Social Distancing: Handling Holiday Stress

How To Take Care Of Yourself And Let Family Down Easily If You're Not Gathering For The Holidays

This holiday season is bringing a new kind of stress as many holiday traditions are upended during the worsening pandemic.

Cassie Subbert with the Northwestern Mental Health Center in Crookston says focusing on ourselves and doing mindful activities can help with the stress.
If you decide not to see family this season and it’s a difficult topic to bring up, she says to remind your loved ones that you love each other and that you know they will respect your decision.
She adds that having a backup plan can ease the sting of not being together in person.

She says, “Come with a solution. You know, if you can’t be there come with an idea of how you can still be connected on Thanksgiving, whether that’s Zoom or FaceTime or maybe a phone call, that maybe being creative about how you can bring a solution to you not being there.”

If you do plan a socially-distanced in-person gathering, Subbert recommends being clear and setting boundaries beforehand to make distancing guidelines easier to follow.