Health: Beating The Blues

Newsweek, December, 2005 by Karen Springen

Can't seem to get into the holiday spirit? Here are some tips for avoiding seasonal depression.

Ignore Norman Rockwell. "Don't measure yourself or your holiday celebration against some impossible ideal," says Chicago psychiatrist Nada Stotland, vice president of the American Psychiatric Association. "If Uncle Harry usually gets drunk, he's going to get drunk again. If your parents tell you how to live your life every year, they probably will again."

Be with people you like. No law says you need to eat a ham dinner with family. Instead of spending a week at a dreaded relative's home, visit for just a "bite-size chunk" of time--say, a few hours--suggests Sarasota, Fla., psychologist Peter A. Wish. Then have a pizza with friends, or head out to the movies.

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