How the Holidays Can Affect Your Mental Health

While the holidays are the perfect time to enjoy your loved ones and celebrate, mental health struggles like depression and anxiety can take over and ruin this precious time.

The holiday season consists of party planning, baking, gift-giving and more. This can bring about unwanted stress for people who already deal with mental health issues on a daily basis. It’s important to take the time to regroup when you feel overwhelmed during this time, as you can still enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones. The mental health experts at Banyan explain how the holidays can affect mental illnesses and how to manage the common symptoms.

The Holidays Can Bring Stress

When it comes time to planning a holiday party for your friends and family members, there can be added pressure to make sure that everything is perfect. For someone who deals with anxiety on a regular basis, this can add to the daily symptoms that are often debilitating. It’s important to be realistic when it comes to preparing for the holidays. Your celebrations do not have to be perfect, and you don’t have to please everyone. As families expand, more people will have input into the traditions they want to be practiced. It’s okay to change up how you spend the holidays and who you spend it with.

Even though the holidays are an exciting time, many people can feel sad when they don’t have the opportunity to be with their loved ones, or even when a loved one is no longer with them. This sadness can turn into a seasonal depression, and you may feel like the holidays are completely ruined. However, it’s okay to feel sadness during this time. Reaching out to supportive friends and surrounding yourself with people will help you feel happy again. Talking through your emotions with a therapist or loved one instead of hiding them will help you overcome this depression.

Mental Illness Treatment

Just because everyone around you is happy and cheerful during the holidays doesn’t mean that you aren’t suffering inside. It’s so important to seek professional help if you feel that the symptoms of your mental illness are taking over. Therapists will help individuals learn effective ways to work through daily struggles.

If you are starting to feel that your mental health struggles are heightening as the holiday season starts to pick up, contact Banyan Mental Health today at 888-280-4763. We are here to help all struggling individuals get back on track through our mental illness treatment.