Surviving The Holidays

  •  I wish everyone A Happy 2024!
  •  Depending on what you celebrate during the holiday season, your holidays are behind you, in progress, or front of you. As we all agree that 2024 is in front of us and that mental and brain health is our emphasis, I hope it is a healthy year for everyone.
  •  If there is anything about the festive season that affects your mental health adversely, try to avoid it by firmly saying: “No!” to anyone pushing you into the dreaded activity.
  •  You owe nothing to any person, even if they are close family or friends, except to look after your mental health as you see fit. You can be alone during the festive season if that is your choice. In that case, remember that you have isolated yourself for good reasons, and make sure you enjoy the time alone. Engage in your favorite activities. These hobbies may be listening to music, watching movies at home, walking your dog, hugging your dog, and so on.
  •  If you are alone and it’s not by choice, if you long for someone to break that isolation for the festive season and that someone isn’t in your life, remember that it isn’t the festive season right now for many other cultures. There are many places in the world where the festive season is just a sequence of regular days for them. Identify with such people. If you look at the social media posts of many mental health advocacy groups, you’ll find they are full of advice for people struggling with the festive season. You may be physically alone, but you are not alone. Consider the community of people in your situation and the outstanding advocates who work all year for you.
  •  If, despite your best efforts, you are depressed, call one of the suicide lifelines in your area. Someone qualified will talk to you, share your depression, and help you through it.
  •  I was single and alone by choice for many years during the entire festive season.
  •  My celebration was many weeks in the making. I would save up all I could and buy items from the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and other animal charities. They were all things I needed, like sweaters, totes, and umbrellas, but by buying them from these charities, I was contributing to beings I always loved and by whom I never feel mentally threatened – animals. I didn’t have a pet then, but I thought of all the animals I had tried to help in my modest way, which was festive enough for me.
  •  Now that I am married, my spouse and I don’t do much for the festive season except stay home and engage in our favorite hobbies. That suits me and the way I handle my schizophrenia by not having too much sensory stimulus and too many people to relate to at a time. 
  •  If you are spending the festive season with others, it’s an excellent time to rest from some of your usual goals so you don’t have an adverse feeling afterward. 
  •  For example, if you are on a diet, don’t expect it to go anywhere but backward over the festive season. You can still pat yourself on the back by not over-eating, even if your favorite aunt has baked six pies and wants you to try them all twice. Never tell people you are on a diet. It’s better to say you have had enough to eat for now. “Maybe later,” is a polite response. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, try to make the healthiest choices for your plate and be firm in refusing the unhealthy choices. You don’t need to throw up your meal or subject yourself to weeks of anorexia when the festive season is over. It’s good for the metabolism to have the occasional high-calorie day. Some nutritionists even recommend that for people who want to eat healthy. View food over the festive season as a challenge for your body and for your good choices, not as something to avoid for fear of gaining a few pounds.
  •  Avoid making New Year’s Resolutions if you deal with failure poorly. Most Resolutions are inclined to be over-ambitious and quickly fall under the pressures of everyday life come the second week in January. My method is to make none that involve unrealistic goals for myself. I try to make one resolution per year to do a chosen activity I enjoy at least thrice weekly. I am much more likely to strive to do an activity that gives me pleasure and the overall positive benefit for my lifestyle.
  •  If you have no other ideas, try making the resolution to look after yourself, physically and mentally.

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