The holiday season is around the corner, for some, it is bliss, and for some people, it can be a sign of heightened family drama. When we ask people to think of their families, they recall fun, excitement, peace, and whatnot! But some people’s equations are not the same! Heightened drama, stress, toxicity, and negativity run around some families, especially during the holiday season.
If you’re someone scared of the holiday season because of family issues, worry not, we have got your back, this blog will prepare you for the holiday season. In this blog, we will take a deep look at the tips to deal with family drama during the holiday season. So, let’s get started!
How to Prepare Yourself Before the Holidays for Family Drama or Issues?
The definition or description of family drama can be different for people or families, it can be a result of disagreements, miscommunication, toxicity, unfulfilled desires, abuse, abandonment, fears, and more.
If you sense family drama coming your way during this holiday season, here’s how you can prepare yourself prior:
- Prepare your mind: A ritual of family drama every year can make us feel exhausted and drained during the holiday season. Therefore, this season prepare yourself mentally and physically prior. This way you will never be disappointed by the issues or drama raised by your family members.
- Set realistic expectations: This year forget the unusual expectations and start setting realistic expectations prior so that no one can hurt you. This way you’ll be able to manage the situations more effectively.
- Set healthy and respectable boundaries: One of the best keys to preparing yourself for the holiday season is to set healthy boundaries. Start identifying the problems and set boundaries accordingly. This can also include not attending to relatives that radiate toxicity around you or not focusing on things that bother you.
- Allow yourself to feel the positivity: Dump the toxic cultures or relatives that bother you, instead, this season allow yourself to live in the moment. Remove yourself from the drama and go somewhere wherein you find peace.
- Avoid certain subjects intentionally: If you can’t control some situations, just don’t be a part of them, and allow yourself some time to gain control over situations again. This way you will protect yourself from the triggers.
- Involve in self-care: Start preparing yourself from today, and learn from past mistakes. Practice self-care by recognizing your feelings, writing them down in a journal, or communicating in front of a loved one. Remember, it’s normal to not feel okay around people who try to bring you down at family gatherings. However, it’s not okay to bottle up your feelings, if you’re feeling stuck or stressed lately because of family dramas, you can also connect with a mental health professional to seek proper counseling and learn de-escalation techniques.
How to Deal with a Family Drama During the Holiday Season?
Here’s how you can deal with or manage the family drama during the holiday season:
1. Learn to set and maintain boundaries:
Be it all kinds of relationships, boundaries are an essential part of life. It helps us through thick and thin. If you are prone to family drama, worry not, start identifying your issues and convert them into boundaries. If you do not set them this season, people will cross them every season. Therefore, start from today and communicate your boundaries that people are not aware of.
2. Manage your responses:
You can’t control some people or situations, but you can clearly control your responses or reactions towards them. Avoid keeping your nose in such situations and try to breathe slowly to manage your responses. You can also take deep breaths until and unless you start feeling comfortable again.
3. Express your emotions:
This holiday season if you get the chance to express your needs or emotions, try to explain them in front of your loved ones or relatives. Express your feelings in front of people who are open and supportive towards you.
Avoid expressing your feelings in front of empathetic keeping your emotions under the carpet may harm you, therefore, recognize your feelings, self-forgive yourself, and free yourself from frustration. Allow yourself to understand your emotions to feel safe emotionally and physically. If someone mentions you as “unreasonable,” avoid entertaining them and follow the practices of self-forgiveness.
4. Take the help of healthy communication:
Expressing your needs requires proper communication strategies, try to practice compassion, active listening, empathy, and kindness before getting involved in an argument. Active listening can help you understand the root causes of your issues and dramas.
Additionally, it can also be a great way to explore your feelings and engage with people to find out the conclusions. Empathy and kindness along with active listening can help you avoid more conflicts. Herein, you can also try de-escalation techniques to diffuse conflicts and unhealthy interruptions. The key is to resolve conflicts and avoid drama at all costs.
What to Do During Social Gatherings and Dining?
Family drama during the holiday season is one of the most frustrating and overwhelming things to deal with, such issues can build a lifetime of trauma and unhealthy dynamics. Stressful holidays can result in deep-rooted and unresolved issues for the coming years as well.
Therefore, this season try to be gentler and kinder with yourself. Start preparing yourself according to the situation. Be proactive in self-care, plan ahead, and notice your feelings. If you always find yourself stuck at family gatherings, here’s what you can do to make them more productive and enjoyable:
- Practice relaxation and mindful techniques: If you find yourself stuck at a family gathering, practice mindfulness, and pay attention to the body movements. Sit in a relaxing position and bring your focus to breathing. Notice your feelings and ask your mind to let go of such feelings. Distract yourself from the drama and seek the support of a supportive friend or loved one. You can also practice positive visualization techniques to reorient or derail yourself from the issues.
- Connect with a supportive loved one or family member: Try to avoid the drama by being involved with the people you love or seek support through. You can express your feelings in front of them and ask them to keep you distracted from the drama. Build your support system, it can be one of the safest things to try this holiday season. Avoid being in touch with people who bring you down.
- Take the help of humor: After establishing boundaries and setting your expectations, if some people still bother you, take the help of humor to diffuse the conflicts and enjoy the holiday season for the right reasons. The main key is to manage the timings and pass the humor subtly.
- Develop patience: Patience can help you achieve impossible things as well, whenever family drama takes over, take the help of patience and try not to react emotionally or impulsively.
I hope this blog helps you understand how to deal with family drama or family issues during the holiday season. For more such content, connect with us through social media platforms.
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Happy Holidays!
The post How To Deal With Family Drama During Holiday Season? appeared first on Calm Sage – Your Guide to Mental and Emotional Well-being.