The holiday season is a joyful time for many, but for some people, it can bring back difficult memories or exacerbate symptoms of existing mental health conditions. We asked some of our Stop Stigma Sacramento Speakers Bureau members to share insights on how they’ve been able to beat the holiday blues. Click on their names to read their stories and learn more about their mental health journeys.
- “Keep up with your appointments this time of year. I know it’s hard and it’s tempting to cancel, but keeping up with my therapist and psychiatrist is an investment in my wellbeing, especially during a season I tend to struggle with the most.
- Take pride in rest. Our society is so consumed with productivity that many of us feel guilty when we slow down and take time to just do nothing. But it’s good to rest. Take that nap; listen to that meditation podcast… build relaxation-time into your schedule and enjoy your life,
- Practice healthy boundaries, too. Energy grows where energy flows – it’s okay to stop doom-scrolling and start ‘hope-questing,’ or engaging with people and activities that light up my life rather than dim and darken it. Prioritizing my mental wellbeing and protecting those healthy boundaries means saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to things or people when I need to.”
– Vanessa Niño-Tapia, living with PTSD and bipolar
Take pride in rest… build relaxation-time into your schedule and enjoy your life
- “Every day make one attainable goal that you can reach that same day. It can be as small as ‘Today, I’ll take a shower,’ or ‘Today, I’m going to walk two blocks.’ Make the goal something you want to do, not an obligation imposed on you externally. Reward yourself or track your wins in a journal or with star stickers – anything to remind you that you succeeded in accomplishing your goal.
- Do an art project or some other craft of your choice. If you’re not artsy, try a coloring book page and hang it on your wall for the week to make you smile.
- Before the blues season, take inventory of your mental wellbeing and be mindful of your thoughts and feelings if you start going to a bad place. Write down the small things you’re grateful for and appreciate about yourself on an individual slip of paper. Save all of them in a jar so that when life starts to bring you down or you start to lose interest and hope, you can pull out each of these affirmations from the jar and journal about how it makes you feel.”
– Laura Bemis, living with DID, PTSD and depression