Skipping the second definition for doldrums, we arrive at: “a state of mild depression or unhappiness.” The lexicographer must have been chasing a chimera or two when he called the malady “Mild.” It can be, but so often is, a significant condition. Across the United States people are waking up to the reality that Christmas is a bummer for lots of mourning souls. Services called Blue Christmas are attempting to confront the feelings of pain and loss so many people have to deal with during the “festive time of year.” Some say things like, “Since my wife died, I hate the holidays. I see the Christmas decorations and get chills – not of delight.”

Dealing with a death, family dysfunction, or divorce can make a person feel lost and out of place. Tinsel and Norman Rockwell’s turkey dinner painting tend to create longings and sadness, not ho-ho-ho and good tidings. Christmas is particularly hard on the heartbroken.

Many other circumstances cause Christmasitis. Being far away from a beloved person is one of the worst. Think, for a moment, about how unbearable it must be for soldiers and their families to spend the holidays thousands of miles apart. Stressed families often find themselves conflicted this time of the year. They bring their stress and misunderstandings to the family get-togethers and often they spill them out. Much of our stress these days is caused by the cock-eyed financial scene. So many people are strapped for money that even the smallest gathering can cost too much, adding to stress and upset.

The intense stress we put upon ourselves makes for exhaustion. The activities this time of year are pleasant over all, yet the change from ordinary day-to-day living can push a person too far, causing fatigue and disappointment. Loneliness, on the other hand, is an authentic and a sad issue during the holidays. The elderly are particularly hit hard. With no family or what family members there are still living are far away, the ill and aged often fade into depression. Young people can find themselves as lonely as the elderly. Maybe the lonely young could visit the lonely aged for a few hours on Christmas Day. It’s a thought.

Treatment for Americans conducting their daily lives with depression rose steeply during the 1990s. The Los Angeles Times noted that the affliction affected 0.73% of the US population in 1987 and 71% of them relied on psychotherapists for treatment. Ten years later, Americans being treated for depression more than tripled to 2.33%. Only 60% of them were involved with therapy. It may not seem to be a big jump from 0.73% to 2.33% but that represents an additional 2.2 million people requiring either drugs or therapy or both to help get them through daily life.

A list compiled by the Mayo Clinic shows what depression can put a person through. Feelings of sadness. Irritability or frustration even over small things. Loss of interest in pleasure and normal activities. Reduced sex drive. Insomnia or excessive sleeping. Changes in appetite – either decreased or increased. Agitation or restlessness. Slowed thinking, speaking or bodily motions. Indecisiveness, decreased concentration. Fatigue and loss of energy. Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame. Frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide. Crying spells for no reason. Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches.

Depression affects each person differently. Therefore, depression symptoms vary from person to person. Inherited traits, age, gender and cultural background all play a part. Mayo Clinic says that depression can and does show up early in life. Even small children can have it. But adolescents and teens tend to show clear symptoms in their behaviors. They may include anxieties, anger and avoiding making friends or willingly participating in social occasions.

And what are the risk factors for depression? Researchers admit the precise cause of depression hasn’t yet been found, but they know the triggers that increase the risk of triggering or developing depression. They are: having biological relatives with depression; being a woman; having traumatic experiences in childhood; having alcoholic relatives; experiencing stressful event, such as death of a loved one; having few friends or personal relatives; having a depressed mood as a child; having traits such as low self-esteem, being overly dependent, self-critical or pessimistic; being poor; taking certain high blood pressure meds, sleeping pills or certain other medications; having just had a baby.

OK. I’ve got a whole horde of these risk factors. I have at least one sister currently being treated for manic depression. I am a woman. I had a traumatic childhood starting when my parents went and generated twins. I had been an only child for six superb years. My twin sisters were the first twins in mother’s Italian family, which never got over it. I never got over it, either. My sister, one of the twins, is an alcoholic. Following the twins’ arrival, I naturally figured I’d been replaced and, although it took two babies to do it, my self-worth was shattered. It’s never recovered.

There must be an awful lot of us depressives out there. Consider the number of TV commercials pushing Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Then there are the serotonin and nor-epinephrine reuptake inhibitors: Effexor, (my med) and Pristiq. Then there are those atypical medications that don’t fit well into any other antidepressant category: Desyrel and Remeron. And there are the tricyclic antidepressants that have been around for years, but tend to have several uncomfortable side effects. Lastly are the monoamine oxidase inhibitors, Paranate and Nardil, something one takes as a last resort. MAOIs can kill you with their grim side effects. I believe I’ll steer clear of these guys no matter how depressed I get. I prefer a bit of Prozac sprinkled on my Christmas goodies.

I think I’ll avoid ECT too. ECT doesn’t mean et cetera. That’s etc and, anyway, ECT means elecrtoconvulsive therapy in which electrical currents pass through the brain. It’s believed to affect levels of neurotransmitters in your brain. My ex-brother-in-law’s mother had several ECTs. She lost a great deal of her memory and died without recalling she had grandchildren. No thanks.

There’s a new antidepressant medication coming on the market or it’s already there. The name is Seroquel XR and its safety information is a mile long. This stuff causes (or can cause) everything from sweating, confusion, high blood sugar, and weight gain to suicidal thoughts and/or suicide. This is another No Thanks.

Let’s get into something more pleasant, shall we? First off, I discovered a list of five ways of coping with the Holiday Blues. First, do NOT consume the commercialism or the Hollywood hype. Christmas does not bring in terrific decorations and happy-happy families. No one beside Martha Stewart does Martha Stewart stuff. She’s just another cash cow.

Second, stay active. Go skating or bobsledding or skiing or, best of all, if you don’t have two feet of snow on the ground, go for a walk. Take along any children you can scare up and go to the park. You could make a few snow persons if you do have two feet of snow.

Third, start a brand-new seasonal tradition. If you’ve lost a loved one recently, give yourself permission to grieve for him or her. You are really grieving for yourself, but that’s entirely acceptable. Then bring something completely new into the house that will become a shining Christmas joy for you in years to come.

Fourth, take into consideration how your family’s energy works. Is there an overbearing elder who always scared you half to death and still does? Does your mother insist on sharing her every ache and pain? Has your dad seemed to have age so much since last you saw him that it’s alarming? Not much you can do to change any of these behaviors or fears. Try to take them as they come. If that doesn’t work, leave early. Make up a pretend friend or a neighbor who invited you to join them. Whatever it takes.

Fifth, get help. If your Christmas depression is so severe that you are struggling, go see a doctor. Your personal MD will have suggestions for you and will point you in the right direction. If you feel that your doctor is out of reach, call one of the help lines. People who know where you are will answer and help you. They’ve been there, too.

How about looking at something more pleasant? I went surfing online to find memoirs of Christmas during the Great Depression of the late 1920s through the 1930s. I struck riches!

The blog I tripped over is written by an older woman, one who can recall Christmas in the 20’s and 30’s. Decorations didn’t show up in stores until a week before Christmas. Most tree ornaments were homemade – popped popcorn strung on thread, roping made of colored paper rings for the tree.

The dear lady recollects lying in her bed on Christmas Eve too excited to sleep and too tired not to. Children of the time didn’t get much for Christmas, however. A stocking full of candy and raisins, a big red apple and an orange. Some stick candy (probably peppermint sticks) and chocolate drops, nuts, walnuts, pecans and Brazil nuts could be found under the tree. She might receive, if she needed them, a pair of warm gloves or a cap and a pair of roller skates. A city girl, she loved skating the sidewalks Thirty-some years later, I too, awaited roller skates for Christmas. I got them, too, but I had to wait until April to use them. Snow, you know.

Apples and oranges were shipped to the South. Oranges came in from Florida. Sharing an orange with a girl he was sweet on made a boy “special.” Cakes seemed to be the most popular baked goods back then, as opposed to the Christmas cookies that were so important when I was a little girl. The lady reminisced about some of the Christmas cakes her mama baked for the season – fruit cake (of course), Japanese Fruit Cake(?), chocolate cake with homemade fudge frosting, a coconut layer cake, an applesauce raisin cake and numerous others. Many of the cakes were sent as gifts to neighbors. Others were served when people came to conduct a Christmas visit.

The family usually had a chicken with stuffing and a ham for Christmas dinner. The chicken retained its skin so it became well-browned and crispy and probably delicious. Yams, other vegetables and homemade breads were there to fill the table and the diners.

Christmas during the Great Depression didn’t sound so bad to me. With so much more to worry them, they lived the Christmas spirit and made the best of it. May we all do the same.

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About the author Cate Lane: Born in Minnesota and raised a temperate progressive, I was carried off to Texas 10 years ago by the tsunami that was my husband's retirement. Texas is not Minnesota, not by a long shot. However, I hear that Minnesota isn't Minnesota anymore either.

Writing was always my first choice in life. I began writing at the age of 8, small books about pioneers heading west. Little did I know then that I would be living in the most "western" of all the states, Texas. No one told the Texans that they are simply Southerners who, like Bugs Bunny, took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and wound up here.

I am sneaking up on 70 years of age and now own a vast store of useless knowledge. Happy to share any or all of it with you all.

Email: CthlnLn@aol.com

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