Keep anxiety at bay this Christmas.

As many of you will know from past posts I have suffered from depression and bad anxiety since I was about 14/15 years old. As much as I love christmas my anxiety seems to get worse around this time of year. Which as anyone who suffers from mental health issues will tell you just adds a huge amount of extra stress to a time of year that is already stressful. Christmas is less than a week away now gets so I thought i’d do a quick post of my tips that will hopefully help too keep anxiety and depression at bay during the festive period.

1.DON’T be so hard on yourself! – Don’t beat yourself up, there are no written rules for how we should act at Christmas so if you don’t feel up to going out or doing some Christmas shopping then that’s fine, what you’re going through or how you feel isn’t your fault so you shouldn’t feel guilty for it.

2.Talk to someone – You’re are never alone so don’t keep things bottled up! Talk to a friend, relative or even someone at your local charity. As they say a problem shared is a problem halfed and I know that for me just having someone listening to my worries or doubts makes me feel so much better.

3.Learn to say no – Learning to say no is one of the biggest things i’ve learnesd to improve my anxiety, If you don’t feel up to something agreeing to it will only increase your anxiety, Always trying to please others is not as important as your own health so if you don’t want to  do something then it’s ok to say no!

4. Do what makes you happy – If you like decorations put them, if you don’t then don’t! People put so much pressure on themselves to make others happy when honestly none of that matters if you’re unhappy so take time out and do whatever you enjoy!

5. Be realistic – Nobody is perfect and christmas isn’t about who can buy the most, who has the best food/tree or who has the biggest celebration so just have the best day you can with the people you love and be happy, thats all that matters!

So hopefully guys these five small tips will help ease your depression/anxiety over the christmas period even if it’s only a little bit, I’d love to know if you all have any tips for keeping depression or anxiety under control over christmas let me know in the comments below and I hope you all have a relaxing christmas and amazing new year!