Managing the Seemingly Inevitable Holiday Season Stress

欢迎来到假日季节 - 在万圣节之后开始的礼品假期，营销博客，假期派对和嘉洛的活动，延伸到感恩节，并在今年年底前继续获得势头。

While this season is meant to bring feelings of love and cheer, it’s also the harbinger of holiday stress for many. In fact, according to a poll conducted on this site, more than 80% of us find the holiday season to be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ stressful—that ranks navigating the holidays right up there with asking for a raise! What is it that has us all so hot and bothered?

做太多了

All things in moderation, as the saying goes. The problem with the holiday season is that we often experience too much of a good thing. While stress itself is necessary for our survival and zest for life (researchers call this positive type of stress "eustress.“），压力太大了对我们的健康产生负面影响，心理和身体。太多的活动，即使他们是有趣的活动，也可以在太多的假期压力中达到高潮，让我们感到疲惫不堪，而不是实现。

吃，喝酒和花太多

An overabundance of parties and gift-giving occasions lead many people to eat, drink and be merry—often to excess. The temptation to overindulge in spending, rich desserts or alcohol can cause many people the lasting stress of dealing with consequences (debt, weight gain, memories of embarrassing behavior) that can linger long after the season is over. Also, in these more difficult financial times, finding affordable gifts can be stressful in itself, and carrying holiday debt is a tradition that too many people unwittingly bring on themselves, and the stress that comes with it can last for months.

太多的统一性

假期是延长家庭往往聚集的时候。虽然这可能是一件美妙的事情，但即使是最靠近的家庭也可以在一起过量，使家庭成员难以在粘接和单独时间之间保持健康的平衡。许多家庭也有一个角色，即每个成员都与曾经是曾经是曾经的个人而不是他们今天的人，这有时可以带来更多的恐惧而不是爱这些聚会。

没有足够的团结

For those who don’t have these family issues, loneliness can be just as much of a problem. As the world seems to be gathering with family, those who rely more on friends for support can feel deserted and alone.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

An often unrecognized problem that comes with the holiday season is actually a by-product of the seasons changing from fall to winter. As daylight diminishes and the weather causes many of us to spend more time indoors, many people are affected to some degree by a type of depression known asseasonal affective disorder.这是一个微妙但非常真实的条件，可以在整个赛季中施放一个码头，并且在人们期望感受到相反的时候是压力和不快乐的源泉。

Minimizing Holiday Stress

The great thing about holiday stress is that it’s predictable. Unlike many other types of negative stress we encounter in life, we know when holiday stress will begin and end, and we can make plans to reduce the amount of stress we experience and the negative impact it has on us.

以下是您可以尝试在开始之前帮助降低假期压力的一些提示，以便它仍处于积极水平，而不是压倒性的一个。

确定你的优先事项

Before you get overwhelmed by too many activities, it’s important to decide what traditions offer the most positive impact and eliminate superfluous activities. For example, if you usually become overwhelmed by a flurry of baking, caroling, shopping, sending cards, visiting relatives and other activities that leave you exhausted by January, you may want toexamine your priorities, pick a few favorite activities and really enjoy them, while skipping the rest.

拿快捷方式

如果你不能理解跳过发送卡片，烘烤，看到人们和做的想法全部通常运行你粗糙的东西，您可以在您的日程安排中提供更好的内容，但在您的日程中较小的比例.

例如，发送卡，但仅对您维护常规通信的人。或者，不包括每个人的个人票据或信件。找到一种简化的方法。烘焙相同的烘焙 - 如果你从面包店买出烤制品如果您发现方法可以削减角落或音调对您和您的家人重要的活动，您可能会更多地享受它们。

Be Smart With Holiday Eating

在假期期间，我们可能想要看起来很棒（特别是如果我们在别人身边，我们经常看不到 - 我们知道这就是我们将被记住的方式），但是这种形式有这么多诱惑美味的食物和颓废的甜点，以及我们经常常规的休息 - 加上情绪压力 - 都可以加上暴饮暴食，情绪饮食等形式的不健康饮食。今年，通过了解你的触发器，做出你可以为每顿饭提供一些健康食品的计划，请注意你的摄入，并练习迈进。下面的资源将提供有关如何成功执行这些事物的更多深入信息。

Change Your Expectations for Togetherness

与家人和朋友,是awar是很重要的e of your limitations. Think back to previous years and try to pinpoint how much togetherness you and your family can take before feeling negative stress. Can you limit the number of parties you attend or throw or the time you spend at each? Can you limit your time with family to a smaller timeframe that will still feel special and joyous, without draining you?

对于那些经历的人假期期间的寂寞, consider inviting a group of friends to your home. If virtually everyone you know is with family during the holidays, you might consider volunteering to help those less fortunate than yourself. Many people report these experiences to be extremely fulfilling, and your focus will be on what you have rather than what you lack.

Set a Schedule

Putting your plans on paper can show you, in black and white, how realistic they are. If you find a time management planner and fill in the hours with your scheduled activities, being realistic and including driving time and downtime, you will be able to see if you’re trying to pack in too much. Start with your highest priorities, so you will be able to eliminate the less important activities. Be sure to schedule in some time to take a walk in nature each day if at all possible, as exercise and exposure to daylight can drastically reduce or even eliminate the symptoms of SAD. (If climate or other factors prohibit this, try to find some time to sit by a window and look out; several minutes of exposure to natural light, even if through a window pane, can help.)

Breathe

这听起来像一个没有脑子，但有时我们会忘记take deep breathsand really give our bodies the oxygen we need. It's great if you can take ten minutes by yourself to do a呼吸冥想, but merely stopping to take a few deep, cleansing breaths can reduce your level of negative stress in a matter of minutes, too. If you visualize that you are breathing in serenity and呼吸压力，你会发现这项运动的积极影响更加明显。