While depression does occur during the holidays, local authorities agree they see a spike in depression just after the holidays, primarily in January and February.

Dr. William Kennedy, a psychologist and special deputy with the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office and a member of the hostage negotiation team for the Wilmington Police Department, said people have high levels of anxiety during the holidays and just prior to the holidays, but most depression occurs when holiday celebrations are over.

“I think a couple of things happen just after the holidays,” Kennedy said. “One is, prior to the holidays and as the holidays are going on, people tend to have more connections. They tend to talk to more people, friends and family members. Just after the holidays, that tends to decrease.”

When people talk about depression, usually they’re talking about a depressed mood. People saying, I feel down or I’ve got the blues, he said. “When you see those types of symptoms last more than a couple of weeks and they’re there most of the time, and when you see other associated features — difficulty with sleep, decreases or increases in appetite, changes and lowering of motivation — then you start to think about clinical depression. That’s what you see an increase in just after the holidays,” Kennedy said.

Is suicide or attempted suicide a sign of depression? Kennedy said suicidal thoughts are definitely something that can be associated with severe depression. “Most people who are depressed do not think about or have an active plan for committing suicide,” he said. “Most people who commit suicide, however, have some level of depression. Not everybody, but a good number.”

Clinton County Sheriff Ralph D. Fizer Jr. said there were an average of 10 attempted suicides per year over a three-year period. But only two have been recorded so far this year.

“Of those over the past three years, it seems like about half were during the summer months. A lot of those were drug-related,” Fizer said. “However, the other half were from about October through Dec. 31.”

Fizer said most stats confirm that the holiday season — the pressure of Thanksgiving and Christmas — are very hard on people, as well as the weeks right after the holidays. “Of course, it’s winter and people can’t get out and do as much, and that has a lot to do with it.”

The holiday season is tough on the inmates at the Clinton County Jail, as well, Fizer said. “And not only with the inmates, but also with family members that come in to visit them. For some it may be the first Christmas or New Year’s they don’t get to spend with them (their families) because they are incarcerated.”

While Dr. Kennedy is available to provide support to the deputies, the sheriff’s office also has a contract with the Mental Health & Recovery Center of Clinton County. “They come to our jail a couple days a week,” Fizer said. “We make sure someone from that office is here even more than normal during the holiday season.”

Fizer said Dr. Kennedy has been a great asset to the sheriff’s office. “Once I took over as sheriff, I felt it was important to have someone qualified for the deputies to talk to because of some of the things they see every day.”

What can people do to prevent or help depression? “One thing to do is stay connected socially,” Dr. Kennedy said. “What people tend to do is when they feel more depressed, they tend to withdraw from more people so they end up feeling more depressed.”

Another is be more mindful of automatic thoughts. “Those are the pictures and words that just kind of pop in your head in a situation,” he explained. “Some of those are pretty neutral, such as, ‘I’ve got to grab some eggs on the way home.’ Some of them may put the person in a really good mood. But the ones that you really need to notice are the ones that are tied with negative feelings. The ones that are tied with feeling depressed. If I can monitor those, then I’ve got a chance because I can challenge them. I can come up with some way to cope with it,” he said.

Fizer said Clinton County residents need to know there is help out there. “There are numbers in the front of the phone book. If you’re not sure who to call, call the sheriff’s office. We’ll make sure to get some help to you. It’s our job. A lot of times, people just want someone to talk to. We will send an officer to you and also put you in touch with someone.”

When responding on these calls, Fizer said deputies will not arrest anyone. “It’s to get them the proper help.”

Fizer said Kelly McInerney, chaplain to the sheriff’s office, also is available to go on calls with the deputies. “He’s very good,” Fizer said. “ Just having someone who is really good at talking with people, it’s a benefit to the people.”

Dr. Kennedy said depression is very treatable and there are several methods of treatment. “There is psychology, which is the area I work in. Especially if you’re looking at things like cognitive behavioural psychology, where people are usually depressed not because of the situations, but because of the beliefs they have about those situations.”

Giving an example, he said, “I don’t get mad because someone cuts me off in traffic, I get mad because I’m yelling inside my head, ‘that stupid jerk, who do they think they are driving like that.’ If I were telling myself, ‘oh my gosh, I hope they’re not heading to the hospital having a heart attack,’ I’m probably not going to feel angry. It’s not the situation that causes my feelings so much as the beliefs that I have about those situations, what it means to me. That’s the area I work in as far as treatment.”

Medication is another option, he said. “And oddly enough, exercise is an option. What most of the research says, is all three of those (psychology, medication and exercise) are equally effective at reducing the symptoms of depression. Any combination of those is more effective than one by itself.”

Several disorders have a depressed mood to go along with it, Kennedy said. “The main one is major depression.”

He explained major depression as a depressed mood most of the day and most days during the week. “That has to be there for a couple of weeks straight,“ he said. “For teens or children, instead of a depressed mood, you could also have an angry mood or irritable mood for that time period and that would be considered depression.

“if i’m just looking at major depression, about 15 percent of the individuals with severe depression have suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide,” he said.According to statistics, Dr. Kennedy said, between 10 and 25 percent of women and 5 to 12 percent of men develop major depression. Why are more women prone to depression than men? “A good amount of research suggests that men may show it differently than women. For instance, with men, you see a higher rate of substance abuse, especially alcohol. And men may display it more through physical aggression,” he explained.

At any one time somewhere betweeen 5 and 9 percent of women and 2 and 3 percent of men are clinically depressed, according to the local psychologist.

“If you suspect that one of your friends or acquaintances or relatives is depressed, say something to them. If you think they are thinking about hurting themselves or killing themselves, definitely say something to them. A lot of people believe that saying something like that will put the thought in their head. If i’m not already thinking about it and you ask if I’m thinking about hurting myself or killing myself, that’s not going to cause me to go out and hurt myself or kill myself. But if you don’t say something about it when you suspect it, they might act on it.”

If suicidal thoughts are not present, Dr. Kennedy said a good rule to look at is, treat it like a cold. “But if the symptoms hang on for more than a week or two weeks, you probably want to seek professional help.”