One in five UK adults stressed or anxious about Christmas
Research has been carried out by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
The study carried out by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) revealed only 15% of the population feel excited about the festive season.
A fifth of adults feel stressed or worried about Christmas, with reasons such as not being able to afford presents (37%), and pressure to ensure everyone enjoys themselves (23%) topping the list.
A further 20% said the fear of getting ill contributed to their anxieties.
This year marks the first Christmas out of lockdown since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the government and scientists have warned that the country faces a difficult winter ahead.
According to the research, nearly a fifth (17%) of people preferred last year’s low-key Christmas celebrations.
In contrast, more than a third (34%) of people said it was taboo to talk about how the lead up to Christmas impacts their mental health.
Speaking to Greatest Hits, St Albans based BACP accredited therapist, Indira Chima, said: "Things are not the same as they were before COVID and it's about adapting to that.
There's the money pressure and the fact that last year we didn't have a proper Christmas or a normal Christmas.
Perhaps there's a family rift or some difficulties or things that are unspoken and they may have to be faced this year if you are seeing people.
All of that brings an added pressure and people might not realise how that creeps up on you"
She added:
"A lot of people trying to deal with things on their own today, that works until it doesn't work.
You don't need to live like that. You can get help with it. There are people that can help you to reframe it and look at it differently, to help understand what happened.
Sometimes you do need the help of someone else to do that. Don't wait until it gets so bad, get help as soon as possible"
For more information visit BACP