ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – The holiday season is here, and while it is typically a festive time filled with traditions, celebrations and gatherings, it is also a season that can evoke a mix of emotions for many people.
Holidays often come with high expectations, leading many of us to feel pressure to create the “perfect” celebration.
If you feel overwhelmed or need to set limits, communicate your needs clearly to your loved ones. Practice setting up boundaries with your loved ones to ensure your emotional wellness is prioritized.
James Harrison, a licensed professional counselor, said it all comes down to stress management.
“The holidays are so stressful because there’s a lot tied up into it,” said Harrison. “It goes back to that expectation. We have internal expectations about how we think things should look and what we need to be doing, and there are external expectations for extended family members, maybe from society. We’re getting a lot of “should” messages. We should be doing this, we should be doing that. It’s ok to recognize we cannot do it all.”
Harrison shared how you can deal with the grief you might be feeling for loved ones you might have lost before or at the time of the holidays.
“It’s a time where we want to spend it with loved ones, people that are close to us, and grief is not something to be overcome so much as it is something to be experienced and to be witnessed. When those feelings of grief come up, when we experience that sadness, we want to acknowledge it. We don’t want to suppress it,” said Harrison. “Maybe we also have to set boundaries about…maybe we don’t go to certain events, maybe we don’t talk about certain things.”
He also shared some tips on what you or others can look out for if you might be struggling with mental health.
“Somebody becomes isolated, they start to withdraw. Maybe somebody usually answers text messages quickly. Maybe there’s a change in sleep patterns. Somebody is not sleeping enough. Somebody is sleeping too much. Loss of appetite or overeating. Another one that we tend to kind of look for and see is if there’s an increase in alcohol consumption. All of these start to tell us somebody is struggling with something,” said Harrison.
You can click here for Be Inspired Counseling and Consulting or call their number at (318)-226-7021.
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