The holiday blues. Families sweep it under the rug, doctors medicate it, and movies make fun of it. Just what is it about the holidays that can transform smiles into frowns, and bring even the most otherwise chipper of people down? Dr. Ken Unger is just the person to help us understand holiday depression, and to answer YOUR questions! In this interview, Dr. Unger not only addresses some of the emotional problems people confront during the holidays, but also offers his thoughts on the ultimate source of these feelings of depression, anxiety, and sadness.

Nathalie Blanchard had been out for a year-and-a-half on paid long-term sick (disability) leave following a diagnosis of severe depression. That is, until her insurance company, Manulife, got a gander at the pictures she’d posted to Facebook, which showed a smiling Natalie Blanchard at a Chippendales (male strip) bar, at a birthday party, and on vacation at the beach.