As a well-known holiday song goes “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” But is it really? If you Google ‘Holiday and Depression’, you will find a substantial number of articles dedicated to the topic.

Even on social media you’ll find discussions about stress and anxiety during the holidays to be quite pervasive. Generally, the holidays are associated with an increase in demands, in financial expenditures, family obligations and just not being able to manage expectations- Yours and others’. Hence, the onset of depression can easily occur.

But how do you know if you’re “holiday” depressed? If you find yourself dramatically overeating, excessively drinking, having insomnia or experiencing headaches, these are some of the signs that you might be suffering from stress and anxiety.

Here we provide some simple tips on how to alleviate or avoid depression altogether this holiday season.

Plan Ahead

Studies have repeatedly proven that happiness is directly related to stress. The less stress you have in your life, the happier you will be. A little bit of planning can remove a large part of the stress in your life, if not eliminate it completely. Here are some tips on how to plan for happiness:

• Set specific days for spending time with family and friends, for shopping, and other activities.
• Plan your cooking menus and then make a shopping list. That'll prevent last-minute scrambling to buy ingredients.
• Create shopping lists for holiday presents to eliminate not knowing what to get each person

Take Time For You

Even if it’s just 10 minutes out of the day, spend some time alone without any distractions. Close your eyes, clear your mind and breathe. This precious time can refresh your mind and relax your body. The holidays are a time of celebration and reflection, and that means honoring yourself. Here are some self-care activities:

• Take a warm bath, light some candles and listen to soothing music
• Cozy up on the couch and read a great book
• Treat yourself to a foot or body massage

Automate Your Life

You can automate a lot of your life so you don't have to trudge through tedious and mundane chores. Here are some things you can automate right now.

• Set-up auto bill pay through your bank to forego worrying about bills getting paid
• Sign up for a subscription meal service that delivers healthy food ingredients and recipes, so you don’t have to think about what’s for dinner
• Put your favorite personal care products on auto-ship so you never run out or have to leave your house to get them at a store.  Furthermore, you often save by selecting this option (freshie for example, offers FREE-shipping on all auto-ship orders of our feminine wash)

Put these tips into practice and you will cruise through the holiday season, without the angst and depression that can afflict so many.  Happy, freshie, holidays!