6 Things People Don’t Realize You’re Doing Because You Find The Holiday Season Triggering
The holiday season. People love it. Obsess over it. And then there are those of us who just hope for it to be over. Who wish it away. Who just try to get through it. Not everyone loves the holidays. For some of us, the holidays are a sad reminder of people we’ve lost. People who aren’t here. A reminder of the families we don’t have. Not everybody is so eager for December. Some of us are just trying to get through it.
Not everyone realizes this, though. People may not understand some of the things we do because the holidays are just hard for us. Some things people are doing these things because of how triggering the holidays are.
1. You withdraw
The employee who doesn’t come to the company Christmas party. The one who skips the ugly sweater party. For some of us, these events can be like chores. So while some thrive on this, some of us would rather avoid it.
2. You overcompensate
Some of us hate the holidays, but we still try hard to make others happy. We spend all our money on gifts for others. We drive ourselves crazy trying to make everyone else happy. We put ourselves out there, trying to be positive for others even if we are silently dying inside.
3. You’re depressed
Some of us go through a deep seasonal depression, which seems to escalate around the holidays. We find ourselves feeling mostly sad. We struggle to be ourselves. We sleep more. We may have a hard time keeping our relationships. And as this depression may be more seasonal, we may feel better once December is over.
4. You’re unable to focus
With so much going on, and so much to do this time of year. Sometimes it becomes extremely hard to focus and go about our lives. Work seems harder. Completing simple tasks gets harder. It takes hours to answer a text message. We lose our train of thought. Be patient with us. The holidays seem to turn our brains to mush.
5. You spend money
Sometimes a lack of control of situations causes one to do things that one wouldn’t typically do. Someone triggered by the holidays may decide to spend more money on all the holiday sales. They may buy things they don’t need goo crazy with the spending in an attempt to make themselves feel better.
6. You volunteer
Not a bad thing to do. But sometimes, if the holidays are triggering to us, we may find ourselves going out of our way to help others. Volunteering to help those less fortunate. Helping the needy. Doing good deeds that benefit others. Sometimes doing this can help us feel better when we are already sad.
The holidays are a magical time—for some, that is. Not everyone loves this season, and for a lot of people it is especially triggering. Holidays can magnify feelings that already are lingering. The holidays have a way of focusing on family, but for some of us, we don’t want this.
This holiday season, be kind. Not everyone is as happy as they appear to be.