Managing Stress During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be overwhelming, especially with stressors like having house guests, shopping, cleaning, cooking and even tense family dynamics. When these stressors are present and begin to stack up, the weight of them can rob us of our usual ability to cope. If you find it difficult to take care of yourself during the holiday season or are struggling to handle the pressure, here are some tips to help reduce stress and manage your mental health.

1. Acknowledge your feelings without judgement. Just because it’s the holiday season doesn’t mean you have to feel happy. If you can’t be with loved ones, have lost a job, are grieving or are just feeling down, remember that it’s okay to not feel happy. Allowing yourself to feel your emotions without judging them as being “right or wrong” is a healthy way to avoid additional feelings of shame and guilt around the emotions you are experiencing.
2. Be realistic about what you can accomplish. Many feel as though everything has to be perfectly organized and put together to enjoy the holidays. Placing the extra pressure to be “perfect” on yourself often leads to exhaustion and disappointment, with precious time and energy spent reaching for an unrealistic goal. Use your personal values to guide where your time and energy are most important to spend, and then allow yourself the grace to accept progress over perfection in other less important areas.
3. Avoid comparing yourself to others. It’s difficult in the age of online influencers and content creators to avoid comparing ourselves to others, and even more so during the holidays. Looking at curated images of smiling people on social media can often make it feel like everyone else has it all together and that you’re the only one struggling. Remember that what you see online is often filtered to only show the positive, and many of those people are struggling to deal with the same difficult thoughts and emotions you are.
4. It’s okay to say no and set limits. Saying yes to every invitation, event or project can lead to exhaustion and burnout, especially during the holiday season when requests become so overwhelming. Saying yes when you want to say no can also lead to feeling resentment, causing you to go through the motions without any joy or satisfaction. Truly supportive family, friends and colleagues will understand if you can't participate in every project or activity and will stick with you even if you can’t accept their request.
5. Stay on track with healthy habits. The holiday season can be a time of overindulgence, like excessive spending, over-eating, late nights and increased substance use. Though it may be enjoyable in the moment, over-doing it around the holidays can lead to feelings of disappointment and regret by the time the decorations get packed and put away. Use moderation when enjoying the delights of the holiday season and remember to stick to established healthy routines regarding diet, exercise, and sleep.

Most importantly, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. Despite your best efforts to manage stress during these busy months, you may find it hard to escape the persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, despair, and hopelessness. When these uncomfortable emotions begin to negatively affect your sleep, work, relationships, physical health and/or daily routine, it’s time to reach out to the appropriate agency for professional mental health treatment.

MyMichigan Health offers a Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) at MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alma and Midland, which may be the right solution for persistent mental health struggles both during and after the holiday season. The PHP offers people who are struggling the chance to engage in group and individual therapy, as well as daily medication reviews by a psychiatric team. Patients attend the program Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for an average of seven to 10 days; however, the program is completely voluntary with no minimum or maximum days required to participate.

To learn more about possible admission to the Partial Hospitalization Program, call (989) 839-3385 in Midland or (989) 466-3253 in Alma. Referrals and questions about the program can also be left on their confidential voicemail after hours, and you will be contacted within 24 to 48 business hours.

Remember to use the tips, resources and supports available to you during the holiday season in the hopes of minimizing stress and increasing joy and contentment.

Amy Rae Kramer, L.M.S.W., is a behavioral health therapist with the Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program on the campus of MyMichigan Medical Center Midland.