Holiday Mental Health Tips
- It’s ok if your holidays are not happy, or if they are a mixed emotional bag.
- Holidays bring additional stressors (financial, planning, interpersonal) that can be hard to manage. For those living with grief, loneliness, illness, or mental health issues, the holidays can be especially complicated.
- Being unhappy during the holidays does not mean that you are doing something wrong or that anything is wrong with you. You may just be noticing the realistic challenges that the holidays bring.
- If you find yourself in a mental health crisis or are experiencing thoughts of suicide, reach out for help: friends, family, and/or call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Hotline).
- Set budgets: We all have limited time, money, and emotional resources. Going into “debt” in any of these areas leads to more stress and problems.
- Remember that quality is usually more important than quantity. This applies to gifts and time spent with others.
- Prioritize the most important activities and let go of the other stuff during the busy times.
- Remember to schedule meaningful-to-you activities and self-care time (e.g. sleep, exercise, hobbies, connecting with others); this gives you more resources to “spend.”
- Consider random acts of kindness; they’re a “twofer” (2 for 1). They make others AND us feel good.
To download a PDF version of these tips, please click here . These tips were also featured on Channel 7 WXYZ Detroit News in 2022.
About the Author
Dr. Hunter is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in a variety of evidence-based psychotherapies for children, adolescents, and families, including parent management training, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and acceptance and mindfulness treatments. She received a Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Washington, completed an internship at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and came to Michigan for a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical child psychology at UCCF. She is the director of both the University Center for the Child and Family and the University of Michigan Psychological Clinic.