What to Do After the Holidays?
Have you ever experienced a situation where it is hard for you to get back into everyday activities after New Year’s and all holidays that follow it? Well, post-holiday blues do exist, and there are more people suffering from them than you might know.
Some would say that the holiday depression peaks on New Year’s Eve. Especially people with existing depression can be vulnerable to post-holiday mental health challenges.
However, we are happy to say that there is a way out of this. The start of the new year does not have to be stressful or sad for you. There are some changes in your daily routine that can help you to make the start of the new year into something positive. Let’s see this in more detail.
Start Exercising
Well, this should always be a number one priority for the entire year. Exercising and a healthy diet will surely make you feel much better.
Whenever you browse the internet, you will find tons of experts and nutritionists recommending the very same thing, and they don’t do that for nothing. These activities can help you boost your mood and navigate any potential depression symptoms.
Sometimes, even active sports people can “forget” about healthy diets and exercising during the holidays, and understandably. There are lots of parties, unhealthy snacks, and so on.
Re-establishing a healthy lifestyle and staying on that track on a daily basis is one of the key ways you can feel better emotionally.
Social interaction is another critical component of enhancing your well-being. Even if you were out at parties all the time during the holidays, after everything petered out, you might feel a bit depressed with an empty calendar now.
However, that doesn’t mean that you should just stay at home and do nothing. Apart from exercises, make sure to regularly schedule time for social activities with friends.
It is very easy to withdraw to your bed if you feel lonely and depressed. So, reaching out to get some face-to-face time with your friends can give you a much-needed mood boost.
You don’t have to go to parties all the time, but a little drink or a snack from time to time doesn’t hurt. Make sure to do this at least a couple of times during the week.
Go Easy on Yourself
You need to understand that post-holiday blues won’t last forever, so we suggest you cut yourself some slack.
There is no reason you should beat yourself up for feeling depressed or lonely. It can happen to anyone, so focus on what you can do to improve your well-being. Of course, if symptoms do not go away even by following all this advice, then it might be time to see a specialist.
However, before you do that, give yourself some time to improve your mental health and don’t be overly critical. It might take some time for you to actually feel better, so be patient as well.
Get Enough Sleep
A good sleep schedule is one of the vital things you can do to keep yourself healthy. This is something that we recommend to all people, not just the ones with post-holiday depression.
It is very important you get enough sleep every day. This way, not only do you maintain mental health, but you also prevent chronic health conditions. Some of the most common conditions that occur with a bad sleeping habits include:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Strokes
- Mental distress
You will find various recommendations online on how many hours you need to sleep to keep yourself healthy. However, the bare minimum sleep for anyone aged 18 or more is 7 hours every night.
Don’t Look for an Escape in Alcohol and Drugs
Some people might feel like escaping reality is the right thing to do when you feel depressed after the holidays. However, we strongly advise you not to do that and to stay away from substances that will allow you to – alcohol and drugs.
It is easy to believe that by doing drugs and drinking a lot for some time during the holidays, you can get away from the tough period.
That is not the case, as alcohol and drugs are only temporary fixes. Before you know it, you might develop an addiction and you will be worse than before. Even if you don’t develop any addiction, reality will ultimately hit you, and you will feel the post-holiday blues for a longer period.
Try Something New
Since you feel a bit depressed and lonely, a nice escape would maybe be to find a new hobby to pass your time.
You can try out different things and see which one suits you the best. Some recommendations would be:
- Watch movies you haven’t already
- Read books
- Go hiking
- Experiment with cooking
These are just some of the things that can help you overcome your post-holiday blues. Moreover, you cannot know, maybe some of these hobbies will stay with you for life.
Play Fun Online Games
Finally, we have a very interesting proposition for you – play interesting and social online games. If you haven’t tried online games before, this may be the right time for you to do so.
A good example of such game would be Solitaire Social. It is one of the simplest, yet most thrilling games you can find online.
The game begins with a deck of playing cards. Some of those cards are open, while others are face-down. The goal will be to move the entire deck to the top four slots where cards are stacked by suit or seniority. There, the cards are stacked by seniority, but with different colours of suits. By matching cards like this, you open new cards and they instantly go into action.
Arguably the best thing about Solitaire Social is that you play against another player. You are automatically given an opponent and if you solitaire first, you win the game. Overall, you don’t need overly-complicated games to help you with your post-holiday blues. A social, interesting and simple game like Solitaire Social is the right pick for you, so make sure you give it a try now.
