Stress Management: 9 Tell-Tale Signs Of Holiday Stress

Let's face it -- 2010 wasn't nice to a lot of people. If a change in your work life or finances is a dark cloud hanging on the holiday horizon, you're not alone.

Even before the economy bottomed out, Americans said financial pressures caused holiday stress. In a 2006 APA survey, 61 percent of respondents listed lack of money as the top cause of holiday stress, followed closely by the pressures of gift giving at 42 percent. Credit card debt also ranked highly, at 23 percent.

While more recent data isn't yet available, experts assume that financial pressures are even higher today. "Given the economy, money is still an issue," says Londoño-McConnell. "Typically, it is already a stressor, so it's probably going to continue."

What you should do: Although it's tough, now is the time of year to ask for help if you need it. From meals to toys for your kids, religious groups and other charitable organizations are there to help you.

If you were lucky enough to make it to the end of 2010 without needing a helping hand, then offer one to others.

"I think in this financial crisis, most of us have taken stock of what really matters," says Londoño-McConnell. "It's forcing us in some ways to get back to basics, and that might actually not be so bad." Check out creative savings tips.

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You Have Super-High Expectations

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If you tend to feel stress year-round because you’re not meeting the expectations you’ve set for yourself, the holidays are likely to amplify these feelings. “We have high expectations to have the Martha Stewart holiday, but [what if] we’re not good at baking, or our family just doesn’t get along?” says Stephanie S. Smith, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at Front Range Psychological Associates, in Erie, Colo. Sometimes expectations are so unrealistic they simply can’t be fulfilled, she says. What you should do: Focus on what is realistic -- not ideal -- or you risk facing major disappointment when things don’t go as planned. Perfectionists must remember that preparing for a holiday is not a one-person task; reaching out to a support system to delegate tasks can really lighten the load. Now would also be the time to crank up your sense of humor and keep it on full blast until January. More From Health.com: 8 Foods That Can Make Gout Worse 13 Great Recipes If You Have Gout 10 Exercises for People in Pain

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If you tend to feel stress year-round because you’re not meeting the expectations you’ve set for yourself, the holidays are likely to amplify these feelings.

“We have high expectations to have the Martha Stewart holiday, but [what if] we’re not good at baking, or our family just doesn’t get along?” says Stephanie S. Smith, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at Front Range Psychological Associates, in Erie, Colo. Sometimes expectations are so unrealistic they simply can’t be fulfilled, she says.

What you should do: Focus on what is realistic -- not ideal -- or you risk facing major disappointment when things don’t go as planned. Perfectionists must remember that preparing for a holiday is not a one-person task; reaching out to a support system to delegate tasks can really lighten the load.

Now would also be the time to crank up your sense of humor and keep it on full blast until January.


More From Health.com:
8 Foods That Can Make Gout Worse
13 Great Recipes If You Have Gout
10 Exercises for People in Pain

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Comments

[Dr Marilyn Joyce]

03:56 AM on 12/29/2010

Excellent article that truly addresses 9 major holiday stressors - stressors that remain so, long after the holiday season is over. It really does boil down to simplifying our lives, focusing on health and using quick and easy steps to achieve optimum health (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually), living by the principle of: what you think of me is none of my business, taking NOTHING personally (it's never really about you to begin with!), buying only what you have the money RIGHT NOW to buy, sharing the gift of LOVE above all other gifts, and living your passion in your work and your play. One of my blogs addresses how to transform stress into energy instantly, and is focused on solopreneurs, coaches, authors and anyone who works at home, independently and needs easy healthy 5-minute solutions: http://www.TransformStressNow.com - Love your input...
-Marilyn, The Vitality Doctor™
[e-mail]

[Laurence Girard]

11:57 PM on 12/28/2010

Wonderful article. Some people take themselves way too seriously especially when it comes to money around the holidays. We need to be less focused on materialistic things during the holidays and more focused on our health and our families. Having the ability to cope with stress is extremely important, even when it's not during the holiday season. I have a blog and I wrote an article that gives people tips for reducing stress in their lives and for improving emotional health. Let me know what you think of it guys -> http://applebananacoconut.com/2010/12/26/tips-for-emotional-health/
-Laurence
[e-mail]

[trainer3]

07:04 PM on 12/24/2010

My first annual cynical Christmas song composition performance....ahem...

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.
It's those Christmas bells you hear,
when you go broke for friends you haven't spoke to
or cared about for a year.
Have a Holly Jolly Christmas
It's a way to beat those blues.
You wake up to a new fondue,
and something else you'll never use.

hee hee, ya bought a tree, 57 bucks.
It died by Christmas eve, man that really
(is a shame)

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, it will keep you on your toes.
Spend half your pay on Courvoisier,
and snort your bonus up your nose...

Ho Ho, the mistletoe
HUNG where you can see
it makes the girls go wild...

hey that sounds like me...
--the end--

Thank you. Thank you very much.

[RockyBlue3]

04:52 PM on 12/25/2010

If you need help with some words that would rhyme better, like in the case it (is a shame)
let me know. I thought the Courvoisier worked even though I don't particularly like it, but I think you
needed another verse. Apart from that I really liked it. And the new fondue was good.
Thanks for posting!

[trainer3]

10:01 AM on 12/26/2010

haha...man, that really (is a shame) is not what made my father roll on the floor laughing when I used to guitar this out at Christmas dinner 25 years ago.

There was another verse the old man liked best. He drank a bit.
have a holly jolly Christmas, when you're drunk on Christmas cheer, and stay that way, thru new years day,
and carry through the following year...

I also messed up the fondue line...it should be:
'wake up to, a new fondue, OR something else you'll never use.

(and the way the music goes, if you swing it, the 'you'll never use' and the 'your bonus up your nose' parts have the musical kick right after them, that climb to the chorus.)

I used to dig writing with a partner.

Anyway, peace, thanks for 'listening'.

[DSevere]

06:49 PM on 12/24/2010

We had this horrible trip every year going back east to visit family. And we realized at one point, we never get the chance to really spend time with anybody, it's all stress and screaming kids and awful airline travel and getting sick afterwards.

So we made a deal w/my mother in law -- we will visit every summer and really have time to hang out and have fun with family, in a relaxed and pleasant way. And we're staying home for Xmas.

And now, my husband and I get to walk our doggies, go shopping for stuff we really want and need, watch movies, and have a great week of planning strategy for our business in the new year. It is SO much better!

[saskatoonie]

05:55 PM on 12/24/2010

We had our Christmas early so that our daughter could make it from out of town. I have realized that Christmas is about family and tradition. Being together doing the same things that we have done since our kids were little has made it very special even though it was almost three weeks before actual Christmas. I learned a good lesson this year!

[RockyBlue3]

04:53 PM on 12/25/2010

What was it?

[saskatoonie]

11:22 PM on 12/25/2010

Christmas is absolutely about being with your family and the traditions that you hold dear. I always thought it was the day on the calendar. Our early Christmas on the 8th taught me it is always about having your family together, no present could replace that!

[Nuke820]

12:54 PM on 12/24/2010

I only have 2 of the nine. Im not always that way. I know how to get over it too.

[Angiefranci]

12:06 PM on 12/24/2010

I only have five of the nine symptoms---help!! No, really the big problem for me is family tensions--arghhh!