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Tips to help tame holiday stress

Pensive and lonely black woman during christmas celebration days
Paolese
/
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Stress is a constant factor in our lives, but we certainly can go through more of it during the holiday season.

Stress is a constant thing we all have to deal with, but we certainly can go through more of it during the holiday season as we juggle both work and a growing number of social engagements.

To help us learn how to tame stress during not just this time, but year-round, Marcellus Merritt, associate professor of psychology at UW-Milwaukee, has a few suggestions. He notes that having a healthy social support system is a good basic starting ground for everyone. From emotional support, to logical support or things that give you a sense of belonging — this can all lead to better mental and psychical health.

"Higher social support seems to be like a magic pill, if you will. Where basically, you can take that pill or take more doses of that pill, and it tends to help prevent some of the issues that may be a concern in your personal health profile," explains Merritt.

There are more traditional methods of coping with stress that are embedded in popular culture and our economy, and many involve "mindfulness." Exercises like deep breathing, meditation apps, and more may have some short-term benefits, but Merritt says when it comes to stress and stress coping, "it's not that simple."

He explains that mindfulness is not one size fits all: "Each of us kind of has what we refer to as a social rhythm where basically we like to do certain things at certain times in certain ways. And when those patterns are interrupted we don't tend to respond well in terms of our daily health and well-being," says Merritt.

This factor can make certain practices unsustainable in the long run for people who don't have the disposition, time, resources or capacity for prescribed stress relieving exercises.

Instead, one method of coping with stress that Merritt is researching to compliment standard stress reduction interventions is called leisure stress coping.

"One of our goals as health psychologists is to figure out what you do in your daily life that's almost equivalent to that kind of intervention that's something that you already enjoy doing," he explains. This can range from going for walks, exercise, journaling, social engagements, and more.

"The premise of our research is ... really at the end of the day we really want to optimize what you already enjoy doing so that we can build that into its own daily stress management intervention, rather than trying to train you up on something that’s outside of your natural of daily social rhythm," he adds.

If you're someone who is just starting to recognize that your stress levels and mental health need more attention, Merritt suggests a diary-based approach to start. "Figure out in your personal life those things that kind of work for you that make you feel better, and kind of keep track of what works best and maybe try to find ways to integrate those activities more in your life," he says.

While we can't escape stress, Merritt notes the best we can do is activities on a daily basis that can offset the residual effects of chronic stress.

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Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.
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