 | Joyce A. Thompson is a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist (LCMFT). She owns Emotional Journey, LLC, which is a group, private practice made up of both male and females and which is located in Wichita, Kansas. We offer a full range of services including ‘talk’ therapy, sand tray therapy and therapeutic massage which all address the mind/body connection. We specialize in working with individuals (from tot to elderly), couples, families, and groups on a wide variety of issues. We also speak to groups or organizations on a variety of topics and offer chair massage at your business or group event. Emotional Journey, LLC is a member of many organizations, including The Wichita Chamber of Commerce, The Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Wichita Independent Business Association, and The Better Business Bureau. You may learn more by going to our web site: www.emotionaljourney.org, by telephone at (316) 295-4758, or through email: therapists@emotionaljourney.org. |
Health & Wellness
2007-12-01 09:11:00
How to handle the holiday stress
QUESTION: I get so depressed during the fall season, what can lead to this?
Answer: Actually, there might be several things going on making it so difficult for you. First of all as we near October we get bombarded by the holidays – there’s Columbus Day, Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day!
These holidays can interrupt our routines, even if we do not celebrate every single one. Banks, schools and many offices close for the holidays and even the post office takes off more days than usual. As you gear up for all of the festivities, I wonder if you find your daily routine going out the window, causing you to feel even more stressed out.
During the holidays, we are increasingly faced with demands of our time and our energy – both personally and professionally.
There are gifts to buy for family, friends, and co-workers, parties to attend, extra cooking and baking to be done, year-end work projects and reports to get finished; the list goes on and on. It’s easy to end up exhausted – both physically and mentally, as we rush around trying our best to do it all! As the to-do lists grow and the spending gets out-of-hand, our frustrations tend to grow as well.
In our society, the holiday season is supposed to be a joyous time of the year. I wonder if you sometimes feel pressured to pretend that you are happy and to force yourself to participate in the festivities just to make others happy or to fit in. This tends to cause even more stress and irritability! Our children and grandchildren want all of the latest gizmos and gadgets and we hate to disappoint them. This leads to increased spending and possibly strained finances.
It’s easy to get caught up in the commercialism and the hype; trying to ‘buy’ the perfect ‘Norman Rockwell’ holiday season. Perhaps you find yourself spending more time than usual with relatives. This can set us up for disappointment and an arousal of feelings, sometimes unpleasant. Maybe you have no friends or family in which to share the holidays, causing even more feelings of loneliness than is usual. For individuals who struggle with feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and/or depression, this can be an especially difficult time of the year.
In this type of atmosphere, it’s no wonder you are overwhelmed with stress! Oftentimes the biggest challenge is the feeling of being out-of-control since during the holiday season others are more involved than usual in your decision-making. No matter how hard you try, you can’t always make things perfect.
Remember that it’s okay to do the best that you are capable of, even if you don’t accomplish everything on your to-do list.
Try taking just one day at a time! When feeling excessively stressed, it’s best to reach out to others; a trusted friend or a mental health professional, if necessary.
