How Drinking Less can Help with Holiday Stress

As moms, we know that the holidays can be a stressful time of year for many of us. Also, it is a time when alcohol tends to be flowing at a plethora or holiday celebrations.

Although having a glass of wine can help you reduce stress, relax and unwind, excessive drinking can actually make your stress worse. Drinking can cause your emotions to be amplified, and when you drink a lot, it can also reduce your inhibitions.

Enhanced emotions combined with reduced inhibitions can really make stress and problems worse. If you don't get along with family, it can easily make you more irritable and more likely to get into arguments with difficult family members.

According to Very Well Mind,

Researchers have found that alcohol takes a psychological and physiological toll on the body and may actually compound the effects of stress.

Drinking alcohol may seem to provide some relief in the short term, but as stressful events continue long-term, heavy alcohol consumption can lead to medical and psychological problems and increase the risk of developing alcohol use disorders.

So, when you are stressed over the holidays, make sure to keep your drinking under control. Drinking 1-3 glasses of wine at a time can help you relax and unwind, but if you drink more than that in one sitting, it can be considered binge drinking, and can actually make your stress worse.

According to the CDC,

Binge drinking is defined as consuming 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women.

When you binge drink, you can suffer from heightened emotions and lowered inhibitions, as well as having medical effects such as hang overs. If you get a hang over, it can make doing usual tasks more difficult because you feel unwell the day after drinking.

The more often you binge drink over the holidays, the more likely you are to suffer from hang-overs, and have other consequences of drinking. This can make it more difficult to get things done, which can cause additional problems because of added responsibilities during the holidays.

Self-care

Instead of binge drinking, make sure that you are using healthy coping skills for holiday stress, and practicing self-care.

Although it is important to practice self-care all the time, it is even more important during the holidays when you are feeling stressed. It is important to make sure that you are getting down time and not overextending yourself with additional responsibilities.

If you are invited to too many gatherings, don't be afraid to say no to some of them. Or, if you have to make treats for class parties, make things that are easy to prepare, or get store-bought items instead. You can also reduce holiday stress by doing a majority of your shopping early or online, so that you don't have to spend so much time in crowded stores.

Making sure to get rest and practice self-care during the holidays can help reduce your stress levels, and reduce your risks of binge drinking.

I hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday season, my lovelies!