For the first time in 57 years, H. Richard Parker will be spending the holiday season without his wife.

Every afternoon since her death in August, Parker has visited her grave at St. Michael's Cemetery to pray the rosary.

"The holidays especially have been very hard this year," Parker said. "Going through the motions of preparing for the season makes you remember how things used to be."

For Parker and others, the loss of a loved one can trigger depression during

a time otherwise known for celebration, decorating and preparing food. For someone who does not have anyone to share in these experiences, good and bad, the negative aspects of the season could become predominant.

"In the United States there are about 18 million people with clinical depression," said Karen Grove, a psychiatrist at the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"Those people who may be able to maintain that level of normality during the spring and summer can spiral down during the cold dark winter months."

Some ways to combat the effects of this type of depression include exposure to daylight, keeping an active lifestyle and maintaining a regular schedule.

"As we slow down, so does the serotonin in our brain," Grove said. "This can be reversed by involving oneself in something productive that has meaning."

Pete Szura, supervisor of the Warmline operated by the Grapevine Center on North Elm Street, expects to see the same increase in activity this Christmas that the organization experienced during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

Szura and his co-workers are not therapists or counselors, but they participate in an 18-hour training program that includes role-playing and Internet research in order to assist callers struggling with mental illness or substance abuse problems.

"We get an average of about 13 to 15 callers per night," Szura said. "For about half of them you know you've made a person's evening."

The program at the Grapevine Center is currently stepping up its efforts of outreach in the community.

"We have actually started calling out to check up on some of the individuals who have called in the past," Szura said.

Organizations such as the Butler County Agency on Aging and the Butler Singles Fellowship provide the community with activities that promote social interaction.

"All year we have senior centers to keep seniors engaged in life," said Diane Stevens of the Agency on Aging. "There is an increase in activity at the senior centers during the holidays if weather permits."

Although the Agency on Aging does not provide any form of depression care for the consumers they serve, the organization's care manager is available to discuss concerns.

"The care manager will also suggest social activities like the senior center or adult day care, especially if isolation appears to be part of the issue," Stevens said.

The Butler Singles Fellowship hosts dinners, dances and parties for singles of all ages.

"We are here to provide a safe environment for people to meet new people," Fred Wood of the Singles Fellowship said.

The organization hosts a popular holiday dinner and dance that took place on Saturday.

"There have been about 60 or 70 couples that have formed as a result of our events," Wood said. "We don't solicit ourselves as matchmakers but it does happen."

If those with symptoms of depression are not comfortable discussing the problem with family and friends, support groups exist like the one started at the First United Methodist Church in Butler.

This Butler church began a depression support group a year and a half ago that offers a Christian-based support system.

"When a person is depressed or grieving, the best thing they can do is reach out for support," said Vicki Beachem, a volunteer. "Even if it's something as little as a phone call."

Support phone lines, like the crisis intervention/suicide line at the Irene Stacy Community Mental Health Center in Butler Township and the Warmline at the Grapevine Center in Butler, exist not only for those dealing with personal crises, they can also be utilized when an individual is in need of someone to listen.

"The crisis line is used a lot more during the peak period of the holidays," Beachem said. "It's a good resolution for people with no one else to turn to."

Instead of calling a crisis line to survive the first Christmas without his wife, Parker will find comfort in the company of his children. He will continue to visit his wife and to clear the snow from her grave after each fresh dusting, he said.

"I haven't changed in some respects, but I do go down to the (senior center) to eat dinner and to play cards," Parker said. "It breaks up my day a little."

The Warmline telephone number, which operates from 7 to 10 p.m. daily, is 724-431-2488. The Irene Stacy number, which operates around the clock, is 800-292-3866.