Happy Christmas everyone !
As we come into the run in for Christmas Day you may be getting ready to work a little less, spend time with family and friends or are preparing presents and plans yourself for the holiday. Whatever you’re doing we really hope you have a special time.
We know that Christmas can also be a challenging time sometimes and If you’re feeling a little anxious about the coming season, or maybe your plans have been affected by COVID, you may be struggling a little right now. This post is therefore all about signposting you to some help if you need it.
Download Winter and Wonder
We wanted to start by reminding you that Winter and Wonder, our PDF downloadable Christmas wellbeing guide, is now available for free on the site. Just use the button below. Winter and Wonder takes five themes from the season and creates easy to use wellbeing ideas you can try and suggests simple ways to keep you healthy during the season. Hundreds of downloads have come through already and we really recommend this guide as a good tool for your wellbeing.
Have a few grounding techniques in your toolbox
Grounding techniques are great because they are short tools (usually a few minutes) which help us settle when things feel out of control. We all know that changed situations, family dynamics or busy times can knock us off our balance. Grounding techniques help us settle. The most well-known one is a breathing exercise but there are loads of others. We’ve put links to a few below - a Shhh… that explains a Breathing exercise and three from our Coffee Break wellbeing series below that might help you.
Try and keep to your normal patterns
One of the major things that happens during the festive season is changed patterns. Maybe working shifts are different or if you’re taking time off your alarm isn’t set. Maybe you’re in a different bed from normal which may affect sleep. Maybe you’re unused to eating later or to staying up later. If any of this rings a bell we recommend you take a little time to think about what you value about your normal patterns and try to hold onto what’s good for you. Maybe still wake at similar times or go to bed at similar times. If sleep is disrupted maybe take your pillow from home with you or reminders that can help you feel comfortable. Keeping to your patterns may seem a small thing but can really help.
Knowing where to get help
If you’re struggling at this time of year it can be hard to get support as many things are closed and many people aren’t around as normal. One good tip is to have a chat with a friend before the holidays start and ask whether it might be ok to phone of you’re struggling. Then you know in advance there’s someone there to help you.
There are also organisations and advice available right the way throughout Christmas. The Samaritans are brilliant and have support available each day. Click on the image below for more details but do use them if you need to, they’ll be happy to help.
There are also lots of text services like this one from Shout. If you want to get something off your chest just text SHOUT 85258 and they’ll do the rest.
There are many other helplines open during the Christmas period. For example you can ring the SANEline on 0300 304 7000 between 4:30pm-10:30pm for mental health support, each evening. The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is a helpline for men and is open from 5pm-midnight on 0800 58 58 58. The CALM webchat is also open during these hours.
Lastly …
If you need urgent support you can always contact your GP surgery and ask for an emergency appointment or phone NHS 111 for help and advice.
Note: GP surgeries are closed on Bank Holidays but, if you phone your nearest surgery, the answering machines will usually give you advice on how to get hold of an out-of-hours doctor.