WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. English professor who struggles with bipolar disorder says being happy can become an unreachable goal -- especially around the holidays.
Eric Wilson of Wake Forest University says under the pressure of such holiday expectations, vulnerable people can get sadder and sadder.
"When you wish someone a happy holiday, you don't know how much pressure you might be putting on them," Wilson says in a statement. "The concept of constant happiness around the holidays forces people to repress too many other authentic feelings."
Wilson advises those who, like him, may have had trouble with Christmas to focus on simple but satisfying activities such as an intimate gathering or baking cookies and most of all, to not fear melancholy.
In his book "Against Happiness," Wilson proposes melancholy as the incubator of great change which allows the eventual recognition of joy.
Think of George Bailey in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," he says. Bailey had to explore the worst of his life before he understands the love and support around him.
"It made him understand what is valuable in life," Wilson says. "That is what sadness can give you."
