How to survive and enjoy the holiday season

It’s Christmas! It’s finally here, the happiest season of the year! There’s lights, music, parties, family, friends, and food, a lot of food.

But there is also pressure to be at all the parties, to host some of them, to make or bring food, to give presents, to talk to everyone at the party and to stay awake.

I have been looking online and have found some tips to survive and make this season as pleasant as it should be and not stressful as it has become in the last seven years. The first thing is to start early and that goes for decorating, cooking shopping, everything. This tip worked for decorating my house; I started decorating early in mid November and did not have any stress or need to rush. I have not started shopping yet but I have to start soon.

All those people in parties and malls, the lights, music, food, and noise can also cause overstimulation for brain injury survivors. If it depends on you, try to keep it to a minimum but if it depends on other people try to explain to them that you need some time alone or a little bit of quiet.

Some of the tips they share are to stay hydrated, keep additional stimulation to a minimum, get more rest, take shorter trips, write lists, and ask for help. A few of these tips are things we should be doing all year, not just at Christmas. It would really make our lives better, but at least I forget.

Here is a link to the Brain Injury Association of America’s Complete list of tips to survive the holidays:

https://www.biausa.org/public-affairs/media/six-tips-for-surviving-the-holidays-with-a-brain-injury

And happy holidays!