Hi, how’s it going? I hope you’re having a great day.

I am going to talk a little about the holidays even though they were a few months ago.

You know, it’s not just those with bipolar disorder that experience disappointment. It can happen to supporters, too. You don’t even have to have bipolar disorder to experience it. You experience disappointment any time you have unreasonable expectations.

For example, if your loved one has been in treatment for awhile now, but they are still not where

you want them to be stability-wise. That’s having an unrealistic expectation. Your loved one may be exactly where they need to be in their recovery. (No matter how you feel about it.) Especially after the holidays. You may be wanting that holiday excitement to last, and feel let

down that it doesn’t.

Instead, you need to remember that there is usually a let-down after the holidays. It may be a pattern for you and/or your loved one. And patterns have a habit of repeating themselves.

You can have reasonable expectations that, given the same set of circumstances, the same thing

will happen again.

Think back to last year. Did your loved one get depressed after the holidays? Did they experience post-holiday let-down? Then it is reasonable to assume that they will go through the same thing this year. It’s a matter of patterns.

Like my mom, for example. I have learned over the years that this is the hardest time of the year

for her. So I watch her extra close, to make sure she doesn’t go into an episode.

You may have to do the same thing. What happened last year? How did your loved one act after

Christmas was over? Did they feel the let-down that so many others with bipolar disorder feel?

Did they get depressed? Or did they take it in stride? Even look forward to the new year? Whatever happened last year can be a good indicator of what will happen this year as well.

On the other hand, if your loved one has been working on themselves in therapy, you might expect them to be able to handle things a little better this year than they did last year. Same with you…It’s all in your expectations.

If you felt let down last year after Christmas, then you can expect that you’ll feel that way this year too… Unless you do something different this year. And what you can do different is to have more realistic expectations.

Are you or your loved one feeling let down now after the holidays? Then be more realistic about

your expectations. And try to keep positive in your attitude. Even look forward to the new year!

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave