Managing your mental health over the holidays
Managing your mental health over the holidays
Christmas/New year can be a stressful time of year, whether you live with a mental health problem or not. There’s pressure to socialise with friends and family, more temptation to overindulge in food and drink and of course the financial strain that presents and celebrations can put on your bank balance. Below we’ve got some tips on managing your mental health at Christmas, and some ideas for staying well over the festive period.
Connect with people…
Sometimes, the last thing we feel like doing is talking to people. You might be feeling anxious, or overwhelmed, or just not very sociable – but connecting with other people has lots of benefits for your mental health. It’s the perfect time to also connect with people who haven’t spoken to in years and mend some burnt bridges. Building good emotional relationships is a benefit for your metal health
Alcohol…
Alcohol can help you feel relaxed and at ease when socializing, however alcohol can be a natural depressive. If you are sober this year it is okay to say, ‘not drinking’, nothing to be ashamed of. Those of you that are drinking need to be mindful that it will effect your mental health and disturb your sleep and can lead to hangover.
Food…
There will tempting treats and food that you can’t help to resist. It is important to have everything in moderation. Moderation is key maintain a healthy diet as this will help you maintain a stable mood, and should help prevent irritability and mood slumps.
Sleep…
Sleep will inevitably be disturbed in the holiday period, the main things you need to be mindful of is that alcohol can affect the sleep if excessive amount is taken. Allow yourself to pace yourself when drinking. There’s lot of evidence to suggest that not having enough sleep has a negative impact on your mental health, so if possible, do try and head to bed at your usual time every night. Another factor can be stress levels, a way of reducing stress in this period is doing some mindfulness techniques read our blog on mindfulness.
Exercise…
It may be very difficult to get yourself up and working out. With the weather being cold, rainy, and getting dark early it is hard to keep yourself motivated. If you can’t get yourself to gym, going for a walk for half an hour can help. You can also keep yourself exercising with a getting yourself on the dance floor, putting some good music on while you clean and even get yourself out there for events, such as singing Christmas Carrols or going to see the new year lights.
Relax…
Self-care is imperative when you’re during the holidays. You can take some time out for yourself. This can be taking a bath, doing some mindfulness, have a look at our podcast on mindful breathing that can help you relax and be in the present moment.
