Ah, yes, that time of packing away the seasonal decorations and lights is upon us and with perhaps little on the immediate horizon, in the way of excitement, it can be common to experience low mood. The parties are over and family and friends have departed and perhaps worse still, the credit card bills are on the way. Tax assessments might also be up and coming and it can be a sobering time of the year in negotiating the next chapters of your life. End of year and the start of a new year can be a time when we take stock of our lives. The risks are that we might activate a negative part of ourselves when we might fear we are not living the kind of life we had once imagined. Low mood is not, of course, in itself a cause for pathologising feelings and emotions, especially during a time of witnessing continual short amounts of daylight and the consequential impact on our circadian rhythms. Low mood does not necessarily mean that you are depressed although, that said, clinical depression is a very serious condition and if you are concerned about your mental and emotional health it might not do any harm to speak to a medically qualified doctor such as your GP. Sometimes there can be something organic occurring in your physical health that could potentially be impacting on your mood and it might be beneficial to have medical checks undertaken so that such related conditions may be investigated.
There can be massive expectation to improve your life by making new year resolutions and approach goals. Low mood can be entirely appropriate for this time of year. That is exactly why there are a plethora of advice givers on how to deal with the so-called post-Christmas blues, of which I am one. See my article below on how to overcome these blues.
Read more: The top 8 tips for overcoming the post-Christmas blues
Noel Bell is a UKCP accredited psychotherapist based in London and can be contacted on 07852407140 or noel@noelbell.net
