Might as well chime in, having dealt with depression almost my entire life.

Lots of what has been said here is right on the money. Depression is triggered by different things, and if the holidays are the only times you experience it, then you're actually quite lucky as it's over in only a few weeks.

For me, never knowing when it was going to hit was much worse. At least on the holidays I knew what to expect. My own "treatment" over the years have been everything from never leaving my home to going out and being with people I really love. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I'm still just as depressed.

I had my first depression-free holiday on my thirty-fifth birthday. I was by then, living in Hawaii, having followed the sun for the past decade and a half because the light really did seem to at least take the edge off, along with the heat. But it was when I was completely alone, kayaking on Maui, and a couple of humpbacked whales came under my boat to serenade me, that I became so utterly joyful that my depression didn't have a chance.

Unfortunately you can't exactly COUNT on experiences like those to happen! So I went on anti-depressants for several years, and seem to have been able to stop the cycle.

So how do I feel NOW during the holidays? Pretty good. I do the things I feel like doing. I am with people if I choose to be, and am alone when that feels better. If I feel like crying, so be it. I have stuff to cry about. Why not on holidays?

Bottom line, if you psyche yourself out every time you know the holidays are coming up, there's a good chance you'll enjoy a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you take it, as all things really should be taken, as one day at a time, to be created as you wish, then the holidays will slide by, and only be as fraught or as joyful as any day of our life can be.

I do hope you get through this one with minimum angst. I agree that walks are great, as are swims, and good books, music, and friends.

Chocolate isn't bad either!!

Good luck..xx..e