Do you get depressed around your birthday?

[Ravenfreak]

Sometimes I find myself getting depressed around my birthday the older I get. I had a bit of depression this afternoon thinking about my birthday since it's on Wednesday. My wife tends to get super depressed a week before her birthday and has a hard time coping with her birthday. What do you like to do when your birthday is near and you get depressed? I have a nice hotel booked for my birthday and I will be going to a restaurant that I've been wanting to check out since it opened in April, so I do have some things to look forward too. Plus I'm off work another week so that's nice.

 

[Nomad]

My birthday is just another day for me. If it wasn't for my spouse and kids, I would even celebrate it. They want a celebration, and usually I take them to a dinner (but no cake and blowing up candles). I don't get depressed around my birthday.

 

[Shortie]

I have noticed over the last few years that I have become more depressed as my birthday approaches. A lot of the time, it tends to be the thought of getting older and how much things have changed over the years.

This year, I was more depressed than normal during my birthday and before it, as it was my first birthday after the passing of my dad last year, and my mum earlier this year.

 

[Miley]

Only once have I gotten depressed around my birthday. And that was primarily because I was mentally comparing my reality with where I was expecting to be. That really made me depressed that year. But I mentally checked out of such thoughts in subsequent birthdays.

 

[Shree]

I know people who feel low around their birthdays. It can come from reflection, unmet expectations, loneliness, or just noticing time passing more sharply. For some, birthdays are a quiet emotional checkpoint rather than a celebration, which can bring heavy feelings. Generally, I am cheerful around my birthdays