Holiday Stress Tips | Orlando Counselor

Are you dreading the chaos of the holidays with the cooking, entertaining, shopping, decorating, etc?  Not looking forward to the in-laws meddling in your family or talking about politics? Living a day by day routine can be difficult to manage, even when life seems to be “organized.” Stress is not always a bad thing, it can help us to resolve difficult situations. Our body saves “energy” (adrenaline, cortisol) to help us to resolve situations that needs to be resolve immediately. The hormone Adrenaline can give us motivation to achieve goals, however too much stress can cause us long term healthy problems. Stress can bring not only psychological changes but can impact our physiological functioning tremendously.

Frequent stress events can cause:

• Chronic healthy conditions relating to anxiety
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Obesity
• Drug abuse and more.

Cortisol is released in our body to help us to deal with the immediate situation, however the constant release of this hormone can cause our body physical alterations and inability to deal adequately with our emotions.

A healthy routine and practicing distress tolerance can help us to manage the level of stress in our body and to empower our sense of efficacy. Identifying the situations or behaviors causing us stress, and changing it with better habits is essential to decreasing stress in our lives.  Below are some helps to get you through the chaos!

6 Holiday Stress Tips you can apply to your routine:

1. When you feel stressed try to take time and breathe deeply. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
2. Manage your time. Make a list of what tasks you have to do, then do one at time. Check them off as they are completed. This will help you manage your stress.
3. When you feel stressed, talk about it. It will help you to release the anxiety and to be more connected to your emotions.
4. Physical activity can help you to release tension and relax your body when you feel angry, nervous or upset.
5. Know your limits and try to accept situations that you cannot modify.
6. Take a one minute “vacation” trip in your mind and imagine a place where you feel safe and relaxed.

Sometimes changing our behaviors and habits is not an easy task, therefore the help of mental health professional can help you long term.

NOTE: Freely redistribute this resource, electronically or in print, provided you leave the authors, name, credentials, and contact information below intact and include a link to this article.

AUTHOR: Anna Vita

Our counselors can help in Orlando and East Orlando Florida!  Our Experts can help and can be reached at (407) 248-0030.