For many people, the normal holiday season can often bring about stress. This holiday season, we have the additional stress of how to celebrate and honor traditions, with stay-at-home orders due to the rising cases of COVID. We have all made many sacrifices already and everyone is feeling fatigued.
It will be especially important this season to take extra steps to focus on our mental health, and keep in mind what we can do. The holidays are not cancelled because of COVID and neither should our hope be. If we continue to support one another, we will make it through this challenging time together and come out stronger than before. Here are some important reminders during the holiday season:
Acknowledge your feelings. If someone close to you has recently died and this is the first holiday without them, or you have an ill family member and are grieving being unable to gather as a family, or simply knowing you can’t gather with friends or family outside your household this year, realize that it’s normal to feel sadness and grief.