Happy Holidays?

Why are we so much happier during the Christmas season?

“Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard, or too sad when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room.” Author Nora Roberts gave words to the sentiment that so many people feel during this time of year; Christmas is a happier time.

A study done by Matt Killingsworth, a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar and the creator of Track Your Happiness.org, showed that people tend to be happier on the holidays, with Christmas being the happiest day by a significant margin, even for people that don’t celebrate.

Psychologist Deborah Serani said that Christmas “creates that neurological shift that can produce happiness. Christmas decorating will spike dopamine, a feel-good hormone.” What is it about the holiday season that makes us that much happier?

This is because many relate Christmas to the happiest moments of their lives, being a child and opening that toy you dreamed of from Santa. Amy Morin, a psychotherapist, said “The holiday season stirs up a sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia helps link people to their personal past and it helps people understand their identity.” Experts also say that the bright colors and general ambiance of Christmas are mood boosters.

But nostalgia seems to be the root cause for the uptick in happiness as decorating and observing Christmas decorations anchors us in a time before the stress and anxiety of the real world got to us and when magic still existed.

This is not to say that everyone is happier during the holidays. Some people deal with the “Christmas Blues” for a variety of reasons, be it financial struggles, loneliness, grief, or even seasonal affective disorder (SAD). There’re steps one can take to cope with holiday depression as well as hotlines one can call, like https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline.

The holiday season is one usually spent with family and friends reliving old memories of a simpler time. This, combined with the general atmosphere that Christmas provides, is what makes us that much happier. The music, movies, and taste of hot chocolate take us back to when we were young and things didn’t seem so tough.

As singer Andy Williams said, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”