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Minding Your Mental Health This Holiday Season
Minding Your Mental Health This Holiday Season
For many, the holidays can bring about feelings of depression, anxiety, envy, and even dread and despair, rather than joy and merriment. These holiday blues can stem from a variety of factors such as preexisting mental health issues, seasonal affective disorder, a recent loss, the anniversary of the loss of a loved one, jam-packed social commitments, emotional and financial pressures from family and friends, and family strife.
A survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that over 38 percent of those surveyed felt increased levels of stress, depression, and anxiety and reported more substance abuse during the holiday season. Another study conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness found that people living with mental health disorders felt that their symptoms and conditions worsened around the holidays.
Social media can also be a major contributor to holiday-related stress. For those already feeling more isolated, lonely, or sad during the holiday season, social media interactions may intensify these negative feelings. Time spent scrolling through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok viewing posts, pictures, and videos of virtual friends or social influencers showcasing their holiday festivities can stir up feelings of envy, shame, loss, and upward comparisons. Upward comparisons are made when we compare ourselves to people we believe are better or superior to us. Not surprisingly, upward comparisons tend to erode self-esteem and emotional well-being.
The good news is there are ways in which you can plan for and protect your mental health during the holiday season. Below are some suggestions:
- Identify your holiday triggers. Triggers are people, places, and things that remind us of a past trauma or upsetting event. Some examples of holiday triggers might be stressful or traumatic memories, stressful family relationships, or the anniversary of the loss of a loved one. Knowing your own unique holiday triggers helps to curb emotional reactivity and for putting plans in place to reduce holiday-related stress. An example of a plan could be engaging in self-soothing practices like taking warm baths, going for walks, or watching silly TV shows.
- Give yourself permission to feel your emotions. In a gentle and loving inner voice, tell yourself it’s really OK if you’re not feeling particularly “merry or joyous” this holiday season. Giving yourself permission to feel your emotions—including envy, resentment, or loss—can go a long way in helping to reduce holiday-related stress and depression. In general, this might seem counterintuitive, but denying negative feelings or berating ourselves for feeling bad tends to result in us feeling worse, not better.
- Limit or take a break from social media. This is easier said than done for most, but mindfully limiting or taking breaks from social media can save you from engaging in the self-sabotaging cycle of “compare and despair.” For some, placing firm limits and boundaries around social media use can be imperative for protecting your mental health during the holiday season.
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9 Tips to Fend Off Holiday Stress
9 Tips to Fend Off Holiday Stress
The holidays are a time for family and cheer, but making sure the house is clean, the food is ready, and the presents are wrapped and ready to be opened can be overwhelming. These factors can bring unwanted stress and depression in a time meant for happiness.
Some important, practical tips can help minimize the stress that accompanies the holidays. These tips may even help you enjoy the holidays more than expected.
Through the endless parties, cooking, shopping and cleaning, try taking one of 9 steps to ensure you have a stress-free holiday:
1. Plan ahead.
Between co-workers, friends and family, it’s inevitable that some commitments will end up on the same day. Make sure to plan on what you can attend in person or virtually. If you’re hosting the holidays, create a menu to help you stay organized and make grocery shopping easier.
2. Say no.
With holiday commitments, it is OK to say no to a few or all of them. It also will help relieve some stress. Try sharing your to-do list with other family members.
3. Plan spending.
The holidays mean spending money. Make a budget and stick to it. Spending money on your loved ones is important, but it’s also important to pay your energy bill. Don’t buy gifts that you’ll be paying off for the rest of the year.
4. Create relaxing surroundings.
Turn on some music, light some candles or open the windows on a sunny day. Research has found that listening to music and the scent of citrus can boost feelings of well-being, and vitamin D is always a happiness booster.
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Mike Bratton II Turkey Trot 2024
Event:
5K Walk / 5K Run / 10K Run
Time:
7:30 AM Registration Begins
8:15 AM Kids Race Begins
8:30 AM 5K/10K Race Begins & 5K Walk Begins
Race Packet pickup:
Early packet pickup will be at Hooper Stadium on Wednesday, November 22th, 2023 1:00-3:00 PM.
You can pick up your shirts and race bibs to avoid lines on Thanksgiving.
Location:
Hooper Stadium, Nevada Union High School
11761 Ridge Road, Grass Valley, CA 95945
Course:
Combination of trail and street terrain. No pets allowed on course. Strollers allowed on walk course.
The 5K/10K Run/Walk will circle around the school grounds & throughout Litton Hill Trail.
Entry Fee:
Before November 14th, 2023
$25 for Persons 15+, $12 for Children 14 & Under (includes tee-shirt)
After November 14th, 2023
$25 for Persons 15+, $12 for Children 14 & Under (*tee-shirt not included)
Awards for 1st – 3rd place in Age Groups
The Cause:
The MEB2 Foundation sponsoring Anew Day, local youth activities &
suicide and depression awareness.
Contact Information:
Call: (530) 278-8361
email: events@meb2turkeytrot.com
November is National Family Caregiver Month
November is National Family Caregiver Month.
Heros are rare in today’s world but Nevada County has several. In-home family caregivers need time to run errands, go to the doctor, to the store and our volunteer heroes come into the home and visit with the loved one as the caregiver can break free for a few hours. One Source-Empowering Caregivers is a small non-profit serving Nevada County for almost 10 years, supporting those who are taking care of their loved ones with heart disease, Parkinson’s, dementias, and so many medical conditions which keep them home bound.. One Source- Empowering Caregivers serves these clients with compassion and sensitivity. The volunteers are often those who have been in-home caregivers in the past and are now wanting to give back. This is the MISSION of One Source-Empowering Caregivers.
Please consider donating to our new program:
“$5.00 for a friend.” This donation is the cost of 1 cup of coffee. Donating on a monthly basis, this $5.00 donation will keep our doors open. Please go to our website or contact your “auto payment” through your bank to set up a month donation.
$50 provides compassionate, individualized recruitment for the volunteer hero.
$125 provides the vetting, training, and mentoring for the volunteer hero.
$500 will keep our doors open to visit clients and continue through 2024 with our many other services and programs.
Office is located at 524 Brunswick Road, Grass Valley, 95945
Phone: 530-205-9514
United Way of Nevada County -10th Annual Project Warmth
10th Annual Project Warmth
Please spread the word to anyone you know who may be in need of warm clothing for themselves or others. The United Way of Nevada County office is hosting 3 shopping sprees where organizations and individuals can come and pick up the winter clothing they need.
You can drop in anytime from 9a-5p on the following dates:
– Friday, November 17
– Friday, December 8
– Friday, December 22
Stop by the United Way location to get the winter clothing you need!
Santa at SNCS
Santa Claus is making his way to SNCS again this year! We have the pleasure of welcoming Santa (at our Grass Valley location) for a special event where families can have their photos taken with him. Santa is traveling all the way from his home in the North Pole to be with us on Tuesday, December 12th from 12:30-4:30p.
Take this opportunity to write a letter to Santa and share your holiday wishes with him! To make the occasion even more delightful, we will be providing light refreshments that will keep you warm and cozy. Additionally, there will be a fun holiday activity in the play space for the kids to enjoy and take home as a memento. Get ready for a festive and memorable day with Santa!
The Benefits of Gratitude
We all want a happy life…
A cushy job, a perfect family, financial stability, and a great social life!
And in this indefinite pursuit of happiness that is mostly like a mirage, how often do we spare a minute to thank what we already have at this very moment?
Gratitude is a powerful human emotion. By conveying and receiving simple ‘thank you’ messages, we can truly derive the pleasure that we seek everywhere else. Gratitude, derived from the Latin word ‘gratia,’ means gratefulness or thankfulness.
In its simplest form, gratitude refers to a ‘state of thankfulness’ or a ‘state of being grateful’.
In positive psychology, gratitude is the human way of acknowledging the good things of life. Psychologists have defined gratitude as a positive emotional response that we perceive on giving or receiving a benefit from someone (Emmons & McCullough, 2004).
A similar explanation was put forth by Emmons and McCullough who said that:
“Gratitude is associated with a personal benefit that was not intentionally sought after, deserved, or earned but rather because of the good intentions of another person” (Emmons & McCullough, 2004).
Thanking others, thanking ourselves, Mother Nature, or the Almighty – gratitude in any form can enlighten the mind and make us feel happier. It has a healing effect on us (Russell & Fosha, 2008). The benefits of gratitude are endless, and in this article, let us try to explore what gratitude it, discuss its scientific base, and understand how we can use gratitude to be happier in life.
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Thanksgiving Blues: What to Do When You’re Not Feeling Thankful
‘Tis the season when thankfulness is all around. Everywhere you look, you read about gratitude practices and the benefits of being grateful. It’s a natural time to pause, reflect, and be mindful of what makes your life worth living. But what do you do if you’re not feeling very thankful?
Maybe you’ve had a relationship end, a death in your family, or a loved one diagnosed with an illness, and you’re reeling from all the emotions. Or perhaps there’s not a specific reason you can put your finger on, but you just aren’t feeling warm and fuzzy.
Regardless of where you are this Thanksgiving season, give yourself a break and recognize that there’s no right or wrong way to do the holiday. And remember that even in the darkest times, there are still things in your life to be grateful for, and those can be celebrated. Keep these five tips in mind to open up your heart to thankfulness.
Receive Gratefully
One of the simplest ways to begin reclaiming your gratitude is by remembering to receive gratefully. Rather than prioritizing giving thanks, focus on receiving. Notice when other people are offering you an expression of sympathy or kindness, and really take a moment to sit with it and bask in the feeling.
Study where that gratitude feeling occurs in your body. Some people feel it in their chest as an expansion or in their throat as a tightening. Others may feel the sensation behind their eyes as a softening.
Noticing where in your body you feel your gratitude can heighten your awareness of that circle of giving and receiving. Receiving gratefully is a great place to begin when you feel depleted of thanks—like you’ve got nothing left to give.
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IFM Thanksgiving Meals
We are distributing Thanksgiving Meals along with our regular grocery distribution! Monday, Wednesday, Friday this week from 10a-1p and Saturday 10a-12p.
We have Chicken or Turkey meals available and all meals include an array of sides. Everyone deserves to enjoy a holiday meal with their loved ones and we are honored to provide these meals for our community!