Tips for Coping Stress and Depression during the Holiday SeasonNov 5, 2020
Have you been struggling with stress or depression? These have become so common nowadays and may ruin your holidays or affect your health. You can easily overcome this situation by adopting few techniques discussed below that will shed off all your stress & depression.
You always find yourself engaged during holiday season. It is often crowded with unwanted guests and you get busy serving their demands like cooking food, cleaning the mess, entertaining them, gossiping, shopping and many more. In case COVID-19 has affected your city majorly, then it may bring you an additional stress. These stress are usually connected to your & your closed ones health. All your trip plans have cancelled due to the pandemic. And this makes you feel sad and anxious. Now in order to cope up with such situation you need to follow certain tips that will make you enjoy your holidays more than you have ever thought of.
1. Understand your feelings: If anyhow your family member or loved one has died then in such case you must console yourself with the feeling that it is obvious to be sad & absolutely fine to give yourself some time in order to come out of the situation. Just don’t pretend to be happy with inner grief to enjoy the holiday season.
2. Connect with people: In case you go through loneliness, just go out and join some social events or communities. Most of them provide you with online support groups & companionship. You can also relieve your stress during holidays by talking to your friends, family members via phone calls or video chats. You can utilize your time by helping others voluntarily which will boost your spirit and confidence.
3. Accept the real: You can’t expect your holidays to be the same as it used to be the previous year. You must evolve according to the situation. Stop holding on to the old ones and create new. If your relatives visit your home, you can explore new ways to celebrate with them like taking family photos together, sharing them or creating some memorable videos.
4. Set your differences aside: Remove all the negative feelings and accept your surroundings as they are. It’s not necessary for everyone to live up to your expectations. Keep your differences aside, discuss your matters and try to solve them. Try to understand others point of view and be ready for different opinions. As it may be obvious for them too to go through the holiday stress & depression.
5. Spend money carefully: Once you have decided to shop for food & gifts, just make a list and check whether the expenses are in your budget. Don’t spend your money when your pocket doesn’t allow. Remember that you can’t buy happiness with money. You can also opt for following alternatives:
A) Try to give some creative and homemade gift.
B) Give charity if possible.
6. Prepare your plans: Plan your time for shopping, spending time with friends, cooking etc. Prepare a list of things that you want to purchase. This will assist you in smooth shopping and there will be no item left behind. Also fix time for cooking meals & cleaning.
7. It’s ok to say no: Always affirming to things you want to say no ca brings a feeling of anger or resentful. Your friends & co-workers can very well understand whether you are comfortable in a situation or not. As you can’t be always perfect or available for each and every project. Consider situations where you can’t say no, then you can just replace that work with some other.
8. Stick to your healthy habits: Give some time to your healthy diet and exercise from your daily routine. Overwork only adds extra stress to your life.
You can try out following healthy habits:
Have healthy snacks before your meals to avoid excess of sweets or junk food.
Consume healthy meals.
Get enough sleep.
Include regular physical exercise.
Go for meditation or yoga.
Avoid excess use of stimulants.
9. Take a break: Take out some time to indulge in your favorite hobby. This will not only reduce your stress but also restore your inner calmness. You can take small walks at night, listen to music, or read books.
Don’t let this holiday season go worthless and stressful. Include the above tips to your lifestyle & prevent your stress & depression. Recognize your stress factors and combat them before they overrule you. With such small steps and well planned routine, you can easily enjoy your holidays.