Start With a Big Picture
The more this anniversary angle is looked into, the more fascinating it becomes. An article published by Psychology Today explored the relationship between depression and the anniversary effect. Author Deborah Serani, PsyD, ABPP, reminds readers:
When you live with a mood disorder, you need to realize that you live with two calendars. One that keeps track of time, while the other stores emotional experiences.
The first piece of advice dispensed here is to be mindful of your calendar. If a significant experience in the past can carry negative energy into the present, there is no point in ignoring it, because one thing it will not do is quietly dissolve into a puddle of nothingness.
Once a troubled person has identified a significant day that might arrive shrouded in trauma, to jot it down for next year is not a bad idea. Maybe not right there on or in your main calendar, because expectation can mess up your head, too. Maybe such a date could just have a note made of it, to then be secreted in a file kept in the back of a drawer. A list might or might not grow to include several potentially troublesome dates.
A few weeks or months down the road, if a particularly gruesome day seems to be in process, that would be the time to peek at the list. Does it appear that the same date last year tried hard to set a grim precedent? Maybe this is a good time to mark it on the main calendar for next year, and to work on it in the interval, like starting right now. It might take a while.
On the other hand, self-knowledge can work miracles. Maybe by next year, the trauma will somehow be expunged and the threat will be negated, and you will sail right past the day without even noticing. Or there could be another, temporary outcome, which is not an outcome at all, but a stagnant patch of no progress. Dr. Serani wrote,
Sometimes the Anniversary Effect isn’t as easy to trace because the event doesn’t have a time-specific relationship. It may be more of a seasonal experience. For example, Autumn reminds you of when your child left for college, or a hot humid day reminds you of the time you signed your divorce papers…
It is reasonable to extrapolate that, once a potentially malignant date has been identified, the simple act of bringing it to awareness could help. Even better would be to work on it, and not just for our general well-being.
This sort of change can play into permanent improvement. There may now be enough information to proceed with getting rid of an addiction. Alone, or with the help of a wise friend, or spiritual counselor, or professional therapist, a decision can be made about whether that upcoming Anniversary Day is a good candidate to choose for quitting. Or would it be the worst possible date for embarking on sobriety?
If a crucial and emotionally dangerous day is approaching, and it involves some kind of public commemoration (like 9/11, for instance), Dr. Serani recommends not watching much TV or internet news on, or around, the day. Another of her suggestions is to choose, from the many possibilities, a mental healthcare professional who specializes in trauma. Her points #4 and #5 recommend these measures:
- Express your memories and feelings when an Anniversary Effect happens. You can do this by talking with a family member or friend, journaling, blogging, or finding creative ways to express your inner experiences.
- Make sure you take good care of yourself during these times. Self-care, support, and comfort will help ground you as you move through trauma.
Advice that might be helpful to anyone dealing with an addiction (or merely a habit) would be to scrutinize the concept of making that crazy slice of the calendar be your quit day. This is the part where connection with an experienced professional can come in handy. It might also be wise to connect with family members, and fish around for information on past events that might be buried in your subconscious mind, to start working on for next year. Information is power.
Written by Pat Hartman. First published July 23, 2026.
Source:
“The Anniversary Effect,” PsychologyToday.com, May 19, 2011.
