Coping with Christmas

Christmas can be a difficult time for a lot of people for different reasons. Whilst Christmas is meant to be a happy time it can also be quite stressful, it may highlight financial hardship and many mourn the loss of a loved one or the disappointment they have experienced during the year. Christmas can be a difficult time all round.

For Care Leavers in particular Christmas may be a hard time because of the emotions and memories that it bring up. Christmas is a reminder of your childhood and memories of feeling sad and alone. These memories seem to be enhanced every year when Christmas comes around because of what it represents.

Christmas is supposed to be a time where everyone is happy, where families get together and where children are happy. Unfortunately for Care Leavers this is not the Christmas that you experienced, in fact it may have been the total opposite.

So to help you cope with these feelings and memories this Christmas we have included a few suggestions of things to do:

• Take care of yourself – make sure you take the time to do things that you enjoy doing. If you can make the day enjoyable for yourself Christmas will be easier to cope with
• Take time to relax – don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get things done make sure you have some time to yourself
• Try to attend any events you have been invited to – the hardest part is getting the motivation to go but a lot of the time once you are out you will enjoy yourself and the company
• Plan your day ahead of time so you know what to expect
• Think of others who may be experiencing a hard Christmas like yourself. If you know someone personally perhaps make plans to do something together. If you don’t, maybe you may want to volunteer somewhere?

If Christmas does however get too much for you and you do need to speak to someone please try calling

• Mensline on 1300 78 79 78
• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• CLAN will be re-open on Tuesday January 3rd 2023