We have all heard that the suicide rate is higher during the holiday season than any other time of the year, but if this is true, how do we avoid the depression that leads to this act and how do we help others who might be experiencing it avoid it as well?

Many people fall into a state of depression around the holidays for a number of reasons. It can be that they are disconnected from their family and don’t have someone close to share the holiday with, they could be far from home and unable to make it back in time to celebrate, or simply the  financial stress or seeing others around them happy causes them to fall into a funk.

According to a research done but the Psychology department of Notre Dame in 2004, over 62 people committed suicide between the months of Oct. and Jan. here in the United States alone.  The data also revealed that 34 percent of men and 44 percent of women will experience holiday depression at some time in their lifetime.

“I think that a big reason for holiday depression is seeing everyone else happy, and feeling like you are being left out,” said junior accounting and finance major Anthony Fanelli. “I know that if I couldn’t be with my family at Christmas that I wouldn’t be the happiest person around.”

No matter what the reason there are ways to avoid being another number on a statistic scale of those who simply can’t bear it.

Volunteer; one simple way to make yourself realize just how fortunate you are is to volunteer to help those that have much less than yourself.  This will also help distract yourself from anything that you have weighing on your mind as well.

Another act is to speak up, let those that you are closes to know how you are feeling. While this can be a difficult thing to do, it will be one of the best things that you can do to help yourself.

“I think that people who are depressed during the holidays don’t say anything because they don’t want to be a burden or sound like they are complaining,” said Fanelli.

This is true, so if you see a loved one or someone that you know being dragged down by the holiday blues, get into the seasonal act of selfless giving and lend a helping hand or word. You never know who might be suffering around you.