10 Tips to Deal with the Stress of the Holiday Season

Stressed? Anxious? Depressed? Frustrated? Overwhelmed? If one of these words describes how you are feeling this holiday season, you’re not alone. The holidays are difficult for many people. This can be the case for many reasons. Sometimes financial stress is at its highest when people are trying to figure out how to buy Christmas presents, pay higher utility bills, or pay for travel. For others, coming together with family can be a big stressor. People often have dysfunctional or complicated relationships with their families and during the holidays they feel pressured to attend events or spend time with them. Another reason many people struggle is that they have lost friends or family and the holidays make the loss feel even more present and intense. The good news is that there are ways to manage the stress associated with the holidays and improve your holiday season.

1. Practice good self-care. When we aren’t taking care of our basic needs (sleep, food, hydration, and exercise/physical activity) we are more vulnerable to stress and mood issues. The holidays can make it more difficult to eat healthy, get enough sleep, or get enough physical activity but you can get creative. For example, try healthier recipes for holiday dinners or bring a relish tray with fresh veggies or fruits. You can even park further away when doing your holiday shopping that also removes the stress of finding a good parking spot!
2. Consider avoiding alcohol. Alcohol can cause impairments to our judgements and cause us to do things we later regret at holiday parties. It can also cause dehydration and impact our sleep quality. If you do choose to imbibe, drink in moderation.
3. Give yourself permission to skip some things. You don’t have to attend every holiday event. Choose the events that you want to attend and that are most important to you and make sure to leave plenty of time for rest and to recharge. It is better to do a few things really well and enjoy them than trying to do too many.
4. Make new traditions. If any holiday traditions contribute to your stress, you can create new ones to do instead. For example, if spending large amounts on gifts is a stress consider hand making gifts or donating to charity in someone’s name instead.
5. Choose the people you spend time with. Despite the pressure to attend family events or work parties, you are an adult and can choose who you spend time with. If there are people in your life that are toxic or unhealthy, give yourself permission to set healthy boundaries. One of the great joys of being an adult is creating your own supportive community by choice.
6. Give back. Sometimes it can be distressing for people during the holidays to see all of the need and despair in the world. If this has you down find some way to volunteer or give back. That could mean serving food at a community meal, donating canned goods, or volunteering at an after school program to read to children.
7. Schedule some things after the holidays. Try not to overschedule. If there are routine appointments, activities, or meetings you can schedule after the holidays are over consider scheduling or rescheduling them after the holiday season. You can even schedule a holiday party after Christmas! Some people welcome the fact that not all their holiday parties are in the same month.
8. Focus on the things you are thankful for. Instead of focusing on those things that you don’t have try to focus on the things you do have. The things we have to be grateful for are often more numerous than we realize. It can range from being thankful for shelter, people in our lives, all the way to something like chocolate chip cookies! One exercise that can be particularly helpful is getting a notebook and trying to write in it something each day that we are thankful for.
9. Talk about it. If you are stressed during the holiday season chances are there are friends are family that are too. Sometimes just talking about it can help us feel less isolated and come up with some creative solutions for dealing with the stress.
10. Remember “this too shall pass”. The holiday season is only a temporary time frame. Eventually the holidays will be over and we will be onto another year. When things feel very overwhelming remember that nothing is permanent and something new is just around the corner.

For more tips and articles about the stresses of the holiday season stay tuned to the PSYowa blog. Our next post will include tips about navigating holiday gatherings.