Whoever wrote the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" must have never experienced holiday blues. Fortunately, psychological research suggests some effective ways you can beat the holiday blues. The key point is that sadness and other tough emotions are not what we should try to avoid. . Here are four strategies to help you make your own happiness recipe this holiday season.
Don't force cheer
At family gatherings with cousins you secretly can't stand, you tend to put on a happy face. Indeed, that might even seem like the most mature response—no drama, no conflict. But a 2011 study followed dozens of bus drivers, looking to see when they gave forced or honest smiles at their passengers. The results showed when the drivers pretended to have a good mood, their actual moods got worse. .
Let off sadness
The results of the busdriver study can be explained by researchers, who find that negative feelings like sadness or anger only increase when we try to control them. . We don't like contradictory behavior.
Respond cautiously
Recently, scientists have been paying special attention to the benefits of caution. When you respond cautiously to an emotional trigger (e.g.overcooking the holiday turkey), you pause rather than reacting at once. . Besides, it is associated with less anxiety, and may even carry physiological benefits.
Of course, the holidays will bring a mix of highs and lows, but the most important lesson to keep in mind is that this variety of emotions might be the best thing possible for your overall wellbeing. In other words, sadness, anger, and other difficult emotions are nothing to fear. Just make sure you're balancing them with lighter experiences. And don't forget to give yourself a break.
A. Relax your mind
B. Enjoy a mix of emotions
C. We tend to deny the important function emotions serve
D. Instead, they can help contribute to a healthy and happy life
E. So trying to force happiness seems to have the opposite effects
F. A cautious response to a negative event reduces sadness we experience
G. We feel bad when our appearance contradicts how we truly feel inside
