How can holiday stress be gotten rid of? - Fox 2 News Headlines

By Deena Centofanti
Fox 2 News

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -- The shopping, the crowds and the hustle and bustle of the holidays, for many it's overwhelming.

In fact, during the holidays the American Psychological Association says up to 69 percent of people are stressed by the feeling of having a "lack of time", 69 percent are stressed by perceiving a "lack of money" and 51% feel stressed out over the "pressure to give or get gifts".

So how can we keep calm and celebrate during the holidays?  I found the answer with spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

"Stress literally is the mental interpretation of feeling threatened either physically or emotionally," he explained.  "It can be tackled just by stopping, taking a few deeps breaths, feeling your body, changing your facial expression to a smile."

"The holidays in and of themselves are not stressful and they're not sad.  They're just other days, but the way that we think about it and the pressure we put on ourselves, it's all internally generated," said psychologist Amy Johnson.

Think about that!  Are you your own worst holiday nightmare?  Johnson said one of our biggest mistakes is worrying about what everyone else is doing.

"Comparing ourselves to others, so it's huge this time of year.  We compare ourselves to our neighbors or even our Facebook friends or even people in movies sometimes and say my holiday should look like that."

Remember when you see a Facebook picture or hear about a warm, fuzzy family gathering, that's just a snapshot into someone's life.  That doesn't include all the messy, behind-the-scenes stuff that makes us all human.

Click here for some more advice on surviving stressful situations during the holidays.