Does Christmas phobia exist?
Christmas is a time of reunion, love and rejoicing. However, this period can become a real nightmare when all it does is cause us headaches.
We all know someone who suffers from anxiety attacks and hysteria every time these parties approach, or the typical person who hates Christmas just like the Grinch.
According to the data of the Coaching Club, a pioneering center in group and personal therapies, in the last two years there has been a 25% increase in the number of patients who visit specialists for Christmas disorders. These are mainly based on the eruption of a large accumulation of conflicting feelings and emotional burdens they have endured throughout the year, such as stress, eating disorders, economic problems or familial related issues. Christmas is the last straw for hundreds of people.
Veronica Rodriguez, the Director of the Coaching Club explains, “Although the Christmas holidays are usually emotional in a positive manner, as they involve celebrations, long-awaited meetings, excitement and relaxation; sometimes, this end-of-cycle clasp takes us to an inevitable evaluation of the time elapsed and, as a consequence, to a certain extent, emotional instability in the form of anxiety, frustration or sadness motivated by personal dissatisfaction with unfulfilled objectives.”
The four commandments of Christmas disorders
Phobias are irrational or disproportionate fears that invade the human mind and are externalized externally, so they have high somatic components. The month of December and part of January thus become a test for those who suffer from these disturbances.
Amongst the most common symptoms, four major disorders stand out to catalog Christmas phobias: social aversion, stress and self-restraint, sudden sadness and compulsive purchases.
The first, social aversion, is marked, above all, by the massive family, business and social gatherings that fill our agendas in short periods of time and expose our weaknesses, dreams and frustrations. Therefore, specialists recommend working on managing emotions and self-esteem.
"As the end of the year approaches and I reflect on it, I perceive an increase in dissatisfaction and stress as I realize that, not only have I not achieved the goals I set for myself, but I have the feeling that I never achieve my goals," says one of the patients at the centre, about the self-restraint she suffers from. This stress can be somatized generating feelings of anxiety, negativity, a general bad mood, eating problems and sleep disorders.
When stress rates get worse, they lead to the third component, sudden sad events. Depressive states are maximized and give way to fears. Experiences like a near death, traumas and family discussions emerge these days.
And finally, the commitment to give to each and every one of our loved ones. Christmas has the perfect setting for compulsive shopping: shopping malls with lights and music, eye-catching displays and promotions and discounts as a hook.
The uncontrolled exposure to so many advertising strategies, excessive self-indulgence in setting goals and low self-esteem when frustrated can cause us unequalled stress and irreparable anguish as we confront what a normal human being can achieve and what this The general feeling of euphoria is intended to be achieved through taxation.
