Stress Around The Holidays

During the holiday season - Christmas, Hanukkah and others - people will often experience elevated levels of stress. But it need not be so.

There are, indeed, many pressures unique to the holiday season.

In many places, the weather makes it more difficult to get around and people are sometimes more physically uncomfortable. Those are minor in themselves, but when they persist over time they become elements in encouraging stress.

The desire and expectation of buying presents, sometimes for individuals you may not be very fond of but feel obligated to buy for, can add to the pressure. This is especially true for people on a tight budget, as many are. Crowded stores, clogged streets and a lack of parking spaces contribute as well.

These facts all bear marked similarities to more common factors in producing stress. Work responsibilities, for example, often bring deadlines that are difficult to meet and a lack of resources to meet them. Physical factors, such as health problems, commonly constitute a large percentage of stressors. Money worries are near the top of a lot of lists for those who experience stress.

Since the holiday factors are similar, they are subject to the same kind of 'treatment'. Stress results from a perceived, unresolvable conflict between "I must" and "I can't". So, tackle these two factors head on during the holidays.

Ask yourself if you really 'must'. Many families, for example, have a kind of raffle system in which one family member buys for another. That way, no one has the burden of buying multiple presents. Fewer obligations to meet means less chance for stress. Less money you have to spend means less to worry about.

Now tackle the "I can't".

Some people start gift buying and decorating earlier in the season. Others find it difficult to 'get into the spirit' long before the event. For the latter, try shopping online or going to more out of the way places. The trip may take a little longer, or require a little more searching, but the lower incidence of stress more than compensates.

Even if you don't want to start shopping for the holidays in June, you can still do some planning that will help lower the occasion for stress. If your budget is small, start saving well ahead. Put a cap on what you are willing to spend and don't let unnecessary guilt make you spend more or feel bad about spending less. Gifts should be voluntary, not obligatory.

Having more to do at a particular time of the year, when it may be more difficult to get it done, can represent a challenge. But a challenge only leads to stress when you place yourself in impossible dilemmas. Toss aside those dilemmas and declare your independence from stress.

Curing Stress Techniques
The first step is always to increase awareness in two directions - outward and inward. Be conscious of your ...
curing_stress___techniques.html

Conquering Stress
Meditation has also been practiced, in Asia and elsewhere, for centuries. It's easy to learn and has...
conquering_stress.html

Stress And Diet
Supplements can be helpful if your diet ...
stress_and_diet.html

Stress At Work The Cause
There are a hundred immediate possible causes for job-...
stress_at_work___the_cause.html

Stress And Pets
For many, having pets clearly has an abundance of ...
stress_and_pets.html

What Is Stress
From a purely physiological perspective both are going to be experiencing similar effect...
what_is_stress.html

Stress At Work The Cure
Take a few deep breaths, slowly. No need to go into some kind of Zen st...
stress_at_work___the_cure.html

Curing Stress Pruning The Roots
A person who feels confident in his or her ability to quickly overcome hurdles (and at a modest 'cost...
curing_stress___pruning_the_roots.html

Stress And Your Mate
Close relationships, such as those with a spouse or 'significant other' inevitably br...
stress_and_your_mate.html

Tackling Stress In The Modern World
You may be unlucky enough to have a boss who imposes unreasonable deadlines to meet pointless work mileston...
tackling_stress_in_the_modern_world.html

Stress And Parents, Teenage Dilemmas
Setting a developing person adrift among the variety of choices available in modern, complex society is a near...
stress_and_parents,_teenage_dilemmas.html

Social Anxiety Disorder
...
social_anxiety_disorder.html

Stress And Your Health
Some of the more elementary and obvious effects of stre...
stress_and_your_health.html

Stress And Alcohol
Large alcohol consumption stimulates the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands. One result is an i...
stress_and_alcohol.html

How Not To Deal With Stress
The stress that can lead to being short-tempered can urge some...
how_not_to_deal_with_stress.html

What Causes Stress
The causes are neither entirely external nor internal, but generally involve bo...
what_causes_stress.html

Stress And Parenting
But very few goals are so fundamental and so long...
stress_and_parenting.html

The Effects Of Stress
These two realms are not unrelated. The hypothalamus and the pituitary g...
the_effects_of_stress.html

Stress And Money
The bottom line is that money issues are often stressful for just about ev...
stress_and_money.html

Short Term Memory
You should never jump to conclusions though. Loss of short term memory alone is...
short_term_memory.html

Stress And Exercise
Along with endorphins there are other neuro-trans...
stress_and_exercise.html