Five Tips for Reducing Holiday Stress and Helping Yourself
Doctors agree that reducing holiday stress is a big step in the right direction. First, the December holiday season brings us together with our families. Thus, we experience the pushing of all the old buttons for anger and anxiety. Second, there is the pressure to do well on the holidays, putting your best foot forward. Many professionals say the pressure to shine and impress is a significant source of holiday stress.
Finally, with all the hustle and bustle, the season’s joy is overwhelmed by all the demands. Hence, doesn’t it sometimes feel like you are pulled in four different directions? Such sudden demands often lead to the onset of depression symptoms. Combined with seasonal affective disorder, the results are unsurprising as the cold sets in and dark days lengthen.
Holiday Stress and Protecting Your Mental Health
According to a recent article on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website, holiday stress seriously affects mental health. Moreover, the numbers speak for themselves: “A survey conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) found that 64 percent of individuals living with a mental illness reported that their conditions worsened around the holidays.”
Given the dangers, Tarzana Treatment Centers (TTC) offers five tips for reducing holiday stress and helping yourself. As a provider of mental health services, TTC understands the risks of the holiday season. After all, it is foolish to think that mental health issues always start with dramatic flourishes or cataclysmic events. Instead, most mental health issues begin like everything else in the world: A small snowball rolling down a hill that gets bigger and faster as it builds mass and gains speed. Thus, the key is to address the snowball and not wait until it becomes an avalanche.
Five Tips for Reducing Holiday Stress
Below are five essential and easy tips for reducing holiday stress and protecting yourself:
Make a List and Use Your Calendar
You can significantly reduce holiday stress by making a list and using your calendar to keep everything in order. Moreover, you can list past holiday stressors and determine the best way to deal with them. If you are worried about Uncle Jack’s negativity, figure out how to handle it beforehand. If you are going to worry all vacation about the early departure of your return, reschedule your flight and leave later in the day.
Holidays Are Better Without Alcohol and Drugs
How often have people connected holiday fun to drinking and using? Hence, the passing around the spiked eggnog becomes a holiday ritual that is hard to pass up. However, to protect your mental health this holiday season, please avoid alcohol and drugs. Moreover, for family and friends, please check in and support any family member you know who struggles with substance use disorders. Your support means the world and truly helps.
Saying No Does Not Mean You Are Scrooge
One of the biggest mistakes people make over the holidays is believing they must say yes to everything. Hence, they think they are being a Scrooge if they don’t say yes. Such a perception is nothing less than a fallacy. Indeed, holiday demands for participation lead to holiday stress. Why should you feel so overscheduled on your holiday? Instead, learn to say no when you need a little time. Also, saying no is a part of passing on that holiday shot or the celebratory smoke. Please don’t give in to family pressures to party.
Recognize the Danger of Seasonal Mood Swings
Did you know that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is an evidence-based condition where the change in seasons triggers symptoms of depression as the days get shorter? Thus, seasonal mood swings and holiday stress often go hand-in-hand. By understanding the dangers of SAD, you can recognize when it is happening. Therefore, you can distance yourself from the effects because awareness helps.
Leave Resentments at Home and Let It Go
Why do so many people feel the holidays are a good time to settle family scores and reignite old feuds? Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth. When you go home for the holidays, please let the old resentments go and leave them behind in a safety deposit box. Although you still might treasure them, you do not need them. Instead, focus on looking for what is good in each of your family members first. By taking the high road, you will be an example of positive behavior in your family. Is there anything better to bring home for the holidays? Moreover, it is an antidote to holiday stress.