A gift of wellness from UNMC psychiatry

The holidays don’t have to be a time of high stress.

With a few simple steps, people can keep their personal and mental wellness a priority among all the demands from family, shopping and gatherings from all angles.

“Let’s face it – many of us have gotten out of the habit of being social during the pandemic,” said Howard Liu, MD, professor and chair of the UNMC Department of Psychiatry. “And we face a lot of stressors from inflation to child care to feeling short staffed at work.

“So, amid the hustle of the holiday season, give yourself permission to slow down. I like to focus on quality rather than quantity of experience.”

With the holidays approaching, the UNMC Department of Psychiatry offered some tips for people to prioritize their own mental health and manage the season’s demands.

Dr. Liu suggested the following:

• Set realistic goals. When you set a fitness goal or a productivity goal, compare yourself not to the latest influencer or celebrity, but to yourself in the last year. And be kind to yourself along the way. 
• Stop putting off mental health needs. If you need help with anxiety, depression or addiction, talk to your primary care provider and get connected to a therapist or psychiatric provider. Many people are impacted by seasonal affective disorder or loneliness in the fall and winter. (Read more about seasonal affective disorder at this link.)
• Prioritize experience rather than hustle. Set limits on gift giving and cut down on holiday parties that you are simply attending out of duty. Give yourself permission to recharge with alone time if you are an introvert or to spend more quality time with loved ones.  
• Set boundaries and respect those of others. If you have disagreements with loved ones, it’s OK to change the subject or say, “I won’t talk about that topic today.” Or if all else fails, leave early.
• Schedule wellness. Make time for the things that enhance your resilience, such as exercise or coffee with great friends or colleagues. Putting it in your calendar helps so you actually block out the time to do it. 

Members of the Department of Psychiatry Leadership Committee also suggested tips to address:

PERSONAL CARE

Maggie Emerson, DNP, APP supervisor, UNMC Department of Psychiatry     

Don’t put your personal exercise on the back burner. Stay committed to getting your physical exercise during the holidays.

MANAGING GATHERINGS

Maggie Milner, clinic manager, UNMC Department of Psychiatry

Plan ahead: Set limits ahead of time about things like how long you might stay at a gathering.

Don’t be afraid to leave for a while, if you need to, maybe take a walk. Rent a car if staying with family, so you have some options.

Steven Wengel, MD, geriatric division director, UNMC Department of Psychiatry, and assistant vice chancellor for campus wellness

When a group gets together for a holiday, agree on a word that is a signal that the conversation is going in a negative direction (such as politics). A suggested word might be “mistletoe,” and anyone can say the word, so then the group changes the subject to avoid arguments.

SCHEDULING

Jennifer Sparrock, psychiatric emergency services manager

It’s easy for schedules to get overprogrammed. There doesn’t have to be a deadline when the merriment must happen – a holiday party can happen in January, February or whenever. People often appreciate something a little later because it’s one less thing crammed into a busy few weeks, and they actually might enjoy themselves more when not as pressed for time.

WRAPPING ALL THOSE PRESENTS

Celeste Akers, lead community services technician, Nebraska Medicine Department of Psychiatry

Employ your older children as “elves” a day or two before the holiday to help wrap all of the gifts (except their own), so you can keep the wrapping operation in one room behind a closed door. Get them each a cute hat and put on holiday tunes to make it fun.

Have the elves fetch all of the wrapping paper, boxes, bows, scissors, tape, gift bags and gift tags for you. As you finish wrapping a gift, hand it off to one of them to “deliver” under the tree. Have them clean up the scraps when you’re done. It will save you from doing all of the back-and-forth running around yourself. Bonus points if they’re old enough to address and stamp Christmas cards.