{"id":895,"date":"2018-04-30T14:40:23","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T14:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flnavigator.com\/health\/?p=895"},"modified":"2020-10-03T01:35:56","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T01:35:56","slug":"coping-with-the-holidays-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/2018\/04\/mental-health-2\/coping-with-the-holidays-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Coping with the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Coping with the Holidays<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">By Robert Goodman, MSW<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">The holidays are supposed to be a time for family gathering, happiness, joyous celebrations, and hope. Unfortunately, for many, it is a time of loneliness and sadness. The stress of the holidays can cause anxiety and depression.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Here are some suggestions by psychologists and social workers on how to cope with the holidays:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Understand how the holidays affect you. What do they mean to you? <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">If your holiday blues are a result of the stress from all the extra demands of the holidays, do some things to reduce the demands. Rethink how you view and approach the holidays.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">If your holiday blues are stemming from past losses, take advantage of the holidays to help you complete your mourning and lessen your grieving over the loss.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Organize and plan your activities during this period. Stay busy and avoid unstructured time. Spend time in the clubhouse, participating in the many activities that are available. Exercise. Get involved in synagogue or church activities.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Don&#8217;t isolate yourself. If you can&#8217;t be with family, invite some close friends over to share the holidays. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Think of the blessings in your life: friends, children, grandchildren, etc.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Volunteer your time.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Try to avoid alcohol.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Watch your finances. Overspending will cause worry over bills after the holidays are over. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Don&#8217;t deny or try to hide your feelings of sadness. Seek professional help.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">Take time to reflect on past friendships and pleasant memories. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coping with the Holidays By Robert Goodman, MSW The holidays are supposed to be a time for family gathering, happiness, joyous celebrations, and hope. Unfortunately, for many, it is a time of loneliness and sadness. The stress of the holidays can cause anxiety and depression. Here are some suggestions by psychologists and social workers on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[112,143,144,177],"class_list":["post-895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mental-health-2","tag-holidays","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-issues","tag-support"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1875,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895\/revisions\/1875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}