By Nancy White

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you,

I’ll be so blue just thinking about you.

December 5, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--Elvis Presley aside, the holiday blues are nothing to sing about.  For many the holidays are not a time of cheer, but of dread, exhaustion and even depression.

What distinguishes the holiday blues from cases of severe depression are not the symptoms – they’re similar – but the duration.  For those who are vulnerable, the blues tend to arrive just before the holidays – in anticipation – and fade when the calendar turns. The symptoms generally are a lack of interest in usually pleasant activities, sleep disturbances, appetite changes, agitation, anxiety, feelings of guilt or difficulty in concentrating.