Is It Normal To Be More Anxious This Time Of Year?

[samtheman]

I'll be honest this has been one of my worst ever Christmases, I was great up to late Christmas eve, then it all went wrong and I've been anxious and depressed since, I think it may be Christmas is a time when you are forced to be happy even though you dont really want to be, I sat with the kids on Christmas day with a smile but beneath that smile I just wanted to cry, I felt so sad, and with the days being all over the place this week I just feel anxious, Routein is important to me but its gone out the window this week. Is it normal for anxiety to be higher this time of year?

[chalky]

Hi Sam,

Yes.

Take a few moments to consider the extra stresses we ALL are faced with at X'mas-even the "normal people".
You WILL be fine.
Keep things as simple as possible for the next few days.Remember no matter how bad it has been,you are still here,still talking about it-doing the right thing!
Be proud that you have "survived" and build on that.
Best wishes,
Chalky

[Pink Panic]

Hi Sam

That's a yes from me too. If you read my other post re meds you will see that i'm feeling exactly the same as you. I think when i get my routine back things will hopefully be a lot better and i really hope it's the same for you.

Pink
x

[Alabasterlyn]

I think it's totally normal to be more anxious at this time of year too. Even though I prefer the Winter to the Summer and every year look forward to Christmas, when it actually arrives I find myself feeling really stressed out.

Two years ago my son got married just before Christmas and the extra anxiety surrounding that really made my anxiety go through the roof. Last Christmas we found out we were going to be grandparents and that set me off again and this Christmas we had our baby granddaughter over all day on Christmas Day and I worried myself sick beforehand wondering how I was going to cope with it all.

I am also a person who is very much ruled by routine and I spent weeks before Christmas making sure everything was perfect and catching up on the jobs I would have been doing on Christmas Day and Boxing Day so that I didn't have any other work to do other than cooking and washing up over Christmas.

I am even finding this week between Christmas and New Year hard as I am so out of my normal routine that it is making me anxious. On top of that my partner is ill and keeps going back to bed and as I have agoraphobia and he is my "safe person" I am totally stuck in the house right now :ohmy:

[Bill]

I think routine is important to us because we have a need to feel safe and routine is our safety zone.

When we're thrown out of routine, it feels we've wandered off our path and we feel lost so we become anxious.

We have active minds that need to be kept occupied otherwise they drift onto worrying thoughts.

I've always hated Sundays because they're so quiet so all I used to think about on a Sunday was Monday and so I'd get very anxious. Often holidays feel like constant Sundays.

All I can say is to try and find enjoyable things to do to help bear with things until things get back to normal. :hugs:

[Kate C]

Bill,

I agree 100% with you! I always enjoy the first couple of days of a break because it's a novelty to relax then after that the anxiety sets in, not to a great degree but worrying thoughts start occupying the old mind. With Christmas I look forward to the festive season immensely but also know that come Boxing Day I feel really flat and as for New Year period...I'd go so far to say I hate it. I'm currently trying to retrain my head to take January 1st for what it is - another day, another month, another page on the calendar. If I think of it as a whole new year of unknowns stretching ahead in the distance...well, perish the thought.

I love Saturdays because it's a nice wind down after a busy week but Sundays are so quiet...even remember as a child feeling anxious on Sundays! Cheerful occupation is the key I think as you so rightly say Bill. We have overactive minds that automatically seem to follow a seek and destroy mission path!

So Sam, to go back to your original question, yes it's perfectly normal to be more anxious this time of year but somehow you have to rise above it - a massive effort for some people, thankfully less of an effort than it used to be for me. You will get there!

Kate xo

[shaz01]

Hi Sam,

Yes definitly Christmas and New year must make everyone ten times worse. Its just all the additional stress.
Lyn-I sympathise totally - I had my daughters wedding last week between Christmas and New Year.......stressful to say the least lol.

Shaz x

[Lilith1980]

I agree with Bill about the routine thing. I am a stickler for it. If I plan something out in my head and it doesnt go to plan I get so distressed. Even if its something like I leave some meat in the oven too long because I havent calculated how long the veggies will take!

Dont be too hard on yourself hun, this time of year stresses even the "normal" people out, so its magnified even more for people like us.

How are you feeling now that we are a few days into the new year? xxx

[Alabasterlyn]

Hi Sam,

Lyn-I sympathise totally - I had my daughters wedding last week between Christmas and New Year.......stressful to say the least lol.

Shaz x

Shaz I bet having a wedding between Christmas and New Year is even harder than before Christmas :ohmy:

I look back and wonder how I got through my son's wedding as I hadn't been to a whole wedding for over 20yrs and I was terrified. I had to put Christmas on the back burner that year and tackle it once the wedding was over as I just couldn't handle organising both. It was also my son's birthday 3 days after the wedding which meant more things to organise. I'm just glad I only have one child so I don't have to worry about any more sons or daughters getting married :)

[shaz01]

Hi there,

Lyn - I had my first daughters wedding two years ago in the October then on Christmas eve that year she announced she was pregnant, I found that a very hard 9 months, worrying about her then a long labour and I ended up being there at the delivery(all worth it though as have a fab grandaughter), my daughter that got married last week had her wedding planned for last Christmas and her fiancee was sent to Iraq and wasnt allowed back so we had to delay everything for a year...that decision was also stressful. Lol and I still have another one, thank goodness its a son, maybe it will be a bit easier when its his turn LOL.

Shaz x

[Bill]

We have overactive minds that automatically seem to follow a seek and destroy mission path!

This is Very True Kate. :winks: Our minds need to be kept occupied to prevent wandering thoughts. Negative thought patterns will always look for something to worry about and then the symptoms start, and then we start feeling ill.

We have to keep our minds interested in something but also learn a new of thinking for the boring times such as sitting at home watching TV after too much to eat and drink over the Christmas period!

[shaz01]

Hi there,

So how can it be then when you are busy at work on a pc and you get palps? Your mind is occupied............

Sha zx

[Bill]

Yes, your mind is being kept occupied at work but if you feel under too much pressure to get a job done or feel stressed because of the environment you're working in, you will experience palpitations due to too much stress rather than wandering thoughts.

Once you experience palpitations, you could then find your mind will wander to those symptoms which will make them feel worse.

It's a case of keeping the mind occupied without adding stress or learning ways to help keep relaxed but it's difficult in a stressful working environment unless we find a job we enjoy.

[shaz01]

Thanks Bill, that makes sense.

Shaz x