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surviving christmas, Elevate Disability

Five tips for surviving Christmas

Yep, it is that time of year again. Santa is finalising his list, checking it twice and everyone around you is brimming with festive joy. But for some, the festive season really isn’t all that…well, festive. In fact, it can be a very stressful, overwhelming and exhausting period for many people, often coinciding with a time where your support networks aren’t operating at full capacity.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We see you and have come up with our top five tips for getting through the festive season.

Tip 1: Plan ahead

Often our core health and wellbeing supports/providers take a break at some point during the festive season. It’s important to stay on top of your health before this happens. Make an appointment with your doctors, ensure you have enough medication, speak with your support services and confirm what type of supports you are receiving and when. Doing these things now will help lighten the mental load later.

If you’re travelling or attending a venue you’ve never been to before, take some time to do some research first. Is the place or venue accessible for you? How will you get there and can you get home safely? Will you need extra support? Is support available for you? All important questions to have answered before the day.

Tip 2: It’s okay to say no

The festive season can be such a busy time with friends and family all wanting to catch up, often in a very small space of time. Take a look at your calendar. Are you booked to attend three different social events on the same day? Is it even possible for you to do all three? Do you really want to be rushing from one place to the next? Can you move some things around?

Give yourself some breathing room and only commit to attending events that you feel confident you will have the mental and physical stamina to handle.

Tip 3: You time

Have you ever felt like you needed a holiday after your holiday? Yeah, us too. Too often we get caught up thinking we must spend all our time with family and friends during the holidays, so much so that we actually forget to take time for ourselves.

Take some time to do the things that fill your cup, and make you feel whole. Be it reading, taking a walk, doing some cooking, or going for a swim at the beach. This is your holiday too, and it’s important to nurture and take care of your own well-being.

Tip 4: Have an exit strategy

Even best-laid plans can go awry during the festive season. You may be totally fine one moment and feeling completely overwhelmed in the next, and that’s okay!

Have a chat with a friend, family member or a trusted support person about your exit strategy for when things get too much. Your exit strategy may be as simple as finding a quiet space to recharge for a while, or saying an early goodbye and going home, whatever makes you most comfortable. Take the time to discuss your plan so it runs smoothly on the day.

Tip 5: Reinforce your safety net

Unfortunately, sometimes the stress and chaos of the festive season can push you into crisis, and that’s okay too. It happens. The best thing you can do to manage this is to make sure you have a strong safety net in place.

Take some time to develop a safety plan. Your safety plan can be simple or as detailed as you see fit. the most important things to include will be:

  • who can you call for help right now? Can you include them in drafting your plan so they know exactly what to do to help you?
  • what are your triggers? Can you avoid or minimise exposure to them?
  • what makes you feel safe and secure?
  • what strategies can you use to cope alone until support arrives?

Remember, it isn’t a sign of weakness to ask for help. Knowing when you aren’t coping and need a hand is a sign of great personal insight and is something we should all be aspiring to. But, if you do find yourself in crisis this festive season, below is a handy list of agencies who may be able to assist you:

Here to help

So that’s it, our top tips for surviving the festive season. We hope they help you through what can be a stressful and overwhelming time. If you have other tips or advice for surviving the holidays, drop us a line, we would love to hear your suggestions!

 

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