December 20, 2024 • 6 mins
The holidays are stressful for most people. But they can be especially difficult for those with existing mental health issues, including conditional anxiety and depression. We speak with the head of the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Dr. Ryan Wagoner, about how to get through the holidays and support those who might be struggling.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here Beyond the News. It's no secret that
the holidays, entertaining friends, visitors, family, traveling around to meet
up with friends and family creates a lot of stress
for just about anyone. For people who are dealing with
anxiety and depression and other conditions, it can be even
harder to deal with. We're speaking with doctor Ryan Wagner.
(00:23):
He is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of South Florida USF. Doctor Wagoner,
welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Happy to be here now.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
For people who are dealing with, for example, anxiety, obviously
the holidays can be a very stressful time, a very
anxious time when you have people coming over and visiting,
you have family you're dealing with. What are some of
the problems that you see in those contexts, and what
are some of the strategies for getting through that.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So there's a couple of things to consider here. I
mean one of the primary ones is that, you know,
when we talk about anxiety, people use that in different ways.
So we might mean anxiety as just kind of that
natural sense that people have, you know, whenever something stressful
comes up, and you feel a little bit off about
it versus anxiety, that becomes a disorder or a condition, right,
(01:16):
And so when we often think about that, you know,
folks will ask me is it normal, And yes, anxiety
can be quite normal whenever it comes to stressful situations.
You think about evolution, that was how we were afraid
of the things that we should be afraid of that
would somehow harm us, versus the things that we were not.
(01:37):
You know, where it becomes problematic is when anxiety takes
on a life of its own and it starts to
create symptoms and problems for people that cause significant distress
or impairment. That's when we start to get concerned about it. So,
you know, anytime that we think of the holiday season,
it's a stress, either a good stress or a bad stress, right,
(01:57):
Either one causes us to maybe have a little bit
of elevation with that anxiety. So just understanding that that
could definitely occur this time of year.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
It's also a challenging time for people who are dealing
with the other conditions such as depression, and likely also
for people who've suffered a loss over the past year,
are missing a close family member and particularly or if
they have lost someone at the holidays in previous years,
and as the season turns, it reminds them of those losses.
(02:28):
I'm sure it's a tough time for them as well.
What are some strategies that people use that you might
recommend to get through those times?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So we have to remember that everybody's going to experience
the holidays different. You can't just assume, you know, there
are people who absolutely love the holidays. There are people
who dread the holidays because, as you mentioned, they might
have had a loss or some sort of trauma that
occurred around this time. And then there are people who
are completely indifferent to the holidays and just wish everyone
would would quit say happy Holidays all the time. And
(02:59):
so the first thing to do is to assume that
everybody's experience is going to be a little bit different.
One of the most blanket things to do, which should
really be, you know, across the year, is just try
to give people a little grace, be a little nice
about things. You know, people may be stressed. You don't
know what they're going through, and it's always important to
remember that that you don't know what their experience necessarily is.
(03:22):
If you're a person though that does get anxious or
depressed or any gamut of things during the holidays. You know,
one of the things that I would recommend is to
pick and choose what you want to do and what
you want to participate in. We get so caught up
in wanting to do absolutely everything during the holidays, and
then we feel bad if we don't do everything. And
(03:43):
it's that overwhelming sense that I hear from patience all
the time where that really bothers them the most, that
they just they enjoyed one little thing, but they weren't
able to do the five other things that they wanted to.
And so really focusing in on during the holidays what
makes you feel good versus what things just stress you
out is one tactic to use. Now. I wish that
(04:06):
you could avoid any stressful occasions at all, but we
all know that visiting with friends and family and things,
I mean, the traffic, the shopping, all of those things
can contribute. So you pick and choose your battles, right,
and so things that are really important to you, you
make sure that you make a little space for yourself
so that the stresses don't overwhelm you. But things that
(04:26):
really you don't want to do. Don't feel compelled to
because then once you do those and you get stressed out,
kind of ruins everything else. So I think the biggest
message there for the individual going through it is pick
your battles.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
A lot of fomo and yolo on the table there. Now,
if you have a family member who is trying to
get through the holidays and they're dealing with a mental
health condition or a psychiatric issue, what do you recommend
as far as ways to be supportive to help that
person get through the season and any stresses that might
come up.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I think that the number one is just making sure
that they know that you're there. You don't necessarily have
to be there physically, but just that support that's available,
because again, you don't know exactly what they're experiencing. However,
it's really nice for them to know that they have
a support around now that doesn't have to be in
your face asking fifty million questions, and in fact, for
most people, I wouldn't really recommend that. What I would recommend, though,
(05:21):
is just making sure that the person knows that they're
not alone. You know, as we've looked more and more
into this, we're seeing more and more studies that have
indicated just the importance of loneliness and how much it
can actually impact people, particularly around the holidays, this can
be even a bigger issue. So I would say that
making sure that they know that you're there and supportive,
(05:41):
and making sure that to try to tamp down that
loneliness just by being around might be really helpful. Again,
not intrusive, but just around and supportive.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Doctor Ryan Wagner, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Neurosciences at USF, talking with us about ways of
dealing with holiday stress. Doctor Wagner, thank you very much
for joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Thank you for having me
Gordon Bird here Beyond the News. It's no secret that
the holidays, entertaining friends, visitors, family, traveling around to meet
up with friends and family creates a lot of stress
for just about anyone. For people who are dealing with
anxiety and depression and other conditions, it can be even
harder to deal with. We're speaking with doctor Ryan Wagner.
(00:23):
He is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of South Florida USF. Doctor Wagoner,
welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Happy to be here now.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
For people who are dealing with, for example, anxiety, obviously
the holidays can be a very stressful time, a very
anxious time when you have people coming over and visiting,
you have family you're dealing with. What are some of
the problems that you see in those contexts, and what
are some of the strategies for getting through that.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So there's a couple of things to consider here. I
mean one of the primary ones is that, you know,
when we talk about anxiety, people use that in different ways.
So we might mean anxiety as just kind of that
natural sense that people have, you know, whenever something stressful
comes up, and you feel a little bit off about
it versus anxiety, that becomes a disorder or a condition, right,
(01:16):
And so when we often think about that, you know,
folks will ask me is it normal, And yes, anxiety
can be quite normal whenever it comes to stressful situations.
You think about evolution, that was how we were afraid
of the things that we should be afraid of that
would somehow harm us, versus the things that we were not.
(01:37):
You know, where it becomes problematic is when anxiety takes
on a life of its own and it starts to
create symptoms and problems for people that cause significant distress
or impairment. That's when we start to get concerned about it. So,
you know, anytime that we think of the holiday season,
it's a stress, either a good stress or a bad stress, right,
(01:57):
Either one causes us to maybe have a little bit
of elevation with that anxiety. So just understanding that that
could definitely occur this time of year.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
It's also a challenging time for people who are dealing
with the other conditions such as depression, and likely also
for people who've suffered a loss over the past year,
are missing a close family member and particularly or if
they have lost someone at the holidays in previous years,
and as the season turns, it reminds them of those losses.
(02:28):
I'm sure it's a tough time for them as well.
What are some strategies that people use that you might
recommend to get through those times?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So we have to remember that everybody's going to experience
the holidays different. You can't just assume, you know, there
are people who absolutely love the holidays. There are people
who dread the holidays because, as you mentioned, they might
have had a loss or some sort of trauma that
occurred around this time. And then there are people who
are completely indifferent to the holidays and just wish everyone
would would quit say happy Holidays all the time. And
(02:59):
so the first thing to do is to assume that
everybody's experience is going to be a little bit different.
One of the most blanket things to do, which should
really be, you know, across the year, is just try
to give people a little grace, be a little nice
about things. You know, people may be stressed. You don't
know what they're going through, and it's always important to
remember that that you don't know what their experience necessarily is.
(03:22):
If you're a person though that does get anxious or
depressed or any gamut of things during the holidays. You know,
one of the things that I would recommend is to
pick and choose what you want to do and what
you want to participate in. We get so caught up
in wanting to do absolutely everything during the holidays, and
then we feel bad if we don't do everything. And
(03:43):
it's that overwhelming sense that I hear from patience all
the time where that really bothers them the most, that
they just they enjoyed one little thing, but they weren't
able to do the five other things that they wanted to.
And so really focusing in on during the holidays what
makes you feel good versus what things just stress you
out is one tactic to use. Now. I wish that
(04:06):
you could avoid any stressful occasions at all, but we
all know that visiting with friends and family and things,
I mean, the traffic, the shopping, all of those things
can contribute. So you pick and choose your battles, right,
and so things that are really important to you, you
make sure that you make a little space for yourself
so that the stresses don't overwhelm you. But things that
(04:26):
really you don't want to do. Don't feel compelled to
because then once you do those and you get stressed out,
kind of ruins everything else. So I think the biggest
message there for the individual going through it is pick
your battles.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
A lot of fomo and yolo on the table there. Now,
if you have a family member who is trying to
get through the holidays and they're dealing with a mental
health condition or a psychiatric issue, what do you recommend
as far as ways to be supportive to help that
person get through the season and any stresses that might
come up.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I think that the number one is just making sure
that they know that you're there. You don't necessarily have
to be there physically, but just that support that's available,
because again, you don't know exactly what they're experiencing. However,
it's really nice for them to know that they have
a support around now that doesn't have to be in
your face asking fifty million questions, and in fact, for
most people, I wouldn't really recommend that. What I would recommend, though,
(05:21):
is just making sure that the person knows that they're
not alone. You know, as we've looked more and more
into this, we're seeing more and more studies that have
indicated just the importance of loneliness and how much it
can actually impact people, particularly around the holidays, this can
be even a bigger issue. So I would say that
making sure that they know that you're there and supportive,
(05:41):
and making sure that to try to tamp down that
loneliness just by being around might be really helpful. Again,
not intrusive, but just around and supportive.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Doctor Ryan Wagner, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Neurosciences at USF, talking with us about ways of
dealing with holiday stress. Doctor Wagner, thank you very much
for joining us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Thank you for having me
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