Seasonal sadness has been covered in a few articles; there is a post about depression at Christmas and one about depression at the Autumn Equinox for example.
Now it is time to say something about the malaise that comes upon some people at the time of the New Year.
Ogden Nash's little poem about the New Year, Good Riddance, But Now What?, suggests that while it is good to see the back of the old year, what is coming may be even worse.
Another of his pessimistic New Year poems asserts that the night of December 31st is by far the worst night of the year.
Although Ogden Nash's poems make the impending New Year seem rather sinister, the humour takes the edge off his proposition that New Year's Eve is not a good time.
There is nothing remotely amusing about the following extract from Stella Gibbons's novel Starlight. It is Christmas Eve and someone isn't very happy:
“Peggy stood in silence, struggling with such a feeling of boredom and despair as seldom assailed even her. She could walk out of here to-morrow morning; nothing need stop her.
What was she doing in this hot room, with these fools, living their half-life?
Oh it was something to do – it passed the time – it made a break. The language of boredom and despair. “
Her employer's son notices her distress and asks her what's wrong:
“... just the feeling there’s another year nearly gone,’ she answered, paling.”
He replies:
“Here, here – you save that up for New Year’s Eve – that’s the time that really gets into its stride.”
People have such terrible feelings on New Year's Eve for many reasons. Some are afraid of what might happen; others are afraid that nothing will happen and the coming year will just be more of the – unsatisfactory – same. They may feel that time is running out.
I have learned recently that there is even a word for this fear of the New Year: neoannophobia!
Starlight is not a good novel to read at this time of year:
