How to survive Christmas

In spite of our best efforts to protect ourselves from abusing our bodies and bank balances, every Christmas we spend money we don’t have and eat food we don’t need. So why do we do it? Deirdre Hynds gets behind the psychology.   

Christmas is an emotionally charged time of year. It’s a dizzying mix of family and school reunions, work parties, Secret Santa duties, reconnaissance missions to the attic for decoration retrieval, and of course the retail rollercoaster experience of Christmas gift shopping. The pressure is on to feel happy and joyous, but the excessive consumer-driven focus very often leaves us feeling stressed, depleted, and of course - broke. In spite of our best efforts to protect ourselves from abusing our bodies and our bank balances, we continue to trample familiar territory, spending money we don’t have and partaking in gluttonous gorging at the festive trough.

While we are accountable for our own well-being, we are not totally to blame for Christmas induced consumerist hedonism.