How to properly handle family-based holiday stress this year
December 20, 2019
10 ways to counteract a new year’s downwards spiral
January 6, 2020
His story has been shared by countless cultures across the globe and his holiday is beloved by all that take part in it. However, although the big man in red gets all of the credit each and every Christmas, no one ever really stops to think about Mrs. Claus and how she is doing on the most stressful day of the year.
All jokes aside, the Holidays are stressful for everyone—especially women. But, the reasons why this season are worse for the female population—as well as how to help the women in your life—are exactly what we hope to achieve in this article. To do so, let’s start by reviewing the facts.
The Cold Hard Facts on Holiday-Induced Anger
In order to better understand why women seem to be a tad bit more stressed and angry during the Christmas season than men, it’s best that we review the facts. For starters, a recent study of over 2,000 men and women by Lantern found that women will be 11% more stressed than men this holiday season.
On top of this, an additional study performed by the Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Team also suggested that “Holiday stress has a particular impact on women, who take charge of many of the holiday celebrations, particularly the tasks related to preparing meals and decorating the home. Women are more likely than men to report an increase of stress during the holiday season. In addition, they have a harder time relaxing during the holidays and are more likely to fall into bad habits to manage their stress, like comfort eating.”
To truly outline what these statistics look like and how much women tend to take on during this season, let’s take a look at the graph below based on a series of Holiday-based studies performed by YouGov.
With all of these statistics in mind, it’s no wonder why women feel more stress than men on average during Christmas time. On top of family stress, work stress, and financial stress that is also often seen during this time of the year, it’s clear to see that women are very stressed—and rightfully so—when December strikes each year.
The questions is, how can you make a difference in the lives of the women surrounding you during the Holiday season so as to get through this stressful time together?
How to be a Holiday Support System for the Women in Your Life
There are many ways to help the women in your life to destress during the holiday season—it’s all about what approach works best for you and your situation. For instance, if the woman in your life happens to be a significant other, the best thing you can do is simply listen to them. A lot of times, we simply start a conversation just to be able to talk without every fully listening to the other person. However, during this stressful time of the year, having open ears and a closed mouth may be exactly what your partner needs.
During her TEDTalk, writer and radio host Celeste Headlee said, “Why do we not listen to each other? Number one, we'd rather talk. When I'm talking, I'm in control. I don't have to hear anything I'm not interested in. I'm the center of attention. I can bolster my own identity. But there's another reason: We get distracted. The average person talks at about 225 word per minute, but we can listen at up to 500 words per minute. So our minds are filling in those other 275 words. And look, I know, it takes effort and energy to actually pay attention to someone, but if you can't do that, you're not in a conversation. You're just two people shouting out barely related sentences in the same place. You have to listen to one another. Stephen Covey said it very beautifully. He said, "Most of us don't listen with the intent to understand. We listen with the intent to reply."” This is something everyone should learn in order to achieve personal growth.
If you would like to learn more ways to help the women in your life, don’t hesitate to contact Breakthrough Innovative Group today! Not only do we do couples counseling but we also provide courses to help manage stress and anger that may be perfect for you and your loved ones this Holiday season!
