Concerns for mental health as cost-of-living adds pressure during festive season
People are also being urged to take a social media break
The Christmas season can take its toll on people's mental health, as some may feel isolated or alone.
Derbyshire MIND say the cost-of-living crisis will be exaggerating these feelings.
Jenny Hotchkiss is the chief executive at Derbyshire MIND, she said: "Christmas and the festive period can be a really nice time, it can be a time to have a break from work, it can be time to spend with family, but there are lots of different reasons why for some people, the Christmas and New Year period may be more difficult than that. They may feel really lonely, and isolated. It can feel like everyone else is together and spending time with loved ones.
As well as feeling isolated, people may be struggling with their finances this month, with Jenny saying: "Christmas can sometimes be financially distressful anyway for some people, as obviously you've got extra costs, but this year when everyone's got increased energy bills, everything is more expensive...
"That means Christmas can be even more stressful than it has been in previous years, so that can cause a lot of worry."
Jenny Hotchkiss goes on to say it can be even more difficult for those who have experienced loss at this time of year: "It can be difficult if you lost somebody over Christmas, or have recently suffered a bereavement for example, so that's difficult in itself, but at the time when you normally spend time with your family and loved ones, if that person is no longer there, that can be really difficult over the Christmas period."
The mental health expert also adds people normally need someone to listen, and be there for them: "One of the really important things that we can all do, is to support people when they tell us they're plans. So if they tell us they need to go home earlier, or I might need to spend a little bit less time doing this. Sometimes it can be easy to question people, one thing we can all do is be really supportive when someone is trying to manage their mental health in certain ways."
To help some people feel better, Jenny says a social media break may be effective: "We see a lot of things out there that show the perfect Christmas, and it isn't the case realistically that everyone is in that position and everyone has those support networks and things in place.
"It might be worth thinking about taking a social media break, just to take your mind and your thoughts way from some of the comparisons that do happen, where it paints the picture, of a perfect life, and perfect Christmases, that actually don't exist for most of us."