Do you get a little nauseous every time you hear It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year on the grocery store playlist? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Holiday depression is about as common as carols and Christmas cookies.

People feel down throughout the holidays for a range of completely understandable reasons. Maybe it’s your dwindling bank account and gift-giving anxiety; maybe it’s the lack of sunlight; maybe it’s missing a loved one; maybe it’s the cold or the crowds or a little bit of everything. There’s no universal cause for the Christmas blues—and there’s no seasonal vaccine—but there’s also no reason to feel bad. Back in 1985, the New York Times published an article on the subject of holiday depression, observing that, “grief is highlighted during the holiday season.” That struggle is nothing new.

However common, holiday grief is nonetheless serious. In strategizing how best to cope, it’s first important to determine whether you are suffering a temporary bout of the blues or a deeper condition such as clinical depression. If the former, you might work to identify triggers and focus on activities that have made you happy in the past. An intervention against loneliness, for instance, might be planning an office holiday party. A consistent self-care practice and exploring wellness services, such as IV hydration therapy, could also help with seasonal sadness.

Clinical depression—a condition of loss of interest or pleasure in almost all of one’s usual activities—is another matter. Circumstantial changes may help but, as with any illness, intervention by a healthcare professional is recommended. After all, long-term, untreated depression can have lasting consequences. This said, there is no silver-bullet solution and so gathering information about your circumstance is vital. If you can provide a clinician with a timeline and information about what has and has not worked for you in the past, you set yourself up for the best possible chance of healing.

Treatment for depression ranges from standard interventions such as talk therapy and anti-depressant medication to cutting edge technologies such as ketamine infusions. The latter is a promising new approach aimed at persistent forms of depression that do not respond to the more-common tactics.

Only a healthcare professional informed by your observations can prescribe appropriate treatment. Whatever your route, the sooner you can act, the sooner you’ll find yourself feeling like yourself. The holiday season can be a trying time but, perhaps this year, you can engage the challenge by giving yourself the gift of self-care.

Contact Tahoe Ketamine

Tahoe Ketamine is a depression treatment clinic in South Lake Tahoe, offering ketamine infusions for treatment-resistant depression and other psychiatric disorders. We also offer IV hydration therapy to address a variety of physical and mental symptoms. Whether your sadness is season-triggered or something you deal with regularly, contact us today and start your journey towards hope, health, and happiness.