Managing Stress and Mental Health during Christmas

Christmas is here, and we are ready to welcome the joy of festivity. The twinkling lights, the joyful spirit and the cheerful music all seem picture-perfect, but you must acknowledge it can become overtly stressful at times. 

But you must pay attention to your health and ensure that this season of festivity doesn’t take a toll on you physically, mentally or emotionally. 

Stresses associated with Christmas

Christmas is a time of celebration and creating cherished memories, but it is no secret that this joy and merriment can be overwhelming for many at a certain point, leading to stress. Some of the reasons that may cause stress during the festive period include: 

Family Get-togethers

The festival period is always an excuse to meet your family and friends. As exciting as it sounds, this can become a highly stressful period as you will have a lot of work and ensure you arrange everything. This extreme stress can sometimes take a toll on some people, and they may not be able to enjoy this period to their heart’s content. 

The pressure of Giving Gifts

Christmas is not just about buying and exchanging gifts but the ‘perfect gift’. Buying gifts is not as easy as it seems, and this can cause mental stress in the individual. What drives us while choosing a gift is the eagerness to see the happiness when our loved ones open the wrappers. 

Excessive Commitments and Unrealistic Expectations

A holiday is when you sit back and enjoy with your family. But that is not the case when it comes to Christmas. You will have various commitments to fulfil and some expectations that you cannot meet. It can cause mental stress, which, in turn, can bring down your holiday mood, where you may not find anything enjoyable. 

Lack of Time

As you will have a lot of commitments and expectations during Christmas, you may find it extremely difficult to give time for yourself amidst all this chaos, which can lead to holiday stress. 

Strategies for Managing Stress during the Christmas Season

These are some of the strategies that can help you navigate through the potential stressors.

Recognise your feelings

Remember, it is okay to feel down sometimes during the holiday season, but recognising your feelings and working towards managing and nurturing them is the first step you can take to manage your stress. 

Develop a plan

A holiday get-together can have a lot of responsibilities, and one way to complete them without getting stressed is by planning and prioritising your activities accordingly. Sometimes, when the work gets too much for you, you can include your family members and work together to ensure you do everything on time. 

Practice Self-Care

During Christmas, you may be busy as a bee. However, it is crucial to find time for yourself. It helps you relax your mind and body. Prioritise other necessary activities like eating, ensure you get enough sleep, and practice mindfulness. 

Set your Budget Boundaries

Christmas is a festival that could demand spending, and we often lose track of our expenses, which can cause stress during the festive season. You can avoid this by calculating your total income and how much you can spend. When you are financially tight, sit together and discuss with your loved ones the financial problems you are facing. 

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is considered the right step to deal with holiday stress. It is all about living in the present moment and paying attention to that point in time. Practising mindfulness helps you keep your mind at peace and do your work without stress. 

Impact of stressors on mental health 

Stress is a reaction to changes occurring around an individual, and it can become a threat if not addressed on time. That is why individuals must recognise how they feel at a particular time and consult an expert if required. 

Festivals are one of the times when a person can become the most stressed, and this holiday stress can give rise to various mental health issues, including:

Anxiety 

Stress and Anxiety are two conditions that are interconnected because stress is an exuberant feeling that can give rise to the feeling of Anxiety in an individual. Various studies show stress can be the reason for Anxiety, and these are the main reasons: 

• Stress is a condition that creates a ‘flight-or-fight’ response, a psychological effect created because of a perceived threat or challenge. Though this response can be effective during acute situations, prolonged stress can lead to an imbalance in our body’s stress response, which, in turn, manifests anxiety.
• Stress can also affect the cognitive functioning of the body because our capability to concentrate during a task may vary and can contribute to anxiety, which in turn creates a sense of overwhelmingness. 

Depression 

Stress may not have a direct link to depression, but studies say that extreme stress can worsen this condition in several ways. Chronic stress can affect one’s emotional well-being, increasing the chances of developing depressive symptoms.

These are some of how stress can contribute to depression: 

• Prolonged stress can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters help in mood transmission. An imbalance in neurotransmitters can contribute to the development of depressive symptoms. 
• Stress situations often lead to negative thinking patterns, self-doubts or feelings of hopelessness. These can contribute to the development of depressive symptoms over time. 
• Under stress, people may usually compromise on dealing with various challenges in life, which can give rise to a sense of hopelessness and loss of control, a common sign of depression.
• Chronic stress can lead to a strain in relationships, leading to isolation and feelings of loneliness. This lack of support and drift from meaningful connections can eventually lead to depression. 
• There are times when chronic stress can impact our physical health, and that is because chronic stress can affect our immune system, disrupt sleep patterns or develop other health conditions. These health conditions further contribute to depression. 

Substance Use

There are various reasons for one to get stressed. When they are unable to cope with this stress, they turn to certain things that help them reduce this overwhelming feeling, like alcohol and drugs. These substances temporarily relieve them from the numbness of stress and provide them with a temporary escape from the pressures of their daily lives, as these substances may seem like a quick solution even though it is for a short period. 

Common signs of stress during the holiday season

Holiday seasons are usually considered a joyous time, but the pressure that comes with it can cause mental stress to individuals. These are some signs that can help you recognise that a particular individual may be experiencing holiday stress:

Irritability and Mood Swings

During the festive period, there are instances where you may feel agitated or frustrated and frequently experience mood swings, signifying that you are stressed. 

Fatigue or lack of energy

Abundant work and added demands tend to keep you busy the entire day during holiday seasons. It can leave individuals physically, mentally and emotionally drained. 

Drastic Changes in Appetite

Stress can affect one’s eating patterns. Some may turn to food for comfort, and some may experience loss of appetite. 

Increased Anxiety

Festive seasons can heighten anxiety in individuals because they feel overwhelmed or excessively worried about meeting expectations, hosting gatherings or managing their finances. 

Financial Concerns

Spending on holidays can be costly, and constantly worrying about holiday expenses and managing budgets can contribute to stress during Christmas. 

Unrealistic Expectations

Holidays are when you feel like planning a perfect holiday get-together or holiday experience. These self-imposed high expectations can lead to increased stress levels in an individual. 

We at Agan Health wish you a merry Christmas.

Medically reviewed by Dr Sunitha MBBS, DPM (NIMHANS), DNB

Dr Sunitha serves as the Chief Psychiatrist at Agan Health Trichy. She specialises in Adult Psychiatry, and her fields of interest include consultation liaison psychiatry and women's mental health. With over 15 years of experience in the field of mental healthcare, Dr Sunitha has been instrumental in positively transforming the lives of many in Tamil Nadu. She is also a consulting psychiatrist at some of the reputed mental health institutions in Tamil Nadu.