Hopefully everyone had a great Thanksgiving. The Holidays are here again-so soon! This time of year is not a time of joy for everyone. In fact, it can be a very depressing time for a lot of us.

I wanted to open this thread in hopes people will come to talk if they are starting to feel depressed or anxious for any reason- holiday shopping pressures, loneliness, in-laws, despair, no reason is trivial.

Lets spread the gift of obnoxious holiday cheer!:D

Great idea! The holiday season does have a dark side it seems. It's a time when families and friends, or the lack thereof, are on everyone's mind. Of course, there probably never has been a family or friendship as perfect as the one on the velvet-edged christmas cards that we can't help but compare our actual ones to. I was blessed with good parents and a happy childhood, but both my parents are gone now, so that brings it's own sort of melancholy. Of course, this site isn't a perfect substitute for face-to-face friends and family, but it's a nice supplement, and a good place to get things off our chest that bother us, and find some encouragement to soldier on when things are tough. So Happy Holidays to all, in spite of the imperfections of our actual lives, families, and relationships.

I used to be in the military, and I still work with them as a civilian, so I am always concerned for those who are not with their families. That is what prompted me to open the thread.

Every year I get really excited about the holidays but this year I am not feeling it. Both my parents are gone too and being around my soon to be in laws, even though they are wonderful, makes me feel more alone. For Thanksgiving my fiancé and I were going to go out of town to be with his extended family but at the last minute decided not to. It ended up just being the two of us which I really enjoyed but I think he was missing his family. He wants to go out of town for Christmas since we didn't make it for Thanksgiving but I would really rather stay home. I know the holiday season is suppose to be about being around your loved ones but I guess I'm feeling rather selfish this year and don't want to make a big fuss about it.