Coping with the Holidays Guide

So much to do! So many people to see!! How will I get it all together before the holidays again this year? Don't forget to send out the holiday cards!

Every year, so many of us feel the stress of the aproaching holidays. No sooner have we put away the Thanksgiving turkey that we turn and find the presents we need to wrap for Christmas. The holidays start a few weeks of stress and constant motion for many, and a feeling of being overwhelmed, depression and even loneliness for others.

We can't stop the world from turning, but perhaps the articles below will help you better cope with the holidays.

From Our Bloggers...

What's New for 2011

Competing Family Loyalties in the Holiday Season
Dealing with family conflict and make yourself happy in the process.
'Tis the Season to Regress
Falling into old familiar family patterns?
8 Tips to Make the Most of Your Holidays
Do things right this season.
The Christmas 'Not To-Do' List
Things you shouldn't do this holiday season.
8 Ways to Keep Your Sanity During the Holidays
8 simple tips to help you keep your sanity.
9 Ideas for Coping with the Holidays When You Have a Mental Illness
Advice and tips for coping when mental health issues are a part of your life.
Keep Your Connection Strong This Holiday Season
5 ways to manage the holidays while maintaining a strong connection with your partner.
10 Helpful Hints for Holiday Spending
Keep yourself from going overboard with gifts.
4 Quick Tips to Help Protect Your Relationship During the Holidays
Don't take your stress out on your partner.
9 Ways to Have a Simpler but More Satisfying Holiday
Simplify to surprise yourself!
6 Mindful Ways to Minimize Holiday Stress
You can be more mindful with just a few easy tips.
The Empty Chair at the Holiday Table
The first holiday after a loss is the most difficult.

General Holiday Coping

8 Ways to Take the Joy Out of the Holidays
Want some sure fire ways to ruin your holiday? Here they are.
Holiday Stress Survival Tips
Top Ten Relaxation Tips to Sooth your Mind and Body During the Holiday Season
Ho-Ho-Ho-Holiday (Office) Parties: Bah Humbug?
The annual office party got you down? Here's some ways to make them less painful and more fun.
12 Tips to Keep Joy in the Holidays
You can keep things under control this holiday season with these twelve, down-to-Earth tips.
Focus on Meaning, Not Money: Christmas on a Budget
You can still have a good time even when money is tight.
Holiday Traditions
Understanding the importance of family traditions around the holidays.
Simplifying the Holidays
You won't be able to follow through with whatever good intentions you have for simplifying and de-stressing unless you get to the bottom of why you sabotage yourself time and again.
It's All In How You Look At It: Transforming Holiday Angst into Gratitude
Ready or not, like it or not, we're surrounded by holiday hoopla every year. It's no wonder that we all feel stretched.
Talking Turkey: Managing Unhappy Relatives at Holiday Time
How do you deal with your most difficult relatives during the holidays?
Don't Stress Holiday Travel
Quick tips to get you traveling safely and with less stress than last year.
Finding Meaning in the Holidays and Christmas
Take a few moments to reflect upon the meaning of the holidays for you and your life.
Helpful Hints for Navigating the Holidays
Helpful tips to help you navigate the holiday gatherings in your life.
Holiday Coping Tips
Need more tips? Try these!

Alone for the Holidays

10 Things to Do If You're Alone for the Holidays
10 quick tips to help you deal with being alone this holiday season.
Coping with Being Alone for the Holidays
More practical tips on things you can do to help keep you in the holiday spirit this year.
Alone During the Holidays? Join the Crowd
Keep the holidays in perspective.
The Ghosts of Holidays Past
A story of what the holidays mean to us.

Depression, SAD and Drinking

Celebrating Safely with Alcohol
8 tips on how to safely celebrate the holidays.
Nine Ways to Beat the Bah Humbugs
Feeling like the holidays got you down? Relax and prioritize and you'll be surprised how it all can come together.
Holiday Drinking: Keep It Safe
5 strategies for keeping it safe during the holidays.
Beating the Holiday Blues
You can beat the holiday blues today!
Not in the Holiday Mood? It Might Be the Blues
Why can't you get into the holiday mood? It might be depression or something else.
Wrung-Out by Ringing-In the Holidays: Dealing with Post-Holiday Blues
The crazy holiday season is over... Now what?
Enjoying the Winter Holiday Season
Although you may feel down this holiday season, there are things you can do today to help make yourself feel better.
Shedding Light on Winter Depression
What is "winter depression," or seasonal affective disorder?
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Psych Central's Seasonal Affective Disorder resource center.

Children and Family

When Your Child Asks, Is Santa Real?
What do you do when a child asks this inevitable question?
Holiday Feasts and Family Misbehavior
Dealing with the family during the holiday dinners.
Special Occasions and Special Needs Kids
Here come the holidays. For many parents with special needs kids, here comes more stress.
Holiday Travel with Young Kids
Learn the secret to traveling with kids -- travel in the "kid zone."
Making the Most of a Holiday Apart from Your Kids
Can't be with your children this holiday season? You can get through it with a few simple tips.
Preparing Kids for Holiday Visits
You love to travel with your children, don't you? Make it less stressful for them and for you.
Managing Children's Expectations: A Key To Happy Holidays
It's up to you to manage your kid's expectations for the holiday season, leaving no one disappointed.
Seasonal Stepfamily Stress: Tips to Help All Your Family Members Enjoy the Holidays
You've got a lot to deal with two families, but you can make it work more smoothly.
Holiday Baking: A Recipe for Family Fun or Frustration?
Baking can be fun for kids if you keep some of these simply tips in mind.

Gifts, Cards and Presents

Rx for Mental Health: Send Holiday Cards!
It's easy to get cynical about holiday cards. There certainly is a lot of pressure to send them for all the wrong reasons.
Getting to the Heart of Holiday Gifting
It's not about material presents, it's about gifts from the heart.
The Christmas Limit
Setting limits helps everyone have a more enjoyable holiday.
Toys for the Holidays: Buying Gifts for Other People's Children
What do we buy for other people's children?

Stress

More Coping with Holiday Stress Tips
More tips on how to deal with the inevitable holiday stress.
The Turkey Trail: Which Home for the Holidays?
So many families, so little time!
Holiday Stress: A Resourceful Survivor's Guide
Survive the holiday season with grace and less stress than last year!

New Year's

10 Things You Can do Differently Today
Instead of offering you 10 things you can do to help keep your resolutions, we're going to share with you 10 things you can do differently today that will help change your life.
New Year's Resolutions: Role-Modeling the How of Making Change
It's not just about resolutions, but about committing to change.
Seven Steps to Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions
7 ways to try and keep the resolutions you made.
10 Sure Ways to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions
You've read everyone else's top 10 tips to keep your New Year's resolutions, now read ours!

Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 23 Dec 2011
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults.
-- Thomas Szasz

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