How to Cope With Holiday Depression
The Holidays Aren't Always Happy — How to Handle Depression This Time of Year
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You may think mindlessly scrolling the 'gram will make you feel better, what with all the perfectly posed photos in front of Christmas trees and strategically placed glasses of mulled wine. In reality, social media can seriously eff with your mood.
"Even on an uneventful day, social media can have a profound negative impact on our mood and self-esteem," Dr. Bianchi said. "It evokes an automatic tendency to engage in a thought process called upward social comparison, wherein we perceive others to be superior to ourselves. This tendency is particularly pronounced in people suffering from depression."
And the holidays are rife with over-the-top posed and carefully edited photos of perfect families, ideal decor, and the most fun friend gatherings. She recommends deleting social media apps from your phone entirely and logging out of them on your computer. Instead, focus on activities that don't involve screens.