Managing The Seemingly Inevitable Holiday Season of Stress:

Managing The Seemingly Inevitable Holiday Season of Stress:

In the next couple of weeks the holidays will be starting and that is when STRESS BECOMES A FACTOR. WE welcome the holiday season with the whirlwind of going to markets, shopping for gifts, and do not for get the holiday parties and all the activates that they bring along. It seams that people and stores can not wait to get Halloween over with before they start putting up Christmas decorations up. Years before it started with Thanksgiving. The BIG PARDE on TV from New York was the start of holiday shopping. But now it starts before Halloween and goes to the end of the year.

While this season is meant to bring feelings of love and cheer, it’s also the harbinger of holiday stress for many. In fact, according to a poll conducted on this site, more than 80% of us find the holiday season to be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ stressful.

You may ask yourself: What Causes Holiday Stress?? There are a lot of things to look at. The Holiday Season is to be a season that brings feelings of Love and Cheer. It can also bring a lot of holiday stress for a lot of people. Like doing too much of a certain thing for the family. The big problem with the holiday season is that we often experience too much of a good thing. If people could learn to doo things in moderation, as they say it might go better for the person and family. While stress it self is necessary for our survival and zest for the good life, they say too much stress has a negative impact on your health and the people around you, both mental and your physical health. Sometimes people plan too many activities, that even the fun activities, may lead to a very stress and a person feeling frazzled, and can culminate in not having a good time, too much holiday stress can take a toll on you and leave you feeling frazzled rather tired and not fulfilled so you can enjoy the family gatherings and parties.

I will give you some examples below:

A. Like when you Eat, Drink, and Over Spend;

Like an overabundance of parties and gift-giving occasions lead many people to eat, drink, and be merry -- often to excess. The temptation to overindulge in spending, rich desserts or alcohol can cause many people the lasting stress of dealing with consequences (debt, weight gain, memories of embarrassing behavior) that can linger long after the season is over. When you are with the family, you sometimes do things that you wished you did not do after the fact. Stress sometimes will make think that drinking alcohol is the right thing to do but it just makes stress that much more.

B. Another stressor would be Too Much Togetherness:

The holidays are to be a time when families and the extended families tend to gather. While this can be a wonderful thing, even the most close-knit families can overdose on togetherness, making it hard for family members to maintain a healthy balance between bonding and alone time. Many families also have ‘roles’ that each member falls into that have more to do with who individuals used to be rather than who they are today, which can sometimes bring more dread than love to these gatherings.

C. Another part that would bring on stress is Not Enough Togetherness.

That could have a lot of different meanings. Like a person who has lost a love one during the present year or past can feel loneliness. This could be a big problem in its self. Some families might have to travel great distances to get with the family, they might not be able to make the trip. So as the world seems to be gathering with family, those who rely more on friends for support can feel deserted and alone. They don’t get out for a social gathering of some sort could feel very lonely and stress that no one cares about them. So then that leads me to another stress called Seasonal Affective Disorder or (SAD).

D. Seasonal Affective Disorder or (SAD).

This is often unrecognized problem that comes with the holiday season. That is actually a by-product of the seasons changing form fall to winter. As daylight diminishes and the weather causes many of us to spend more time indoors, many people are affected to some degree by a type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder. It’s a subtle, but very real condition that can cast a pall over the whole season and be a source of stress and unhappiness during a time that people expect to feel just the opposite. This can also be a problem for the person that has a disability and is unable to walk by one self or needs a wheelchair.