How to Maintain Your Mental Health this Christmas

Christmas can be tough for many reasons, so you need to make sure you look after your mental health this Christmas.

Christmas, for the most part, is about others. We buy presents for others, cook dinners for others and meet up with people that we haven’t seen in a while because we feel like we must.

But you need to take care of yourself this Christmas as well.

How to maintain your mental health this Christmas

The present wrapping, money spending, food prepping and family time-outs are stressful and it’s okay to admit it. So when it gets too much, or you feel it might be approaching too much, here are some tips on how to maintain a good sense of mental health.

Accept that you’re not always in control

Remember that Christmas does not need to be perfect despite what the films, books and adverts tell you. If you burn the turkey so what, it’s one meal, not your last meal. If you didn’t get the present you wanted, or you gave the same present to someone as someone else, it’s okay. You’re not in control of the universe you can only try at the end of the day.

Take a few minutes for yourself

Go for a walk after the Christmas lunch to walk off some of the calories – or you can tell everyone that when you really mean get five minutes away from your lot. We don’t normally spend whole days with our entire family at the best of times, so it’s okay if it gets too much. Make an excuse, or simply explain that you need a break, and go for a walk. Just remember to wrap up as it mind be cold.

Stop smiling constantly

If you’re happy and you’re smiling naturally then great! But we all know that trying to smile and look happy all day can be exhausting, particularly if you haven’t been happy in a while. It’s okay to relax your facial muscles every now and not feel like you have to put on a persona. Call it resting-bitch-face or whatever, if anyone complains, but most of the time no one will notice. Don’t put on an act as you’ll just get stressed, and tired and give yourself an emotional hangover on Boxing Day.

Remember it’s just one day a year

Christmas is great, sure, but it’s also only one day a year and you can have it across any day of the month, not just the 25th. Sometimes work, time constraints, in-laws and illness can delay or postpone Christmas entirely. If Christmas day to you is the 28th when you go Bargain Shopping then great! If Christmas day is the 21st of December when you break up for work and go out for drinks for your besties, good for you. Just because a portion of the world celebrates on the 25th doesn’t mean it has to be the best day of the year.

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