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Speaker 1: For today's episode, we're partnering with med i Q, an

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Speaker 1: accredited medical education company that provides an exceptional educational experience

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Speaker 1: for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals, to

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Speaker 1: raise awareness around depression. This partnership was made possible by

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Speaker 1: a grant from Taketa Pharmaceuticals USA Incorporated and Lundbeck. You'll

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Speaker 1: remember that in session for Am I Really Depressed, we

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Speaker 1: talked about how easy it might be for black women

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Speaker 1: to miss the signs of depression because of cultural and

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Speaker 1: societal norms. Med i Q hopes to help change some

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Speaker 1: of this by making the general public more aware of

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Speaker 1: the symptoms of depression and how to reach out for

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Speaker 1: help when necessary. Here's where we need your help. To

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Speaker 1: get a better sense of what you already know about depression.

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Speaker 1: We have a brief survey for you to complete. The

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Speaker 1: survey shouldn't take any longer than ten minutes, and upon completion,

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Speaker 1: you will be entered into a drawing to win one

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Speaker 1: of ten one dollar visa gift cards. You can find

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Speaker 1: the survey at Therapy for Black Girls dot com backslash

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Speaker 1: med i q, and of course, all of this information

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Speaker 1: will be included in the show notes for your reference.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much in advance for your help with

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Speaker 1: this very important project to raise awareness about depression. Welcome

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Speaker 1: to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, where we discuss

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Speaker 1: all things mental health, personal development, and all the small

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Speaker 1: decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

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Speaker 1: of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr Joy Harden Bradford, a

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Speaker 1: licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. To get more information and resources,

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Speaker 1: visit the website at Therapy for Black Girls dot com.

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Speaker 1: And while I hope you love listening to and learning

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Speaker 1: from the podcast, it is not meant to be a

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Speaker 1: substitute for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all,

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Speaker 1: thanks so much for joining me for a session thirty

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Speaker 1: three of the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast. We've made

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Speaker 1: it to that time of the year that you've either

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Speaker 1: been looking forward to or dreading for any number of reasons.

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Speaker 1: Next week officially starts the holiday season. Even though some

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Speaker 1: of those stores have had their Christmas decorations up for

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Speaker 1: at least a month now, heading into the holidays often

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Speaker 1: brings up a lot for people, so I wanted to

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Speaker 1: spend some time today talking about the difference between the

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Speaker 1: holiday blues and depression, and to offer some tips on

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Speaker 1: steadying yourself for the holiday season. The holiday blues might

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Speaker 1: best be described as increased sadness and anxiety during the

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Speaker 1: holiday season for a variety of different reasons. An article

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Speaker 1: from You See David's Health indicates that some of the

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Speaker 1: reasons we see an increase in sadness and anxiety is

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Speaker 1: related to a couple of factors. The first is time change.

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Speaker 1: We know that we've just set our clocks back an hour,

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Speaker 1: which means we have few hours of daylight, which can

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Speaker 1: have an impact on our mood, resulting in decreased energy,

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Speaker 1: loss of interest and pleasurable activities, and sleep disturbances. A

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Speaker 1: second factor that may contribute to the holiday blues is

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Speaker 1: increased alcohol use. So we know that many times when

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Speaker 1: we gather to celebrate, alcohol is often a part of

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Speaker 1: the equation, and since there tend to be a lot

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Speaker 1: of gatherings for the holiday season, we may be consuming

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Speaker 1: more alcohol than usual and may not really be paying

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Speaker 1: attention to actually how much alcohol we are consuming. It's

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Speaker 1: important to remember that alcohol acts as a depressant on

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Speaker 1: the system, so if you're already feeling a little down,

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Speaker 1: the increased alcohol may actually make your mood more depressed.

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Speaker 1: A third factor that may contribute to the holiday blues

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Speaker 1: is unrealistic expect paitions about ourselves. The article from You

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Speaker 1: See David's Health states during the holidays, we frequently meet

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Speaker 1: other people that are quite successful and are advancing throughout

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Speaker 1: their careers. This may lead us to place unrealistic expectations

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Speaker 1: on ourselves concerning our own accomplishments or are perceived lack

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Speaker 1: of them. None of us is perfect, and sometimes we

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Speaker 1: develop unrealistic expectations over the holidays of what we should

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Speaker 1: accomplish and focus on our failures. Be realistic in what

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Speaker 1: you seek to achieve, both personally and professionally. Don't label

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Speaker 1: the holidays as a time to cure all past problems.

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Speaker 1: The holidays do not prevent sadness or loneliness. So, as

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Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, there definitely is a difference between the

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Speaker 1: holiday blues and a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and

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Speaker 1: it's important for us to be aware of the symptoms

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Speaker 1: of depression so that we'll know whether we're actually struggling

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Speaker 1: with holiday blues or something more serious. To meet criteria

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Speaker 1: for a major depressive disorder, a person must experience five

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Speaker 1: or more of the symptoms below for a continuous period

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Speaker 1: of at least two weeks. These symptoms include feelings of sadness, hopelessness,

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Speaker 1: and thoughts of death or suicide. These symptoms must be

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Speaker 1: present every day or nearly every day, and must cause

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Speaker 1: significant distress or problems in our day lives are functioning.

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Speaker 1: So if you notice that you've been experiencing some of

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Speaker 1: these symptoms during the holidays and they last well into

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Speaker 1: the new year, or if you've already been experiencing these symptoms,

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Speaker 1: then it may be time to talk with someone about

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Speaker 1: getting some help. Like I mentioned earlier, the holidays often

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Speaker 1: bring up a lot for people. Some stuff is positive

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Speaker 1: and some stuff not so much. So I wanted to

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Speaker 1: offer you six tips for studying yourself for the holiday season.

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Speaker 1: So the first tip is to be realistic about your budget.

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Speaker 1: I think there's often a tendency to overspend to show

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Speaker 1: the people in our lives just how much we care

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Speaker 1: about them, and I think we need to question whether

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Speaker 1: this is really necessary. And I often wonder if we

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Speaker 1: get into overspending as a guilt reaction for not spending

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Speaker 1: enough time with the people we love throughout the year.

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Speaker 1: So something for you to think about a couple of

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Speaker 1: ideas about being more really stick in smart with your money. One,

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Speaker 1: think of gifts that you can give that don't um

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Speaker 1: have an obvious monetary amount, So can you do things

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Speaker 1: like offered to babysit or make a special playlist for

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Speaker 1: the people that you love. Two, plan ahead for next

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Speaker 1: year by setting aside a little money each month for

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Speaker 1: gifts so that there's not a panic come November and

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Speaker 1: December and you're trying to scramble if you're not what

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Speaker 1: you're gonna buy for everybody. The second tip is to

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Speaker 1: create new traditions or re examine old ones. This may

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Speaker 1: be particularly relevant gift for some reason, you can't be

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Speaker 1: with your family this year, can you get a group

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Speaker 1: of friends together to do a friends giving. Can you

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Speaker 1: volunteer at a shelter to feed those in need? I

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Speaker 1: think sometimes we get guilted into celebrating the holidays in

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Speaker 1: the same ways that we always have by family members.

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Speaker 1: But it's really important to think about what feels right

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Speaker 1: to you and how you would like to spend this

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Speaker 1: time of the year. A third tip is to make

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Speaker 1: a game plan for dealing with the loss of a

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Speaker 1: loved one. So dealing with the loss during the holidays

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Speaker 1: can be very difficult to manage, particularly related to all

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Speaker 1: of the different rituals and traditions that are often surrounding

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Speaker 1: the holidays. One really good way to deal with the

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Speaker 1: loss is to reimagine what these traditions might look like.

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Speaker 1: For example, if your grandmother recently passed and she was

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Speaker 1: the one who would typically lead the Thanksgiving prayer on

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Speaker 1: Thanksgiving morning, then elect a new person to lead the prayer,

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Speaker 1: perhaps using some of her favorite passages, or redo the

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Speaker 1: prayer sequence altogether. Maybe instead of a prayer you sing

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Speaker 1: one of her favorite songs instead. One of the most

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Speaker 1: important things is to plan ahead and not get to

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Speaker 1: Thanksgiving morning and be panicked about who's going to lead

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Speaker 1: the prayer, you need to have a plan in place.

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Speaker 1: I also think that there can be the temptation to

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Speaker 1: avoid things giving all together or any of the holidays

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Speaker 1: after a recent laws UM, and I don't think. I

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Speaker 1: think it's important that we UM try not to avoid

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Speaker 1: things because when we avoid them, we never learned that

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Speaker 1: we can actually deal with it. So, of course, it

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Speaker 1: will be painful to go through a holiday season UM

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Speaker 1: after you've experienced the loss of a loved one, but

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Speaker 1: it is manageable, and so you shouldn't have any expectation

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Speaker 1: that it's going to likely be a joyous occasion, but

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Speaker 1: you likely will be able to live through it and

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Speaker 1: tolerate the the pain related to losing a loved one.

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Speaker 1: The fourth tip should come as no surprise to you

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Speaker 1: if you've been listening to the podcast for a while.

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Speaker 1: The fourth one is setting and sticking to your boundaries.

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Speaker 1: So let me know if this sounds familiar to you

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Speaker 1: at all. You're in town for five days for the holidays.

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Speaker 1: In those five days, you have been invited to a

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Speaker 1: holiday brunch sponsored by your college roommate. You've been asked

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Speaker 1: to read during Christmas Eve service, asked to take on

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Speaker 1: Cheryl shopping for the last minute gifts. They've asked you

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Speaker 1: to make that special peach collar that everybody loves. They

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Speaker 1: want you to see your new nephew that's three months old,

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Speaker 1: and you have to help your little cousin get her

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Speaker 1: college applications together. Girl, this is exhausting, and this just

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Speaker 1: describes what might be happening when you get to your hometown.

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Speaker 1: This doesn't even account for all of the holiday work

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Speaker 1: gatherings and community service projects you might have had to

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Speaker 1: tend to before you left home. Sis, you simply cannot

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Speaker 1: do everything, especially during the holidays. It's okay to say no.

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Speaker 1: If you're running around doing all of this, then what

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Speaker 1: time are you spending reflecting and getting yourself ready to

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Speaker 1: head into the Fifth tip? Build some downtime into your

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Speaker 1: schedule just for yourself. Perhaps this means heading back home

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Speaker 1: a few days earlier to give yourself a buffer before

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Speaker 1: maybe this means you do something completely different this year

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Speaker 1: for your break. This might be the perfect time to

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Speaker 1: take that solo vacation you've been dreaming about, or is

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Speaker 1: to have a staycation right in your own home or

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Speaker 1: your city This kind of goes back to creating your

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Speaker 1: own new traditions. Just because the holidays have always been

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Speaker 1: done a certain way doesn't mean that they have to

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Speaker 1: be done that same way now. And the six tips

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Speaker 1: allow yourself space to feel whatever you feel. Because there

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Speaker 1: is often this expectation that holidays are a time of

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Speaker 1: celebration and excitement, there's often a feeling of what's wrong

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Speaker 1: with me if we don't feel that way for one

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Speaker 1: reason or another. It's okay to be sad about a

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Speaker 1: recent laws, are, to be so worried about the state

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Speaker 1: of our country that you just don't feel so jolly,

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Speaker 1: or if you just are not feeling it this year,

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Speaker 1: all of that is okay. Give yourself permission to experience

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Speaker 1: your feelings without making any judgments about them. You don't

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Speaker 1: have to explain yourself to anyone. So I'm curious to

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Speaker 1: know what your plans are from maintaining your sanity during

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Speaker 1: the holiday season. Share them with us so that we

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Speaker 1: can all get some ideas. Make sure to use the

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Speaker 1: hashtag on social media t b G in session, And

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Speaker 1: if there's a sister in your life who has not

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Speaker 1: heard about the podcast, stop whatever you're doing right now.

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Speaker 1: Unless you're driving, and send her a quick text message

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Speaker 1: to let her know about the podcast. If you want

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Speaker 1: to continue the conversation about studying yourself for the holidays,

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Speaker 1: come on over and join us in the Facebook group.

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Speaker 1: You can join at Therapy for Black Girls dot com

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Speaker 1: backslash tribe. If you're looking for a therapist in your area,

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Speaker 1: check out the directory by going to Therapy for Black

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Speaker 1: Girls dot com backslash directory. And please make sure that

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Speaker 1: you're following us on social media. You can find us

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Speaker 1: on Twitter as Therapy for the Number four be Girls,

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Speaker 1: and you can find us on Facebook and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Therapy for Black Girls. And finally, I'd like to remind

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Speaker 1: you about our partnership with med i Q on the

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Speaker 1: Depression Initiative and Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Incorporated and Lundbeck for

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Speaker 1: providing support. Please help us get more information that will

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Speaker 1: be useful in raising awareness about depression by filling out

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Speaker 1: the brief survey. The survey shouldn't take any longer than

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