While 'tis the season to be merry, for many of us, it's also a season for stress, anxiety and angst, which leads us to behave in ways we're sure to regret later. During this time of year, people often resort to bad habits–they may cave into sugar cravings, go for the booze and overdose on caffeine.
In part, that's because, during the holidays, people tend to experience heightened emotions. You may feel overcome by loneliness, become annoyed by meddling relatives or lose patience with your loved ones. And in the present economy, you also may be worried about how you'll be able to pay for good gifts without maxing out your credit cards.
In fact, the American Psychological Association (APA) found that nearly
half of all women in the United States experience heightened stress during the holidays, which puts their health at risk. The APA also found that during this time, 41 percent of women use food and 28 percent use alcohol.
Unless you lean on effective relaxation and self-love techniques, as well as positive self-talk, all your worries may trigger overeating or binging, overloading on alcohol, arguments with your loved ones, skipping regular exercise, not getting enough sleep and neglecting your needs.
Of course, we all that devouring a bag of cookies, guzzling booze, venting to a loved one or spending too much money on holiday presents are not smart ways to sooth your holiday stress.
To help you have a happy, relaxing season, I'm come up with 7 Tips to Help You Relieve Holiday Stress.
Visit my blog at either the Huffington Post or Psychology Today to get these 7 Tips to Relieve Holiday Stress.
Remember, tonight is a free Relieve Holiday Stress program. Sign up below.