Stress over the holidays is increased by financial difficulties and difficult interactions with family

Little Rock, Arkansas – According to Rawle Andrews, Executive Director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, the mental health group conducts a nationwide poll each year to find out whether people are anxious about the holidays.

According to Andrews, compared to last year, a higher percentage of respondents to the survey indicated they were worried out this time around.

The cause of that is financial difficulties.

According to APAF, 52% of Americans expressed anxiety about spending the holidays with family because it can occasionally result in difficult talks about marriage, politics, or life in general.

“What we are saying is after all that we have been through, being separated because of public health issues and other things, let us not make this time of year the time where we have all of those tough conversations,” said Andrews. “Let us just be joyful about being together and maybe what you can do is hold off on those conversations. If you feel like you need to step away or stay away there is no harm in saying ‘No, I cannot do it this year.”

Kindness, according to Andrews, can go a long way.

“If there is one gift we can all give, let us give the gift of kindness this year because we need it now more than we ever have,” said Andrews. “If we are all kinder to ourselves, it is going to open the door for us to be kinder to others.”

Call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 if you need someone to talk to and are in distress.