RESEARCHERS at the University of Limerick have found that depressed people are less likely to send Christmas cards than non-depressed people.
The researchers, led by Professor Stephen Gallagher, director of the Study of Anxiety Stress and Health Lab at UL, were curious to see if the sending of Christmas cards offered any insight into the sender.
“While many of the behavioural characteristics displayed by people with depression are well known, here, for the first time, we demonstrate that a Christmas behaviour, or the sending of Christmas cards, is also affected,” Professor Gallagher explained.
“We found that approximately 55 per cent of non-depressed people reported ‘always’ sending Christmas cards, compared to 46 per cent of those with depression”.
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The researchers concluded that people with depression can struggle emotionally with Christmas which is often associated with parties and social engagement.
Some studies indicate that while Christmas is a happy time for most, for others, their mental health deteriorates; something that is often referred to as the ‘Holiday Blues’.
“For those who are already depressed, a Christmas season laden with these social behaviours is likely to be threatening, due to their anhedonia type behaviour, that is, not getting pleasure from their typical behaviours – in this case sending Christmas cards,” Professor Gallagher added.
Using data from over 2,400 people who took part in the UK’s ‘Understanding Society Wave 5’ dataset, the UL researchers extracted the information as to whether individuals sent Christmas cards.
“This suggested that sending Christmas cards may be another behavioural characteristic displayed by those with depression, especially for Christians. However, other religious groups may have festival-related behaviours affected that may reflect those cultural values.
“Prior research has found that prosocial gesture of expressing gratitude in letters and cards boosted positive emotions in both the receiver and sender and that it was more than just the exchange of pleasantries and good wishes over the festive season,” Professor Gallagher explained.
Dr Jennifer McMahon, a lecturer in psychology at UL who was a co-author on the study added: “If you do not hear from someone who regularly sends you a Christmas card, it might be worth checking in with them to spread some Christmas cheer.”
The UL research has just been published in the journal Cogent Psychology.