Post Holiday Blues: The Cause and How to Combat It
It's the post-Christmas, post-Hanukkah, post-general-stuffing-oneself period, and the new year and the return to work are looming. And, unsurprisingly, one response to this less twinkly and sugary time of the year is a widespread bout of misery — the post-holiday blues, as they're called. Psychologically, it's a mixed bag of crashing after a period of intense emotion and stress, the body recovering from indulgence, adjustment to the return to work, and the easy-to-understand sadness that comes when the good times are over. But getting into the nitty-gritty of our brains as they recover from the ho-ho-hoing can help us drag ourselves through the bleakness of January. When you were a kid — and if you still have a seriously stressful holiday period as an adult, whether it's down to travel, irascible relatives, or lunatic children — the crash is likely at least partially to do with adrenalin comedown. After the stress "rush" of the holidays, where stre...