For many, the holiday season is joy-filled and terrific. Some of us however, experience the holiday blues as we feel loneliness, reflect on the past year, and possibly dread an upcoming and uncertain new year. Rates of depression and anxiety tend to spike during the holiday season. If you are already experiencing stress in other areas of your life, then you may be especially vulnerable to holiday stress this season.

The holiday season often brings twinkling lights, and at the same time long to-do lists and a variety of different stressors: