Tips to Conquer the Holidays, Stress, and COVID, from Intermountain Health

While the holidays are approaching fast, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a different aspect to this year’s holiday season. The safety and health of our community should be the main focus as we plan our holiday events, gatherings, and meals.

"We want to try and limit exposure and transmission of the virus to keep people safe and make sure the hospital systems are not being overwhelmed," said Travis Mickelson, MD, Intermountain Health. Her offers these recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for having a safe holiday season.

A low-risk holiday still consists of the traditional dinner but try to keep it to members who live in your house. A moderate risk dinner would be to have a small gathering outside for dinner with friends and family.

This can bring stress and add to depression with missing the extra family members. But one way to help is to try and keep those connections and traditions intact as much as possible. Consider preparing holiday meals and have them delivered to family and friends, especially those at higher risk of illness. Then you can hold a virtual holiday meal through video.

Being apart physically does not mean to be apart socially. Connect with others and find a way to help others through altruistic acts.

The holidays are also a time to express gratitude. Look to the positive and challenge yourself for two weeks to find three positives every day that happened to you. They can be little to large things. Do this for the two weeks and you can see the difference in your attitude and your gratitude.

It’s important to address your mental well-being. Talk to your doctor or seek out a therapist. Intermountain has a free Emotional Health Relief Hotline, which is available daily from 10 am to 10 pm at 833-442-2211, where anyone can contact a specialist to talk through concerns and seek assistance.