“I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards, and decorating trees and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.” –Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas

You’re sitting in Starbucks sipping an eggnog latte from a festive holiday cup. You’ve loaded an array of modern and classic Christmas music to your iPod, and you hum along while you plan out the next month of parties, dinners, cards and gifts. Every place you go is lined with shining lights and decorated with green and red bows. You can feel it in the air. ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year!’

Yet you can’t help but ask yourself – “It’s Christmas, so why am I not happy?”

While you might hand it to consumerism for adding brightness to the dark cold days of December, it’s that almost unattainable idea of a perfectly happy Christmas that brings some people down; often to the point of wanting to curl up under a pile of blankets and never come out.

Before we go any further, let’s first recognize that you’re not the only Charlie Brown out there. People may liken you to a Grinch, but there’s a big difference here. You try to be happy (you really do!) but there’s something about the month leading up to the alleged celebration of Christ’s birth that doesn’t sit right with you.

Tis the season to be jolly. Tis the season to give. Tis the season to spend. Tis the season to indulge. Tis the season to use your credit card because YOLO.

Make your list, check it twice. Wait, did I get that for mom last year? Is my sister going to like this? What the heck am I supposed to buy for dad? I hope my girlfriend wasn’t serious when she blatantly dropped hints about that way-too-expensive necklace.

There’s a lot of pressure, especially in a relationship, to meet someone’s perceived expectations during the holiday season. I’m sure many reading this have experienced the heartbreaking feeling of watching someone pretend to like a gift they didn’t want. That’s a feeling nobody wants to have.

“ During Winnipeg winters we have sun for less than six hours a day and temperatures dropping to -30 C even in early December. Together these conditions often lead to a prevalence of people experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition made only worse by the aforementioned pressures to spend and be constantly merry.

Isn’t that funny? We spend so much time and money, and endure stress to meet someone else’s expectations for a gift, and put that same stress on the people we love for the sake of tradition.

If someone has a specific gift in mind, wouldn’t it make more sense to buy it themselves? Shouldn’t they be happy with anything you decide to buy or make for them?  

Gifts are just the beginning, too. Your friends want to go for holiday drinks, you have to buy a new outfit for the work party, and you can’t deny the intense feeling of shame felt while strolling empty handed past a vest-wearing senior citizen collecting donations for the Salvation Army.

Holiday bonuses aren’t something that exist in my line of work, and I’m sure they’re unheard of to most young twenty-somethings. So if we don’t have the extra money to spend, why do we spend it?

Perfectly filtered pictures of happiness in the holiday season have already splattered across Instagram and the fear that your holiday plans don’t live up to everyone else’s is creeping in. Right, that's where the spending comes in; you want to buy the happiness you crave, that joy you believe everyone else has.

During Winnipeg winters we have sun for less than six hours a day and temperatures dropping to -30 C even in early December. Together these conditions often lead to a prevalence of people experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition made only worse by the aforementioned pressures to spend and be constantly merry.

As it turns out, it’s easy to be sad when the expectations of happiness are thrust into your life on a daily basis – and at a high cost.

I’m not an expert, but in my experience looking out for number one (that’s you!) should always be the top priority, especially when you have so many other things on your list. That means to stop focusing on what you think you have to do to make other people happy, and work on keeping yourself healthy and merry.

There’s always someone to talk to when you’re experiencing depression. If you’re feeling down, find the best option for you at www.cmhawpg.mb.ca/links.htm.