Where has the year gone? It’s Christmas again – time to take time off work, relax and spend time with family and friends. But is the Christmas period all that relaxing?
Overeating and drinking, loneliness and the pressure of gift-giving are some of the stresses faced by many of us. According to a recent HCF study*, the Australian manifestation of Christmas can lead to significant mental health issues. The study showed that more than 2.9 million Australians (or around 1 in 6) say Christmas is the most stressful time of year.
Do you experience stress, pressure, and/or loneliness over the Christmas and holiday season? You might feel concerns about overeating and lack of exercise leading to weight gain or feel the pressure to be more social with family and friends. Or do you feel the pressure to spend a lot of money at Christmas on food and gifts that you really can’t afford?
Christmas can mean poor mental health
Worries about money, loneliness and social pressures are just some of the emotions that Christmas can trigger in many of us. But that’s ok. There are ways of minimising your exposure to stress.
Limit your workload
Workload and stress are clearly linked and the regular demands of maintaining a household go away at Christmas. Someone in your family often does more of the legwork to pull it all together – traditionally it’s mum, or the family matriarch – putting them at risk of greater stress.
If you’re at risk of a greater workload, try and simplify things with these tips:
- Take an honest inventory of what you and your family care about most and plan to make these things happen
- Set realistic expectations about what you want to do and who you want to see at Christmas – plan to spend your time with the people that matter to you
- Don’t work right up until Christmas Eve – give yourself a few day’s break before Christmas
- Ditch the peer pressure and societal expectations and permit yourself to do less
Invest in self-care
The festive period can often be an indulgent one when our regular (healthy) routines become disrupted. Given how stressful it can be, it’s no wonder, people, quickly resort to stress-reducing acts, such as eating rich food and drinking alcohol.
Whilst high-calorie foods reduce and alcohol tend to reduce the feelings of stress in the short term, it’s not long-lived. Avoiding a hangover is one of the ways we can avoid being miserable and with a worse state of overall health than when we started (all things that add up to more stress).
The key is to balance everything out with self-care, starting with these tips:
- Limit your intake of alcohol and keep yourself hydrated
- If you overindulge, have a light day the next day to reset yourself
- Keep up your exercise and commit to trying one new physical activity over the holidays
Take care of money worries
For most of us, the festive season is a big burden on our wallets and expectations can cause a lot of stress.
For many, this starts with social media. How great does Christmas look on Instagram? Not only is there the pressure to buy all the things that can make Christmas happen, but there also comes the pressure to keep everyone updated too.
Start by identifying what’s likely to cause you financial stress. Gift-giving and attending social get-togethers can be expensive, so plan ways to reduce the impact on your wallet, starting with these tips:
- Try secret Santa with your family or suggest limiting gifts to kids only
- If you need to buy a long list of gifts, set a realistic budget and don’t leave your shopping until the last minute
- Take a break on social media and turn off notifications in the lead up to Christmas
- Catch up with friends at the park or in healthy environments such as the beach rather than expensive dinners out.
Take a fresh approach to deal with family tension
Christmas is a time to spend with family if you’re lucky enough to still be part of one. But while family support can enhance our well-being, it can also be a cause of stress. Not to mention spending longer periods with family, or returning to your family home that’s full of memories and behaviours from the past.
Split families and unresolved conflicts can also contribute to Christmas anxiety, so try these ideas:
- Christmas might not be the fabulous family reunion you hoped for so plan how you will manage any feelings of anxiety or depression that may arise
- Put the kids first. If you have children, consider putting aside ongoing adult conflicts in their interest. Think about Christmas as a day for the kids and focus on enabling their happiness.
- Avoid known triggers – if your family has a history of arguing over a certain topic, don’t bring it up!
Need more help?
People around Australia – whether they’re in need of Behavioural Support, Counselling or Early Childhood Support – work with us to improve their lives every day.
Get in touch with us if you need help navigating Christmas stress this year. Every day we help people like you find the right path to your best self.
*HCF, Post Pandemic Trends: 2021 Summer Holiday Health Report.