Mental Health Challenges Make Thanksgiving Hard to Like

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• Mental Health Challenges Make Thanksgiving Hard to Like
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

Mental Health Challenges Make Thanksgiving Hard to Like

Thanksgiving often worsens mental health struggles. The gatherings aren't always the warm, cozy get-togethers portrayed in greeting card commercials. Instead, the holiday can contribute to increased depression and anxiety. It can create distress for people struggling with eating disorders (Surviving and Thriving During the Holidays with an Eating Disorder) or substance use. The holiday stress can exacerbate symptoms of almost every mental illness or personality disorder. When living with mental health challenges, Thanksgiving can be a reason to hide rather than a reason to gather.

Although tempting, hiding isn't always the best way to care for yourself and enhance mental health. As you prepare for Thanksgiving, consider ways to care for your mental health:

• Get in the spirit of the day; expressing gratitude for who you are and aspects of your life is a proven way to put things in perspective.
• Establish boundaries; what can you tolerate and what can't you put up with? Define this clearly, and don't be afraid to draw the line.
• Remember strategies you already use to enhance mental health, and use them throughout the day. Stepping away from the fray to breathe, walk, read, or anything else that enhances calm will make the day more bearable. (Tips on Coping with Anxiety and Bipolar Disorder)

Thanksgiving might be stressful, but you don't have to let it aggravate your mental health symptoms.

Related Articles Dealing with Mental Health and Thanksgiving

• Anxiety Has Always Been Part of the Thanksgiving Holiday
• Tips for a Clean and Sober Thanksgiving
• Practice Gratitude and Boost Your Wellbeing

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: How do you make sure the Thanksgiving holiday doesn’t harm your mental health? We invite you to participate by commenting and sharing your feelings, experiences and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Top 10 Things to Help Battle Depression
2. Seven Biggest Myths About Bipolar Disorder
3. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Finding the Right Exercise for Depression (Coping with Depression Blog)
• Over-Apologising with An Anxiety Disorder and How to Turn Anxiety into Action (Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog)
• Stop Cancelling Plans Because of Low Confidence and Feel Confident about Your Relationship with Food (Building Self-Esteem Blog)
• Adrenaline Rushes and Bipolar Disorder (Breaking Bipolar Blog)
• Should Alcoholics/Addicts Take Medication for Addiction? (Recovering From Mental Illness Blog)
• Should Marijuana Be Used to Treat Combat PTSD? (Understanding Combat PTSD Blog)
• When To Share Your Diagnosis Of PTSD (Trauma! A PTSD Blog)
• Improve Your Mental Health by Contributing (Mental Health For The Digital Generation Blog)
• Holiday Stress Reduction Tips For Bliss (Living A Blissful Life Blog)
• Romanticizing Mental Illnesses Feeds Mental Health Stigma (Surviving Mental Health Stigma Blog)
• What Is Body Positivity When You Have Binge Eating Disorder? (Binge Eating Recovery Blog)
• Dissociative Identity Disorder: Differences in DID Symptoms (Dissociative Living Blog)
• Planning Ahead for Mental Illness During the Holiday Season (Mental Illness in the Family Blog)
• When Your Roommate Has Bipolar Disorder (Relationships and Mental Illness Blog)
• Reframing the Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis (More Than Borderline Blog)
• Is Mental Illness Relapse a Part of Recovery? (Getting Through Tough Times Blog)
• Are You an Alcoholic: Looking for Similarities (Debunking Addiction Blog)
• Exercise Can Help Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder (Creative Schizophrenia Blog)

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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