Prevent Those Holiday Headaches
February 25th, 2010The holidays can be a great time ……for headaches — both figurative and real. The nonstop errands, the various dinners, gifts buying excursions, gift receiving events plus extra food and drink consumption and family gatherings are a recipe for disaster when it comes to the health of your head.
Although many of us consider family gatherings to be both a pleasant and relaxing activity they often what causes headaches and stress bubbling up to the surface along with holiday beverages.
The time just before the holidays might be the best time to plan to put some stress reducing strategies in place. In the busy holiday whirl you can hope that you may find the time for some simple self assessment.
There may be one basic question: just what is it about the holidays that causes you the most stress? Here’s is a list that may help you get started:
Do you have some unpleasant holiday memories that you are reminded of every time the holidays roll around? Maybe you should prepare to face them again.
On the other hand maybe your expectations for the holidays are just a little bit too optimistic. Can you face disappointment when a loved one can’t make it to of the holiday celebration? Do you put too much of a stake in satisfaction on your part or the part of people who received gifts from you? The perfect gift is sometimes a very elusive thing.
Let’s face it, not everyone on your Holiday or Christmas list is someone that you enjoy spending a lot of time with. You can pick your friends for most of the year, but you can take your relatives when it comes to holiday celebrations.
It’s also true that blended families or families that have had to contend with divorce and other kinds of family breakdown need to face those old issues for the sake of the children or some other equally important person like an older relative. This can only serve to increase the levels of stress.
The loss of a loved one is another incident that many people are reminded of during the holiday season, sometimes even years after the loss has occurred.
Is it true that boredom can also make one’s holidays a stressful time. At the very least boredom can lead to drinking excessively or provocative acts or statements that rekindle old feuds and memories that are best left alone. Even the same old jokes can get under people’s skins.
Not only are the holidays a time of frenzied activity for people, disease organisms such as cold and flu viruses can be especially active at this time of year as well.
Migraine sufferers often need to plan their eating, drinking, waking and sleeping activities very carefully to avoid migraine episodes. Since the holidays tend to disrupt routines in countless ways people who are prone to migraine and headaches should sit down and try to plan how they can maintain their routines and possibly stave off an extra holiday headache or two before the holidays arrive.