Ahhh the holidays. The decorations, the magic in the children’s eyes, the joyful music, shopping, family get togethers, delicious food, stress of how you’re going to pay for presents, who’s going to take care of the children when they’re on Christmas break and you have to work, who’s turn is it to have the kids for Christmas this year… Do you see how quickly that can go from happy to sad? A lot of us look forward to this time of year! Sadly, a lot of us get instant anxiety this time of year.
When we’re on air, we want to instill elation in our listeners. We want them to get to work with a smile on their face after they just spent the last 20 minutes with us in their car. The last thing we want is to create sadness for their day. That being said, with the holidays, I think it’s appropriate to address the sadness some may feel this time of year.
988Lifeline.org is a phenomenal tool to share on social media or your website. Simply dialing 988 will get you in touch with someone who can help. When sharing this information, you don’t need to spend an entire break on it. Just mentioning it at the beginning of a break once a morning can create an impact with listeners who may be fighting an internal battle, or someone who knows someone this could benefit.
I understand it’s a touchy topic. Contrary to popular belief, there is not a spike in suicides around the holidays. However, there is a jump in numbers in January; after the hustle and bustle of it all ends. There is absolutely an increase in stress as the holidays approach due to the factors mentioned in the beginning of this article. 988 isn’t just a suicide hotline, it’s a number you can dial if you need support or just an ear.
Again, I empathize with not wanting to address this on air. But you don’t have to spend a lot of time on this. Simply mentioning the website or number at the beginning of one break during drive time in the morning or afternoon, publishing the website on socials, this shows you care about your listeners. Their safety and happiness are important to you. And it should be. We’re all about creating relationships, right? This is all part of it.