![[A Holiday Toolkit] Supporting Mental and Behavioral Health During the Holiday Season](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holiday-help.png)
A message from OneOhio Recovery Foundation and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Your presence can be a present for someone this season. Support and following up with loved ones are just some of the actions we can all take to help others who may be in crisis.
Helping someone with mental health, drug, or alcohol use can be hard. If someone in your life is struggling, having a supportive conversation can be a big step for both of you. You can’t force someone to get care, so, the best thing you can do for a person is to be there for them and listen without judgment.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You’ll be able to speak with a trained crisis counselor any time of day or night.
Holiday Stress – Coping Tips
Is the holiday stress getting to you? Believe in the magic of #SelfCare. It’s ok to focus on yourself, your self-care, and your overall health and wellness this season.
How to Cope
Has it gotten harder to get through each day? If you’re having issues with mental health, drugs, or alcohol or waiting for treatment to start, here are some small steps you can take.
Reach out if you’re in crisis
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You’ll be able to speak with a trained crisis counselor any time of day or night.
Accept where you are now
Know that where you are is okay. Healing isn’t a straight line—there will be ups and downs along the way. Speak to yourself with kindness, as though you’re speaking to a friend.
Try some of the things below to help your body and mind. Taking care of yourself is healing yourself. Self-care is different for everyone, so you may have to try a few things before finding what works for you.
Take care of your body
- Get enough sleep—if you can, stick to a regular schedule
- If it’s safe, spend time outside
- Play sports you enjoy or other types of exercise—even if it’s just stretching or walking
Take care of your mind
- Write or draw your feelings
- Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and slow your heart rate
- Take a break from news or social media if it causes you stress
- Explore your interests and hobbies
- If you can, follow a regular schedule each day and build in time to take breaks
- Celebrate large and small successes
Connect with people for support
- When you feel ready, think about asking for help
- Join a support group or connect with an online community that’s a safe space
- Talk to people who care about you and won’t judge you—and be open to their advice
- If you’re in a safe relationship, be open with your partner about what you’re going through
- Get involved with a sports team, school activity, or a religious or spiritual organization
- Volunteer for a cause you care about
If you find yourself in crisis — or you just need to talk to someone — call or text 988 for help.
If you’ve experienced a traumatic event or disaster, find additional coping tips.
Loneliness and Grief
It’s OK not to feel merry and bright. This season can bring up feelings of loneliness and grief. Hope, help and healing are within reach. Reach out to someone to speak about what’s weighing on you.
Coping with Bereavement and Grief
Bereavement and grief are individual, yet universal experiences that nearly everyone faces within their lifetime. Everyone experiences loss in their own personal way. Many can navigate grief with the support of those who are already in their lives, but others may need more help. There are resources and organizations available to ensure individuals receive the appropriate care they need. The type of support required can be influenced by the nature and timing of the loss, the specific resources available, and many other factors.
Understanding Bereavement and Grief
In the simplest of terms, bereavement is a period of grief and mourning after a loss, while grief is a person’s emotional response to a loss. Below are more comprehensive definitions based on the opinions of several experts in the field.
Bereavement
The overarching experience of coping with loss and change. It is the emotional and psychological condition experienced after a loss, typically due to death, but it can also apply to non-death-related losses. Bereavement often encompasses both inward and outward expressions of grief and the cultural, social, and personal practices that help individuals process and adjust to the loss, often through rituals and support from loved ones. It usually involves a period of grieving.
Grief
The emotional, mental, and/or physical response to a loss, often due to death but also encompassing other life changes, such as the end of relationships, loss of identity, or illness. Sometimes people experience periods of grief in anticipation to a loss. Grief is deeply personal and can occur differently in everyone, shaped by the nature of the relationship, the degrees of support, circumstances of the loss, cultural influences, and individual coping mechanisms as well as other considerations. While it can be an intense experience, it is considered a natural human reaction to loss that generally subsides over time for most people.
Additional definitions provided by the National Cancer Institute and the American Psychological Association for bereavement and grief.
Examples of how grief can be expressed:
- Sadness
- Anger
- Guilt
- Confusion
- Relief
- Anxiety
- Numbness
- Helplessness
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Sleep disturbances
- And many more…
Strategies for coping with grief and loss:
- Support from friends, family, and/or other known community members
- Cultural, social, religious, faith, or other beliefs or rituals
- Local or virtual grief support groups
- Community-based or virtual grief counseling services
- Grief peer support services
- Artistic expression
- Physical movement and exercise
- Outreach to a mental health professional
Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD)
Although most people experience periods of grief and bereavement after the death of an individual without long-term mental health concerns, some may experience symptoms that could benefit from additional help. In 2022, the American Psychiatric Association added Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) to the DSM-5-TR after clearly distinguishing PGD as its own distinct diagnosis. Major features of the criteria for PGD include, but are not limited to:
- Intense yearning or thoughts about the deceased
- Significant and persistent degree of distress
- Significant decrease in functioning
- Symptoms that last more than one year in adults and six months in children and youth
PGD is only one form of grief that can cause extraordinary challenges for individuals. People can also experience other difficult grief reactions. People who are, or think they are, experiencing PGD or are having an especially hard time processing their grief, may seek clinical care, such as individual or group psychotherapy to support them through their loss. Many may also find other supports, such as grief peer support, helpful with this experience.
Alcohol, Substance Use, and Recovery
Has it gotten harder to get through each day? If you’re having issues with mental health, drugs, or alcohol or waiting for treatment to start, here are some small steps you can take.
Reach out if you’re in crisis
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You’ll be able to speak with a trained crisis counselor any time of day or night.
Accept where you are now
Know that where you are is okay. Healing isn’t a straight line—there will be ups and downs along the way. Speak to yourself with kindness, as though you’re speaking to a friend.
Try some of the things below to help your body and mind. Taking care of yourself is healing yourself. Self-care is different for everyone, so you may have to try a few things before finding what works for you.
Take care of your body
- Get enough sleep—if you can, stick to a regular schedule
- If it’s safe, spend time outside
- Play sports you enjoy or other types of exercise—even if it’s just stretching or walking
Take care of your mind
- Write or draw your feelings
- Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and slow your heart rate
- Take a break from news or social media if it causes you stress
- Explore your interests and hobbies
- If you can, follow a regular schedule each day and build in time to take breaks
- Celebrate large and small successes
Connect with people for support
- When you feel ready, think about asking for help
- Join a support group or connect with an online community that’s a safe space
- Talk to people who care about you and won’t judge you—and be open to their advice
- If you’re in a safe relationship, be open with your partner about what you’re going through
- Get involved with a sports team, school activity, or a religious or spiritual organization
- Volunteer for a cause you care about
If you find yourself in crisis — or you just need to talk to someone — call or text 988 for help.
If you’ve experienced a traumatic event or disaster, find additional coping tips.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Is the weather outside frightful? For some, the shorter days and colder temperatures can bring on symptoms of a type of depression. Is it just the ‘winter blues’ or seasonal affective disorder (SAD)? Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a condition in which some people experience a significant mood change when the seasons change. SAD is not considered a separate disorder but is a type of depression.
Causes
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is triggered by changes in seasons. This form of depression usually occurs during the fall and winter months when there is less sunlight, and the days get shorter. SAD usually lifts during the spring and summer months.
Symptoms
Not everyone with SAD has the same symptoms, but they can include:
- Sad, anxious, or “empty” feelings
- Feelings of hopelessness, guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
- Fatigue and decreased energy
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
- Thoughts of death or suicide
- Oversleeping
- Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates
- Weight gain
- Social withdrawal (feeling like “hibernating”)
- Difficulty sleeping
- Lack of appetite
- Irritability and agitation
Testing for SAD
Talk to your health care provider or mental health specialist if you are concerned and think you may be suffering from SAD.
Get Help
SAD may be effectively treated with a specific type of light therapy for many. Antidepressant medicines and talk therapy may also be needed reduce SAD symptoms, either alone or combined with light therapy. Additionally, vitamin D supplements may improve symptoms.
Learn how to talk about mental health to help you speak to a loved one who you may think is experiencing any mental health concerns.
