Holiday Traditions and Stress
RHG Magazine & TV Guide TM - Mindful Holiday Magic 2019 © All rights reserved.
If you are like me you would be planning your holiday decorations and events beginning September. Christmas is my favorite holiday and it brings a smile to my face. I get a warm, loving feeling that grows stronger as I do my decorating and making cookies. We get to see all of our families and attend many gatherings. Then for New Year’s Eve Tony and I sit and relax watching television until the ball drops.
Although I begin the season feeling sad and depressed because I have S.A.D. (Seasonal Depressive Disorder), the thoughts of celebrations excite me. I require medication changes at this time of year because of the amount of sun and daylight is not as much as in other seasons. Once again this year I was too late in getting to my psychiatrist and I had a setback
and was crying for a week straight. I was right back in the psychiatric hospital for my well needed vacation for a week. I say vacation because for me it’s a way of relaxing and getting away from life and it’s realities for a while.
I share my life story to inspire everyone who struggles with mental illnesses like me to reach out for the required assistance they may require.
There is so much in the news about the higher rate of suicidal deaths and we need to raise the awareness to be supportive of one another.
This year I am also sad because Tony and I won’t be celebrating the holidays. Tony has colon cancer and will have surgery in December. We are going to a hospital 3 hours from home so I will stay in a hotel for the duration. There won’t be time to decorate.
For many people the holidays are a time of sadness.
*It could be due to the loss of a loved one and missing them and the times they spent together for celebrations.
*Some people get stressed because of all the necessary shopping for gift sand food for gatherings. My husband is one of these people. We have 7 children and 16 grandchildren. Tony asks me to do most of the shopping to take the burden off him. Our family is mixed with his daughter, his second wife’s 3 daughters and my 3 children. This means lots of visiting.
*Family-Related Issues are a large problem. Spending time with parents, siblings and other relatives can cause tension in some families, and the anxiety of these get-togethers can also be a trigger for depression. This year I am experiencing this stress with my 3 children because they don’t understand the depth of my worry. It has been a long taxing year. I lost
my mother, Tony received his diagnosis, I had a heart attack, and then was in the psychiatric ward twice. They think because I’m the mother that I’m responsible for keeping them informed of everything about Tony’s health.
|13 |