Holiday cheer often comes with a little stress, but too much can have devastating effects.
University of Delaware School of Nursing psychiatric clinical nurse specialist Caren Coffy says too much stress over long periods of time can have physical effects and cause the body to shut down.
“Not only do we not think clearly or be able to deal with things that are stressful because we’re stressed out, it can affect our bodies physically and stop things from working and causing organs to shut down and us to shut down as a whole,” Coffy says.
Coffy adds things like finances, and gift giving are additional sources of holiday stress. To lighten the strain on people’s budgets, she suggests making a list keeping track of the gifts bought, and sticking to it, and having the self-confidence to say that your gift is enough.
“You need to have the self-confidence to say ‘I bought this gift and this is enough,’” Coffy says. “I find that people sometimes say ‘Oh she got this,’ or ‘So and so bought them this and what I got isn't good enough.’ That’s not what that’s about.”
She adds that people remembering family members who passed away also struggle with those losses more around the holidays.
“People have family members who have passed away at this time of year and sometimes people feel guilty about moving on, about doing certain things that they used to do with their family members, or not doing certain things because their family members are gone,” Coffy says.
Coffy says therapy is an important tool for people who notice a downturn in their mood this time of year.
