How to Beat the Holiday Blues

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Thanksgiving is the first of the triple threat (Christmas and New Year's complete the trifecta) that can make you sing the holiday blues... If you are like me making "happy happy" during this time can actually be a real downer. If there are family conflicts (who doesn't?) the obligatory joy and gladness can seem like one big fat cruel joke. In addition, if you are struggling with relationships, work, money or going through a significant life-changing event (breakup, divorce, death of a loved one) you feel you want to skip the festivities. However, non-participation may not be an option. And for others the possibility of spending any of these holiday without family and friends can them into a dark and lonely place.

Here are some tips for avoiding emotional fallout this holiday season. 

1. Recognize physical symptoms of depression and anxiety. Emotional distress begins in the body. If you feel exhausted and tired look inward to see if it's psychological or physical. Anxiety can manifest as stomach upset, insomnia, irritability or jumpiness. Again, take an inventory. Identifying and understanding physical symptoms is the first step in addressing them. Whether the source is emotional or physical, you can do something about them.

2. Ask yourself what the symptoms mean. If they are physical, slow down, rest, change your diet etc... If they are psychological in origin ask yourself what are these feelings and what do they mean? Are you trying to suppress or ignore feelings of guilt, obligation, resentment and anger, or any other negative emotion?

3. Be kind to yourself and others. If you don't feel well and cranky maybe going to a holiday party isn't the best idea as it may make you feel worse. Sitting out a party or a gathering can be the kinder thing for yourself and for others; you are sparing negative energy from people you love and like. Listen to your inner voice even if it's saying something out of the ordinary.

4. Talk it out with your therapist, friends and family (not at the party or the dinner). Engage, reach out and share your feelings. If other people aren't available, talk to yourself by writing it out in a journal.

5. Go easy with food and drink. Alcohol will certainly amplify whatever you are feeling and overindulging will actually worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression and decrease the quality of sleep. As for food, gaining extra weight is much easier and more fun than losing it, so practice moderation.

6. Get your sleep and exercise. Enough said.

7. Be proactive. If you know you are going to be alone research and plan ahead activities. Do you have books, movies and activities to keep you occupied? Reach out to others who may be also be in the same boat.

8. Lower your expectations, or at least make realistic your expectations of the holiday season. Norman Rockwell's version of American holiday experience is aspirational at best. 

9. Create your own rituals even if it's just for this year. Maybe Santa Claus will no longer be welcomed in your home. Rather than receiving maybe Christmas is just about giving nonmaterial things. Go ahead and create your own activities based on YOUR values.

10. Be mindful. Holidays come around once a year and for some it is a season of fun and celebration. Acknowledge their right as your own. Also, be mindful that, thank god, they come around just once a year and this too shall pass. 

Iguala, Mexico and the Casual American Drug User

Wikipedia

Iguala is a city of about 100,000 people southwest of Mexico City, a city at the center of national and international attention after 43 students went missing. Students were from a rural Mexican teacher's college, and they are are presumed dead — murdered — their remains burned and buried.

In Mexico thousands have marched in protest to express their anger and outrage. Some protesters went far as even torching the national palace in Mexico City to bring attention to government officials who are ineffectual at best and at their worst who collude with the narco traffickers, who are certainly behind this massacre. Mexicans are fed up. After years of drug war and brutal murders of thousands, this case sparked a national outrage, and rightfully so.

Narco traffickers is the general term to assigned to large, powerful drug cartels who fight among themselves for territory and control of drugs flowing from South America and Mexico to the United States. Without our staggering demand for illegal drugs these gangs would not be in existence, or they would not be as powerful. Profits are so vast they can buy politicians and the police, locally and nationally to protect their interests and operate without impunity.

How and why does this relate to my work? Americans spend about 500 billion dollars annually on cocaine, heroin, marijuana and meth. It is a staggering amount of money and most of the product travels through Mexico. Cocaine is produced further south Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Heroin poppies are cultivated in Mexico as is marijuana. Mexico by its location serves as the funnel for drugs entering the country. Obviously we have a great appetite for drugs in America. And I've always made it clear that I advocate for personal choice when it comes to drug use.

Unlike other consumer goods the street drug buyers do nots have choice when it comes to the source of the supply. It is strictly a supplier's game. Cocaine and heroin are not labeled with their countries of origin or provenance. There is no Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for drugs, or ethical cocaine and heroin, unlike, say, diamonds or chocolates.

I think one of the reasons why marijuana is being legalized in the US at a quickened pace is to decrease the amount trafficked from Mexico.

Am I saying casual drug users are somehow implicated in this? Maybe.

What I am saying is we cannot take street drugs from the larger global context. The money we spend on it may be supporting crime and even terrorist organizations. If you are going to boycott Walmart, GMO foods and blood diamonds, shouldn't you do the same with your weekend supply of recreational drugs?