundation of a strong and resilient body, and it’s also the foundation of a strong and resilient mind: your brain needs good nutrients – just like your muscles – for optimal function. If you have MDD, you want your brain and body to have the right fuel at the right time. If you need to manage symptoms of depression, you don’t want to deal with a preventable hunger/calorie crisis at any point during the day.

You Can Manage Depression and Enjoy the Holidays

If you give the tips above an honest try, we think you can regulate your depression and any problematic symptoms over the holidays. Maybe you’ll enjoy December for the first time in years. If that’s the case, then we recommend applying these tips throughout the year, in addition to the holiday season.

You can take the best – meaning what works for you – and create a daily routine that promotes recovery and helps you manage your symptoms long-term.

Creating and following a consistent daily routine is like having a safety net that gets stronger as time passes. As you engage in your healthy routine, day after day, your healthy habits become your go-to routine, and gradually become your primary way of moving through the world. On good days, you don’t even know the routine is there. It’s so effective it keeps you steady and in place without the need to think about it. And on challenging days, you remember why you made it in the first place, and experience gratitude. It’s there, it works, and it helps keep you healthy, happy, and on the path toward long-term health and wellness.