Jen Dodds: Why January is hard work, and what you could do if it’s more difficult than it should be

Like December, January is turning out to be hard work.

In January, you have to clean everything you can see, catch up on all the work that you didn’t finish before Christmas and start doing new things, BECAUSE IT IS A NEW YEAR. I feel worn out just from typing that.

It is true, though, that new years tend to have a funny effect on people. Resolutions are made and broken, and we shake our heads in sympathy at whoever started eating chocolate again because it was just too hard.

I think that one would be too hard for me as well.

I don’t do new year’s resolutions, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell Limping Chicken about them – then everyone would know that I’d failed and then they’d shake their heads in sympathy at me too.

I would definitely fail.

Every year as a child, I resolved to stop biting my nails, and every year, it didn’t work – to prove it, here I am as a 38 year old with embarrassing chewed nails – even though my poor mother tried everything (gloves, nasty tasting nail varnish, close surveillance, etc).

So, if I wanted to give up chocolate in 2014 – why, I have no idea – would I tell the ‘Chicken? No.

On a more serious note, I’ve noticed that people often seem to feel depressed more in January.

Maybe they’re sad that Christmas is over, or they didn’t enjoy Christmas and wish they had, or they’re feeling down because the weather’s rubbish.

Or, they could be putting a bit too much pressure on themselves to have a clean house, unbroken resolutions, and start the new year with a “bang”?

Whatever the reason, depression isn’t nice. We’ve probably all been depressed at one time or another, and while it can sometimes be sorted out quite simply, other people need a bit more help. And that’s why there are services to support you.

The people at Sign Health know all about Deaf people and mental health, and offer counselling in BSL. Click here to find out more from their website.

Online counselling may also be a good deaf-friendly option for those who would like to be counselled in written English. I know a few deaf people who have had great experiences with it – click here to find out more from the Counselling Directory’s website.

There are many more different kinds of help you can get, and if you feel you need help, there should be no shame in it. We’re all human, after all.

And please don’t give up chocolate! It increases the serotonin levels in your body, which make you feel happy – a good excuse to break your new year’s resolution if there ever was one!

Jen Dodds is a Contributing Editor for The Limping Chicken. When she’s not looking after chickens or children, Jen can be found translating, proofreading and editing stuff over at Team HaDo Ltd (teamhado.com).

The Limping Chicken is the UK’s independent deaf news and deaf blogs website, posting the very latest in deaf opinion, commentary and news, every weekday! Don’t forget to follow the site on Twitter and Facebook, and check out our supporters on the right-hand side of this site or click here.