We asked the experts for their advice on how to dodge the comparison trap over the festive period.
Mental health at Christmas: how to start a conversation with friends and family over the holidays
Christmas is prime time for these feelings not only because the end of the year is often a “more reflective” point, as Karlstedt says, when we’re more “aware of the passing of time”, but also because we’re often interacting with people outside our closest social or family circle.
“If ever there was a time to compare and despair, it’s Christmas,” says Lee Pycroft, psychotherapist at. “Meeting up with old friends and relatives who you may not have had much contact with, plus the endless streams of parties and celebrations and selfies can for some people leave them in a spiral of comparison.
To break out of this spiral of weighing up your own achievements against those of others , Pycroft recommends breaking down “what exactly you are comparing yourself to” because it might be a vision of success that doesn’t actually work for you. “We live in a world paved with milestones,” she says. “Some people may think that if they don’t own a property, have kids, get married, bag the perfect job [and] stack their bank account at certain points in their life then they are inferior.
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