As the holiday season starts many Morton students have admitted to feeling depressed and lonely during the holiday season.

In a random survey of 100 students, 68 said they felt anxious and depressed during the holidays. According to valuepenguin.com, the holidays are a time people associate with happiness and joy. More than half of people have felt different emotions this season. A sizable 55% of Americans are experiencing sadness and loneliness during the holidays this year including 35% who say it is worse than last year. Among those feeling lonely the top reasons cited are not being around loved ones:  41% being seasonal depression and 36% grief. Furthermore, members of the LGBTQ community face more holiday loneliness than any other demographic analyzed with 76% experiencing the winter blues. Overall, we can see that Gen Zers suffer the most holiday loneliness and depression over any other group. According to aetna.com doctors and therapists often recommend a combination of therapies. Depression is not one of those diseases where you can pinpoint one gene that is responsible, hence you can’t treat anyone with the same approach. Lifestyle factors play a major role as well, during the summer we go outside more, eat more fruits and interact more. When it gets colder our sleep patterns change, and many people start losing vitamin D. Something we recommend is arts, reading, painting, and any indoor activity that can help the brain distract itself and grow.

There are many ways that students can get help, including at Morton and in Cicero, if students prefer getting help outside of Cicero all they must do is make sure they talk to their counselor, so they can receive a paper that includes all the locations available for mental help and psychologists. PLEASE GET THAT PAPER if you need it, there are many psychologists and social workers that can help you here at Morton like Erica Hade and Claudia Campos.

Morton East Social worker reassures the students that the Morton East social workers are there for them and they can stop by room 308 anytime.

“Students can contact us via teams, email, or in person. We are located in room 308. We recommend students make appointments with us via teams or you can drop by in person to schedule something. We don’t have links to schedule appointments. You can also drop into our office if it’s an emergency and if you need to speak with someone right away,” social worker Cladia Campos said.

When asked in a survey about “do yo you get depressed during holiday breaks?” some students shared opinions on why they think other students might be feeling down.

“People get depressed during the holidays because of lack of sunlight and isolation due to the weather or some people have to stay home more and they might not have a good home life. There’s almost always a reason why someone is sad, actual depression is rarer than you think,” Morton student Antonio Ballesteros said.

Morton east student talks about how books have helped them through tough times and have also helped them look at life differently.

“A book that has helped me look at life differently is, The five people you meet in heaven because In the end, it shows you that no matter how small or big, the things you do matter and make an impact on people. Everything has a certain meaning to it so whenever I feel sad I look back on the book and the 5 lessons it taught me 1. Everything happens for a reason, 2. The importance of love, 3. Every human life has a purpose, 4. Forgiveness, 5. The sacrifices you make impact the lives of other people.  No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and messes up,” senior Manuel Leanos said.

Books can be therapeutic.

“So whenever I feel sad and contemplate my feelings or any choices I have made in the past, I think of this quote In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it. This is the greatest gift God can give you.’  So when reading books, they help me switch into a positive mindset. They help me see the positive side of things and help me feel tranquil and feel more put together,” senior Manuel Leanos said.

Finding enjoyable hobbies can be of great help.

“Whenever I feel like the world caves in on me I tend to get lost in painting, reading, and writing poetry, writing poetry has helped me process my feelings and have better control and understanding of them, it helps me express everything I feel inside,” Morton student Emily Peralta said

East student talks about creative ways other people have found to help during tuff times.

“I think everyone has had that feeling of loneliness and gloom during the holidays whether it was this year or 5 years ago, something that really helped was getting lost in novels and painting, I realized that many artists had their blue era where they expressed their feelings through art whether it was poetry singing or painting doing things that you overall enjoy is something no one can take or feel the way that you feel it,” Morton student Ahitza Garcia said.

If this does not help, don’t forget your ID has important phone numbers on the back that you can call.  Use them.

Phone Numbers:

• Counseling: (708) 780-4000
• National Suicide Hotline: (800) 273- 8255
• Crisis Prevention Number: (844) 670-5838