8 Tips to Help with Holiday Stress

Everywhere you go, reminders of the holidays greet you and you can already feel your stress levels start to rise. You’re certainly not alone with 9 out of 10 Americans reporting feeling stressed during the holidays and 64% of people with mental health issues saying that the holidays make them worse.

If you’re dealing with a preexisting mental health issue, such as depression or anxiety, the team at Braincare Performance Center - Cardiff wants to share some great stress-relieving practices that can go a long way toward making your holidays a little brighter.

1. Don’t skip treatments

As we lead up to the holidays and life gets a little busier, it’s important not to take your foot off the gas pedal when it comes to your brain wellness treatments. If you’re in the midst of a magnetic e-resonance therapy (MeRT) protocol with us, make these a priority because they work quickly to get your brain unstuck from depressive and anxious mood and thought patterns.

In other words, these treatments will help create a stronger mental health foundation as you get into the holidays.

2. Go at your own pace

If you’ve been invited to different activities and you’re feeling overwhelmed, participate at your own pace. You don’t have to be the first to arrive and the last to leave.

3. Plug in and connect

Stress can make us feel like holing up and isolating and we recommend that you not succumb completely to these urges. Yes, we want you to go at your own pace and you can say no to certain activities if it’s getting to be too much, but connection is incredibly important for your mental health.

4. Move a muscle

There’s an expression that we love: move a muscle, change a thought. If you find that your mind is spinning during the holidays, go out for a walk or run or engage in whatever exercise you prefer. Moving your body is a fantastic way to stop cycling in negative thinking and it also helps to release your natural feel-good hormones, dopamine, which can help boost serotonin levels.

5. Breathe deeply

One of the best stress management techniques is deep breathing. If you’re feeling anxious, simply stop, close your eyes, and breathe in deeply through your nose and then slowly exhale through your mouth. A great practice is to inhale for four seconds, hold for a beat, then exhale for six seconds. This deep breathing can calm your nervous system very quickly.

6. Be open and honest

Putting on a brave face when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed can be exhausting. So, we urge you to be open and honest with friends and family about how you’re feeling. You might even be surprised to find that you’re not alone.

7. Be kind to yourself

If you falter or if stress gets the better of you, be kind and compassionate with yourself. Take a moment — perhaps a hot bath — and show yourself a little love.

8. Take a break from social media

This last practice is becoming ever more important. If you're struggling with stress and mental health issues, social media is a fast track to making these worse. A parade of happy smiling faces of people that seem to be faring far better than you isn’t going to help. Besides, we assure you, most of what you see on social media has nothing to do with reality.

With a little effort, you can make your stress take a backseat this holiday season, and beyond. In the meantime, we wish you a happy holiday and we’re here for any questions or concerns you may have. Simply contact our office in Cardiff, California, at 858-306-1070 or request an appointment online today.