Christmas and mental health

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How might Christmas affect my mental health?

Whether or not Christmas is part of your life, you might be affected by it happening around you. It's a time of year that often puts extra pressure on us.

For example, you might:

• feel alone because everyone else seems happy when you're not
• wish Christmas could move because it's bad timing
• want to celebrate with someone who's struggling.

"...listening to other people's exciting plans makes me feel like an alien being, as I don't have all those wonderful relationships in my life."

The Christmas period could impact your mental health in other ways too. For example:

• Your mental health problem might make it hard for you to spend Christmas how you want.
• Difficult and stressful experiences at Christmas can make your mental health worse.
• Enjoying Christmas might affect your mental health, for example if it triggers hypomania or mania for you.
• It can be harder to access services, and some will be closed.

"I won't be physically alone, but I will feel very lonely. I probably should be enjoying "my family" [...] I try to keep positive and strong, but end up feeling terribly sad and overwhelmed."

What can I do?

If Christmas is a hard time for you, it's important to remember that you are not alone, and there are things you can try that might help. We've written this information to help you:

• learn about why Christmas is hard for many people
• find tips that might help you cope at Christmas
• find ways to be supportive to others
• discover useful contacts and their Christmas opening hours.

This information was published in December 2019. We will revise it in 2020.

References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.

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