ASM050 Ask Science Mike Mini: Christmas Blues

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what's the recipe for christmas blues that's the question we're diving in today on ask science mike mini it's christmas week and so we're answering a christmas question every day because you've left so many questions under my inbox tree let's get it started

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today's question comes from a patron on patreon who says christmas lands very near the winter solstice the shortest day of the year while christmas is associated with high energy excitement and good feelings a lack of light is often associated in the social sciences with depression and a lack of energy it seems logical for humans to fight this seasonal blues off with large connected gatherings gifts and good meals my question for you is to what degree does light affect our mood and energy versus to what degree does this family and spirit charged holiday affect our mood and energy is it a psychological battle in the midst of a strong environmental stimuli bonus for those of us who have suffered losses associated with this time of year is it a particularly cruel time to have such an emotionally charged day questions from a deconstructed psych nurse thanks for all you do as a utan i can't wait to run into you at sundance oh i do hope we do run into each other at sundance it's a ton of fun every year just uh come to any of the wind rider forum functions and you should find me nearby always a highlight of the year sundance for me uh so yes christmas lands near the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere near the winter solstice when the days are shortest when the sun is lowest compared to the horizon that does affect human mood seasonal affective disorder is a real thing and i think many sociologists would agree with your assessment that winter holidays probably emerge to help counteract some of those down feelings from being indoors so long and hiding from snow a problem frankly i don't think a lot about down here in florida but a couple of things one there's a belief that suicides spike during the christmas holidays it's not true statistically it's not true at all so suds actually go down during the holidays but many people do feel blue and down during the holidays it's good for us to be around people it's good for us to be around family and friends but the fact is christmas and the christmas holidays can also be very stressful there's a lot of travel there's also a lot of reflection as we think about the past holidays and as you mentioned for many people they're spending christmas without people who they usually spend christmas with death in the family divorces other types of separation become especially poignant at this time of year so that's one factor in kind of subverting the good feelings that come along with the christmas holiday season but it's not just that we also are fed expectations through media and through cultural norms that christmas will be merry and bright that uh we'll gather with friends and family we'll have a great time we'll have a perfect table we'll have a great dressed tree and everything is going to look like a hallmark card and for most people it's just not true and for the people for whom it is true they worked themselves into exhaustion also sometimes our family relationships are emotionally charged there might be different dynamics maybe even some dysfunction in our family relationships and although we miss our family sometimes for many of us spending a lot of time with them brings up old issues or old problems so uh the low light is a problem community is good but the high expectations high commercialization and family dynamics associated with the holidays help bring many people down so how do you avoid that number one take a step back and don't try to create the perfect christmas holiday through lots of effort go ahead and just lower your expectations high expectations of those kind are actually a high psychological risk for disappointment and feelings of depression so having a more realistic idea of what the holidays may be about simply enjoying the company of others a little bit of decorating to be festive but nothing overboard can help with those feelings uh in terms of family relationships healthy boundaries can be very helpful if you have challenging family relationships and for feelings of loss taking the time to grieve and to honor those memories can help you process those feelings of loss and redeem holiday seasons for you don't create pressure on yourself that you should feel any particular way through the christmas holiday season and just take every day as it comes and as much as possible try to infuse your holiday season with company that you enjoy most the people who fill you the most with joy the friends and family with whom you have the best relationships and make you feel alive if you do that you may experience a little more brightness and a little less darkness so near to the winter solstice [Music] the opening music to this day's podcast i guess not this week's uh was the brilliant singing joy to the world off of the liturgist release oh light uh if you'd like to check that out i'm really proud of it that we put that together it's got some great people that contributed gunger the brilliant sleeping at last amina brown i'm doing some stuff for some meditations it's a really great piece i'm going to leave you today with oh come o come emmanuel as recorded by my friend ryan o'neal in sleeping at last and if you'd like to hear the rest of the project just go to the liturgist.com

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olight

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oh come o come amen and ransom captiva

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rejoice rejoice

amen

shall come to thee

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and drive

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and bring us

rejoice rejoice

amen

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is

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shall come

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in one

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is

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and be thyself our kings

rejoice rejoice

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shall come

you