VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - For a lot of people, it's the most wonderful time of the year — but there are many others living with a growing feeling of dread, even depression. "Sometimes it's really just that anticipation of family coming into the area, because a lot of time, that could create a lot of anxiety for someone living with mental health conditions, because now they have to say, 'Well, I gotta fake being happy all the time just to make my other family members pleased and making sure that they think that I'm doing well' when, in fact, mental illness and mental health is all the time," said Max Willey, of NAMI Coastal Virginia. NAMI, or the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization. It focuses on making life better for Americans affected by mental illness. Willey is the board vice president and the Chair of the NAMI Coastal Virginia Advocacy Team. 10 On Your Side asked Willey how you can recognize if one of your loved ones may be dealing with more than just the holiday blues. "If he starts seeing periods of isolation all of a sudden, or you see change in the behavior with the way they're eating or their hygiene, those are usually those early signs that something is just not right, and that's when it's time to try to intervene with your loved one and say, 'Hey, what's going on? Talk to me.' They may not want to say anything to you right now, but sometimes it's probably good to be just a little persistent, but not overly persistent to try to get them to open up to you, to get into their insight process, to see what's going on." Willey says you should not over dominate the conversation. "Don't start drilling in. Just just make it a conversation because again, that's your loved one. You kind of know what things to say to spark them. So, try to do those types of things and get them involved in the conversation. Try to let them do a lot of the talking, and once they do more of the talking, they'll open up a lot more to you." For some people, their struggles begin when the holidays come to an end. All of the excitement is done, and they're left feeling down. Willey says one solution is to make plans for a day or two after the holiday. Put it on the calendar. "Let's go to the movies. Let's go to an arts and crafts. Let's go and paint." Willey says it's imperative that we flex our mindset. "Make sure that our thoughts stay positive throughout the entire holiday period because we have to be around after the holiday period as well." If you are concerned about the mental health of a loved one, or even yourself, you can call NAMI Coastal Virginia at (757) 499-2041. The organization's Helpline is available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. You can also get help by calling 988, which is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.