Poll: 45% of Americans concerned about mental health during holidays

According to a recently released survey, 45% of Americans are worried about their mental health this holiday season.

Results of the poll, from BetterHelp, were made in conjunction with global research company Material, from an online survey of 1,009 American adults in November.

The poll revealed that 72% of Americans expect something to negatively impact their mental wellbeing this winter, with the economy and managing family dynamics topping the list.

With a focus on family gatherings, 28% of those polled predicted family dynamics will negatively impact their mental wellbeing during the holidays, with 31% expecting other holiday season stressors like shopping, spending and cooking to have similar effects. Economic challenges are another key stressor; 46% of Americans reported their finances will negatively impact their mental wellbeing.

For coping mechanisms, 55% of respondents said they plan to respond to the hectic holidays by stress eating/overindulging (32%), online shopping (22%) and pampering themselves/self-care (22%), while 42% said they planned on sleeping more, 35% offered binge watching a tv show/movies as stress relief and 28% said scrolling social media was their plan for stress relief. Conversely, 33% said they wanted to communicate with a friend or family member and only 9% wished to do so with a therapist.

Despite the higher levels of anxiety around the holidays, 32% of Americans polled said exercise or other healthy outlets would be their choice to manage stress.

Haesue Jo, LMFT, a licensed therapist at BetterHelp, offered tips to help alleviate holiday stress such as giving oneself permission and space to feel emotions and express feelings, make time to decompress and to prioritize things which maximize holiday enjoyment, set boundaries with family members to avoid unpleasant emotions or conflicts and set limits on the number and types of events in which one participates to reduce stress.