19 Ways to Avoid Holiday Anxiety Triggers

For a lot of people, holidays are a time when anxieties are heightened. With so many people, lots of unpredictability, the pressure to be happy and a change to the routine, it can be difficult to cope if you have anxieties. It's easier to enjoy the holidays if you avoid your anxiety triggers.

To do that, start by anticipating possible triggers.

Then make a master plan for how you'll either avoid the triggers or minimize them. This can be a simple as setting your alarm a little earlier to get a jump-start on the day to avoid stress triggers. Or re-upping anti-anxiety medications. Find a way around all of your triggers, even if you might not experience them.

If your triggers are in social situations, identify your concerns. Do you worry you'll say something stupid? Give the wrong gift? Feel disappointed with your gifts? Spill something? Figure out what it is that worries you most, then remind yourself you can get through it. Run through scenarios in your head.

If traveling gives you anxiety, study up on ways to cope with long flights or freeway driving. Practice the techniques before heading out on your trip.

If your anxiety is connected to depression that has been triggered by a sad event or deep disappointment, learn to grieve. It doesn't come automatically and you need to know that you have permission to grieve. Working with your depression, with a professional if need be, can lessen the anxiety it may trigger.

While you want to steer clear of triggers, you shouldn't avoid everything in order to keep from experience anxiety. Don't keep yourself away from holidays and festivities, even if they stress you out a bit. Instead, think about them ahead of time and make room for the big feelings you may have in the situation. Don't overdo it, of course. But don't not do it, either.

Not all family members are people we'd willingly chose to know if we had had a choice. Don't feel obligated to attend family get-togethers of toxic relatives amp up your anxiety. But don't let family conflict keep you away from getting together with relatives or others all together. Plan for seeing favorite aunts or your cousins another time, even if it's after the holidays.

The myth of a perfect holiday adds pressure to type-A personalities, which can kick off a serious episode of anxiety. Write down the three most important things you want to get right over the holidays and focus on that. Give the rest minimal attention. Let go of the idea you need to strive for perfection.

Stress-triggered anxieties have an easy fix: Don't get stressed. If work and family commitments are all you can handle, say no to volunteering for holiday shows, gift drives or community dinners. Tell your friends you'll go for drinks but you can't take part in the gift exchange. Keep holiday life as simple as you can. You won't miss a thing.

Exercise is nature's pharmaceutical when it comes to anxiety and depression. For those with low levels of either, getting in a vigorous workout, or keeping up with your step counts and miles, will keep you from succumbing to holiday stress and anxiety.

Lack of sleep can lead to depression and anxiety. If you're already predisposed, then you definitely need to make sure you're getting enough shut-eye. Plan your evenings so that you're in bed early enough to get a full 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep every night. Sleep in if you can on non-work days.

Alcohol use is common in people with anxiety, but it's not a great way to treat the symptoms or manage when triggered. In fact, long-term alcohol use, or overconsumption, can trigger anxiety and depression, exactly the opposite of what you want during the holidays (or ever). Limit yourself to one drink, or ask for non-alcoholic beverages.

Food, too, as a common go-to for people with stress and anxiety. But overeating, especially foods heavy with sugar and carbs, can leave you feeling miserable. Blood sugar spikes and dips wreak havoc on your mood and are easy to confuse with anxiety.

If you take prescription medications to manage your anxiety, then by all means follow your doctor's protocols. But if you don't have a prescription, don't try to manage your holiday-related anxiety with other people's prescriptions or with drugs intended for other treatments.

If your holiday anxiety is related to stress and all the things you need to get done before Christmas Eve, avoid this trigger by focusing on what matters. Decide that, this year, the point of the holidays is for you to relax and enjoy them.

If your anxiety is debilitating, avoiding triggers can help you manage. But finding professional support in a therapist, or a group of anxiety and depression sufferers, will be helpful year-round—especially deep in the days of holiday frenzy.

People who suffer anxiety are often embarrassed and blame themselves for their body's reactions to stress, depression and other things. To avoid anxiety triggers, be sure you're performing regular acts of self-compassion and reminding yourself you're not weak. You deserve (and require) downtime and care.

This holiday, find your joy instead of bumping into all the things that set off your anxiety. Make the holidays more about what you need than what others want. Schedule time with people you're comfortable around and who make you laugh. Watch movies and listen to music that makes this time of year feel cozy, not frenzied, for you.

If your anxiety is triggered by the short, dark days and long nights of December, then find a way to get into sunlight whenever you can. Seasonal affective disorder is no joke. Treating it with sun or some other light therapy may be all you need to keep from triggering your anxiety.