{"id":368248,"date":"2023-12-02T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T14:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/trim-your-holiday-stress-this-season-experts-offer-tips-drugs-com-mednews\/"},"modified":"2023-12-02T18:31:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T23:31:06","slug":"trim-your-holiday-stress-this-season-experts-offer-tips-drugs-com-mednews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/trim-your-holiday-stress-this-season-experts-offer-tips-drugs-com-mednews\/","title":{"rendered":"Trim Your Holiday Stress This Season: Experts Offer Tips – Drugs.com MedNews","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
Medically reviewed<\/a> by Drugs.com.<\/span><\/p>\n By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter<\/p>\n SATURDAY, Dec. 2, 2023 (Healthday News) — The holidays are typically a happy whirlwind of gift-buying, house decorating, party planning and family gatherings, but all that work can also stress people out.<\/p>\n Luckily, experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center say there are things you can do to keep your stress levels under control and help make your holidays happy.<\/p>\n \u201cExcess stress wears and tears on our bodies,\u201d said Rita Smith<\/a>, a clinical social worker in the Clinical Heart and Vascular Center at UT Southwestern. \u201cThe best holiday gifts you can give yourself are equal doses of self-care and grace.\u201d<\/p>\n Start with realistic expectations, which will ease the pressure of trying to be perfect.<\/p>\n Remembering the holidays are all about gratitude will also help, said Sarah Woods<\/a>, vice chair of research in UT Southwestern’s Department of Family and Community Medicine.<\/p>\n \u201cThink about what you\u2019re grateful for and put it in writing,\u201d Woods suggested in a university news release. \u201cFocusing on the good can help you relax and cope with the not-so-good.\u201d <\/p>\n Another stressor during the holidays? Money. <\/p>\n Smith said it\u2019s best to make a spending plan for gifts and celebrations because holiday debts can be overwhelming. So, try to be practical yet creative with your gifting.<\/p>\n Then there’s family relationships, which are sometimes strained.<\/p>\n Woods said stress linked to difficult family relationships can produce more cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels are linked to poor sleep, headaches, inflammation, reduced pain tolerance and shortness of breath.<\/p>\n The best way to prepare for that? Before visiting family, discuss with your partner how much time you wish to spend with relatives and what conversations — politics, religion, parenting, education — should be off-limits, Woods said. <\/p>\n If you find yourself in the middle of a trying conversation with a relative despite that, try saying: \u201cI love you and respect you. Can we put this conversation on pause for now and talk about something else?\u201d Woods recommended.<\/p>\n The holidays can be especially difficult if you are caring for a loved one who is ill or spending your first holidays alone after a divorce or the loss of a spouse, Smith added.<\/p>\n She recommended several ways to handle holiday stress:<\/p>\n Take time to exercise, get a massage, nap or read a book<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Try to eat healthy, even though holiday celebrations invite overindulgence<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Stay socially engaged. If you\u2019re sad because of a loss or disappointment, talk to your doctor, a friend or a counselor. There are many groups that provide support for dealing with divorce, grief or depression.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Volunteer, because many people have additional needs during the holidays. Take a meal to a neighbor, go to a senior center and visit the residents or work with a food bank. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Disclaimer:<\/strong> Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Posted December 2023<\/p>\n Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters<\/a> to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.<\/p>\n Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter SATURDAY, Dec. 2, 2023 (Healthday News) — The holidays are typically a happy whirlwind of gift-buying, house decorating, party planning and family gatherings, but all that work can also stress people out. Luckily, experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center say there are things you can do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":2,"featured_media":368251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"acf":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368250,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368248\/revisions\/368250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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