{"id":94386,"date":"2019-12-11T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=94386"},"modified":"2019-12-11T13:00:34","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T19:00:34","slug":"news-can-use-beating-holiday-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/news-can-use-beating-holiday-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"News You Can Use: Beating the Holiday Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_94585\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/sarah-isom-center-podcast-puts-new-lens-southern-culture\/ucimg-1136\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-94585\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-94585\" class=\"size-large wp-image-94585\" src=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UCIMG-1136-2048x1150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UCIMG-1136.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UCIMG-1136-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UCIMG-1136-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UCIMG-1136-640x359.jpg 640w, https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UCIMG-1136-580x326.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-94585\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">While many people enjoy the annual parties and celebrations of the holiday season, others need help coping with seasonal loneliness and depression. Photo by Thomas Graning\/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services<\/p><\/div>\n<p>OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 For many, the Christmas-New Year&#8217;s season can be a lonely and depressing time of the year, but a psychology expert at the <a href=\"https:\/\/olemiss.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of Mississippi<\/a> is offering suggestions for those battling the holiday blues.<\/p>\n<p>One way to overcome unhappiness is to recognize the onset of those thoughts and feelings and alter them before they become embedded in one&#8217;s consciousness, said Quinton &#8220;Bud&#8221; Edwards, director of the UM <a href=\"https:\/\/counseling.olemiss.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Counseling Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There could be a number of factors, including stress from family interactions, the shortening of days for those who struggle with seasonal affective disorder and financial pressures, especially if a person&#8217;s livelihood is threatened,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;Any of these stressors may begin to foster a sense of hopelessness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Changes in behavior are among the early warning signs of depression that people should be on the lookout for.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People who are normally outgoing may become withdrawn,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;Increases or decreases in appetite and sleep, accompanied by increased substance abuse and a sense of hopelessness are warnings.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, people start giving away personal belongings and saying goodbye to those around them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The more of the above signs that are present, the higher the risk, especially if they are combined with a plan to harm oneself and the means to do so,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Some of Edwards&#8217; suggestions for warding off negative moods\/behaviors are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Inquire directly about a person&#8217;s state of mind and their intent to harm themselves.<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8220;Most people tend to be honest about this issue if queried directly,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Communicating care and concern and reminding the individual that you value their worth as a person and their contributions to their world and in your own relationship can be helpful.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seek professional help when indicated.<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8220;This may begin with a short stay in an inpatient unit if a person has an intent to harm themselves and a plan to do so,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It may also be initiating outpatient services if there are routine thoughts of self-harm, but no current intent. Being assessed by a professional can help a person sort through the appropriate next steps for keeping him\/herself safe.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get involved in helping others.<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8220;When people are able to help others, it can help put their own lives in perspective, make them feel useful and can diminish the impact of hopelessness,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;Any tangible activity that requires task completion \u2013 such as getting out of bed, going to places to help, engaging with others, even gaining some intrinsic reward \u2013 can push back against the impact of depressive symptoms.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Above all, remember that the holidays will come and go. May yours bring better days ahead.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 For many, the Christmas-New Year&#8217;s season can be a lonely and depressing time of the year, but a psychology expert at the University of Mississippi is offering suggestions for those battling the holiday blues. One way to overcome unhappiness is to recognize the onset of those thoughts and feelings and alter them<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/news-can-use-beating-holiday-blues\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read the story &#x2026;<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":94585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>News You Can Use: Beating the Holiday Blues - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/news-can-use-beating-holiday-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"News You Can Use: Beating the Holiday Blues - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 For many, the Christmas-New Year&#8217;s season can be a lonely and depressing time of the year, but a psychology expert at the University of Mississippi is offering suggestions for those battling the holiday blues. 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