lifestyle

Coping With Christmas Stress & Anxiety

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Christmas is what is called a known stressor and whilst it will be lots of fun, it can also be challenging. The festive period is for sure a celebration, though for many it is a complex time, but mental health expert Noel McDermott is here to reassure the nation that it’s okay to feel like this and it is to be expected. This is maybe the most important lesson to take on board about ensuring you get the best, not the worst of the festive season emotionally and to expect that it will be a challenge and plan accordingly. Don’t go into denial about how stressful it actually is, or you may lemming like go over the cliff.

Potential stressors around the festive season

Financial - it’s a very expensive festival and we are still in a cost-of-living crisis. Is it time to get back to the spirit of Xmas? Maybe your family decide to reduce the presents and donate to a charity instead? Altruism helps enormously with feelings of connection, helps reduce stress levels by enhancing reward 'feel good' hormones or indeed donate your time instead of your money to be in service of those less well off.
Intra and inter familial conflict - feuds don’t just stop at this time of year and others’ irritating habits don’t lessen, if anything, they are pretty much guaranteed to worsen. Adjust your expectations accordingly. Maybe you need to have clear time boundaries on visits for example, work out a plan with your siblings, partner etc for handing off the 'Debbie downer’ in your social group, have a fire escape plan for getting out of harm’s way if things go south.
Too much … of everything, food, drink, company, stimulation etc. Is it possible to plan down time? Can you plan breaks from the eating and drinking to give yourself time to re balance?

Noel comments:
“There will be others that exist for all of us and others specific to your own situation even before Christmas Day itself! Sit down and write a list of the potential stressors for you and your mitigation plan. Give yourself back some control over the issues as becoming empowered is another crucial skill in managing stress. When we feel like victims of circumstance the stress involved increases, finding the bit we can have an effect on helps us manage the potential overwhelm”.

How do we know when we are stressed?

Sleep disturbances
Losing our temper more
Drinking more
Eating a lot more or avoiding food
Avoidance of people places or things
Feeling overwhelmed and emotional lability

Photo by Kevin Dowling on Unsplash

Some of the signs of stress are intimately connected to the festive season such as drinking too much which is why it’s important to take breaks so you can check in with yourself about your mood and functioning. It’s also important to work with yourself in ways that helps you reduce and manage the inevitable stress of this time. So, what helps apart from running away for the whole period?

Tips on Managing Christmas Stress

Self-care routines - what are yours? Use them more… very simple, do more of what makes you feel good.
Good sleep - it’s so often forgotten that sleep and rest are vital to managing stress and a healthy life.
Exercise - it cannot be overstated the benefit of regular exercise to your health and wellbeing, both psychological and physical - especially out in your local park running for example as nature adds a great boost.
Diet - inevitably we will binge out of foods that aren’t healthy, that’s okay but in between regulate your diet and eat healthily with reasonable portions, so mostly veg outside of the obligatory turkey fest and fruit not chocolate should be the norm.
Social support - who can you let off steam to and relax with? Probably not your partner as they are in the stress with you, but are their friends you can program in to spend time with to decompress?

For those struggling with issues of psychological distress this time of year can become a serious flashpoint for potential relapse including those with alcohol or drug use problems. Christmas and New Year often because of being a trigger point will see many with problems seek help for long term problems. Sadly, it is also the case that incidence of suicide also rise.

Noel McDermott is a psychotherapist and dramatherapist with over 30 years’ work within the health, social care, education, and criminal justice fields. His company Mental Health Works provides unique mental health services for the public and other organisations. The company offers in situ health care and will source, identify and co-ordinate personalised teams to meet your needs –www.noelmcdermott.net.