Not so Festive Season

Christmas can be a time of great joy and celebration for people; catching up with friends, spending time with family, evenings out with colleagues and general merriment all characterise this time of year a great many people.

What is less talked about is that it can also be a time of great emotional pain. In the general melee of celebration it can be very difficult if you are having feelings which don’t quite seem to fit the general mood. Many people, for example, feel the pain of bereavement acutely at this time of year. Another Christmas coming and going reminds us of those whom we loved and who are no longer around. This can be a deeply painful and sad experience.

Time away from work, often yearned for throughout the year, can also bring up unexpected feelings of emptiness or confusion s when we no longer have the familiar business of work to distract us.

Perhaps the most difficult thing about Christmas is the expectation we ourselves may carry that we are supposed to be cheerful and happy. If we are feeling not happy and cheerful at all but in fact full of loneliness and despair which we tell no-one about then this can lead to serious mental health problems. Such problems can be made even worse when we use alcohol to deal with our difficult feelings, which, as it’s a depressant, can actually make things worse.

Talking to someone that we trust about how we really feel can be an important first step in dealing with underlying emotional problems.