Holiday Stress

As we move into the holiday season of 2024, this time of year is often portrayed as a time of celebration, re-connection and joyful moments, spent together with family and friends. However, for many, it represents a time of increased levels of stress and anxiety. This can affect people from across all demographics of society and culture in Canada, and around the world. As the uncertainty of the world increases around global politics, regional conflicts and financial instability, so do our levels of stress and anxiety increase. We often experience this as mental, emotional and physical challenges that seem both daunting and overwhelming.

These challenges are often characterized by the pressures of travel, holiday preparations, family and social get togethers and the additional expenses associated with the season. All of these issues in turn have an impact on our mental health and well-being. Numerous studies and surveys point to the sobering statistics of these impacts. Some recent US Statistics show that:

• 56% of respondents to a survey regarding seasonal stress cited a lack of money as a significant source of holiday stress.

• 64% of people with mental health challenges reported holiday stress made their conditions worse.

• 38% of people reported worsening physical symptoms and complaints such as headaches.

• 43% of people reported increased difficulty sleeping.

• 25% increase in alcohol consumption occurs during the holidays. 

• 20% decrease and workplace productivity was reported.

• 54% increase in workplace absences during the holidays which included stress leave.

What is needed is a comprehensive strategy to manage and mitigate holiday related stress. This requires effective and adequate stress management techniques and support systems to offset the increased levels of stress encountered during this time.

So what are some effective strategies for combatting and reducing holiday stress that we can use to deal with these issues?

One of the major keys to reducing stress and building personal resilience is to develop a deep personal awareness of where we are at in terms of our stress levels at any given time. As we become aware of our stress and how it affects us, we can begin to implement effective strategies to deal with the stress as it occurs.

To accomplish this we can:

• Develop a mindfulness and meditation practice, which a study cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology reported a 40% decrease in stress levels  when practicing mindfulness.

• Strong social networks including family and friends have been shown to reduce stress and promote better overall well-being.

• Digital tools and apps for stress management are available and useful for positively managing stress.

• Physical exercise and a good night’s sleep help to mitigate stress.

• Go easy on your consumption of alcohol and substances.

• Take advantage of your workplace benefit programs which may include massage, and other therapies or counselling.

I highly recommend taking resilience based training such as the Resilience Advantage program. This practical and evidence based training will give you access to the tools and techniques you can use daily and in the moment to manage stress, build resilience and facilitate long term change.

Mental health and self-care should be a priority not just during the holiday season, but all year long. By developing, implementing and following through with these various strategies we can, in time, create a life for ourselves of greater balance, deeper connections and genuine happiness.