With all the celebrations around the holidays, mental health experts say it’s worth remembering that mood disorders and emotional issues may also climb as gatherings and social pressures magnify certain tensions.
People who suffer from anxiety and depression, for example, can have their already fragile emotions strained to the breaking point from all the stress of meeting holidays obligations. And if there has been a sorrowful event during the year, the end of the year can revive the trauma. “If there has been a loss in the family, whether it’s a death or the first year going through a divorce, the holidays are always extra hurtful and sad. People don’t know how to get through it, how much they should do [to celebrate]. It’s a difficult,” says Elaine Rodino, a psychologist in private practice in State College, Penn.
But the challenges do not, as many believe, lead to a spike in suicides over the holidays. According to a 2012 study from the University of Pennsylvania‘s Annenberg Public Policy Center, the average highest suicide days actually occur in the spring and summer.