Title: Holiday Gatherings With Family: Tips for Holiday Stress and Anxiety
Headings: Home for the Holidays
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Home for the Holidays
Tips for overcoming holiday anxiety and stress.
What Causes Holiday Stress?

Content: Some relatives don’t really believe you’re depressed,” says Gloria Pope, director of advocacy and public policy at the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance in Chicago. “ They think you’re just lazy, or that it’s all in your head. It can be really hurtful.” What’s changed. The holidays can highlight everything that’s changed in your lives -- a divorce, a death in the family, a son who’s making their first trip back home after starting college. Any of these can really unsettle a gathering and add holiday stress. What’s stayed the same. For others, it’s the monotonous sameness of family holiday gatherings that depresses them -- the same faces, the same jokes, the same food on the same china plates. Lowered defenses. During the holiday season, you’re more likely to be stressed out by obligations and errands.