Silver Hill Hospital doctor shares tips for how to deal with holiday stress
The American Psychiatric Association says about one in four people are experiencing more stress during the holidays.
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The holidays are right around the corner, and they can often be a stressful time.
"With the holidays, there's all kinds of ideas like it should be this way or we should be feeling this way, when actually maybe we don't," said Dr. Jeff Katzman at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan.
The American Psychiatric Association says about 1 in 4 people are experiencing more stress during the holidays. Some of the top stressors are affording holiday gifts and grieving a loss or missed loved one.
"The holidays are really a time when we can miss people. We can think about the holidays gone by. Some people have had very difficult years," said Katzman.
Katzman says on top of that, technology like cellphones and families now living in different locations, has made many feel alone.
"People are lonely. We have an epidemic of loneliness in our country and around the world, the Western world, but we're the worst," he said.
To combat the stress of the holidays, Katzman says we should accept imperfection, not lose sight of what really counts and find some time to decompress.
"One strong tip is to take care of ourselves and to think ahead to what do I want out of the holidays and what is meaningful for me and who do I want to see and who would I like to make a connection with," he said.
Katzman says its also not a bad idea to ask for help during the holidays so you don't have to do it alone.
If you're becoming too stressed or depressed, you may need to contact a mental health professional. You can also call the 988 help line.
