Not everyone enjoys the holiday season

I would like to thank everyone in District 739 for the warm welcome. Your willingness to teach me the do’ and don’ts in the Kimball area have been appreciated. I would like to offer a special thank you to the staff at Kimball Elementary for their helpfulness and friendliness; they have helped make the transition to a school setting very pleasant. With the holiday season approaching, I thought that it would be appropriate to offer some information on concerns that often come up in families this time of year. While many of us consider the holidays a fun time of the year and look forward to meeting with friends and family whom we have not seen all year, some of us dread it for varying reasons. With the holidays comes the additional stress of finding the time and finances to buy gifts for friends and family. For individuals with social anxiety, the holidays can be a very stressful and even frightening time. Persons with social anxiety fear social situations that involve interaction with other people. The persons may be fine when they are alone or with close friends, but become very anxious when in social situations. Symptoms of anxiety include, but are not limited to, fear, anxiety, nervousness, blushing, racing heart beat, excessive sweating, dry throat and mouth, trembling, stomach nausea, negative thinking, paranoid thinking (feeling that others are watching and judging you) and muscle twitches. There are different types of treatment available for persons with social anxiety. The most common are cognitive-behavioral restructuring therapy (focusing on your thought patterns) and medications (help regulate chemicals in your brain that sometimes cause anxiety). Prognosis for recovery is good for individuals who receive treatment for this disorder. Another possible reason for lack of enjoyment during the holiday season is depression. As the season progresses, the days get shorter and, for many adults, this leads to depression. This is called seasonal affective disorder or SAD. SAD is a mood disorder that is associated with depression and related to the seasonal variations of light. Human beings have internal clocks that are in part affected by sunlight patterns. Persons with SAD are sensitive to the lack of sunlight that is available in the winter and become depressed. Symptoms include changes in eating or sleeping patterns, feeling sad, feeling hopeless or helpless, fatigue or loss of energy, loss of interest in normal activities, trouble concentrating or remembering things, feeling angry or moody, crying easily, persistent physical pains or conditions that don’t respond to treatment, thoughts of suicide (these should occur yearly and lessen in springtime). SAD is more common in women that men (70-80 percent are women) and seems to occur more often in persons over 25. There are two popular treatments for SAD. One is phototherapy (bright light therapy) and the other is medication. Do not attempt to treat this or any other disorder without consulting a health professional first. If you are interested in learning more about either of these disorders, please contact me at (320) 398-7700 ext. 207, or contact your health care professional. The information provided here is general; individual cases and treatments vary. The Kimball Family Advocate also has information on financial counseling and budgeting that may be useful as you approach the holiday shopping season.