It will come as no surprise that around this time most of us feel that Christmas is just too much for us to cope. Our own expectation of Christmas can be unrealistic, both emotionally and financially. As soon as those Christmas decorations appear in the stores we can expect a rapid acceleration and increase of our anxiety levels.
The pressure we put on ourselves to meet our own expectations is generally unhealthy and seeking refuge in the shopping peloton we maintain a spending momentum that can see us financially insecure well into the new year.
Earlier this week The Salvation Army released a snapshot of how we feel about Christmas and It doesn't paint a very rosy picture.
- Over three million Australians are likely to contact a charity for help with basic necessities such as food, power, or other bills this Christmas.
- Nearly half a million people (437,000) experienced fear of being physically or emotionally abused when thinking back to last Christmas.
- One in four Australian adults experienced anxiety, three million experienced depression and two million experienced social isolation when thinking back to last Christmas.
- 6 million Australians feel obligated to spend more than they can afford at Christmas.
- 7.6 million Australians say Christmas is the most stressful time of year.
There are ways to reduce some of the stress and worry of Christmas by reducing and keeping costs under control or to seek help to manage. There will always be those that need support and help from the Charity agencies and by donating and volunteering we can do our part in making sure people have a reasonable Christmas. We can reach out to those that are lonely and we can understand and try to solve conflict within the family. There is however no excuse for anyone to feel threatened or abused at any time of the year.