05/01/2026
The holiday period is a time of year that evokes the spirit of celebration and joy. With tinsel at every turn and plans to gather with glee, this season is often presented as a moment to finally put our pens down and celebrate with our loved ones.
The unspoken (and unadvertised) reality, however, is that for many individuals and families, the holiday period can be emotionally complex. For some, it involves navigating anxiety, loneliness, grief, conflict, or uncertainty for a range of reasons. Below, we outline some of the most common holiday challenges and tips to manage them.
Grief and loss
If you are grieving the loss of a significant person in your life, the holiday period can magnify the emotional waves that accompany bereavement. Many people find this time of year brings a sharper experience of grief, intensifying feelings of longing and sadness.
Tips to navigate grief and loss during the holiday period:
- Acknowledge that grief is a normal, healthy response to losing someone you care about. You may move through a range of emotions that make up grief including sadness, yearning, anger, numbness, and even moments of warmth as you remember cherished experiences. No emotion in grief is ‘wrong’.
- Find intentional ways to honour the person who has died. This might include sharing stories, watching their favourite movie, lighting a candle, having a toast, or integrating one of their traditions into your day.
Loneliness and disconnection
Despite the cultural narrative of togetherness, loneliness is incredibly common during the holiday period. For some, physical disconnection plays a huge role, for instance, living away from loved ones, changes in family structure, working during the holiday period, or limited access to you ‘chosen family’. We can even feel lonely when surrounded by others where we don’t feel truly seen, understood, or connected.
Tips to navigate loneliness and disconnection:
- Loneliness during the holidays is often a response to being disconnected from people and familiar environments, or not having access to regular supports. It can be helpful to intentionally plan moments of connection, even in small ways: reaching out to a friend, joining community events, practice mindfulness, and plan to see people in advance.
Moving through the holidays with compassion
However you find yourself this season, whether you’re grieving, overwhelmed, disconnected, or somewhere in between, your experience is valid. The holiday period does not need to be perfect, or resemble what we see in media. Remember, there are many people navigating difficult times and it’s not isolated to you individually.
If you are finding this time of year particularly challenging and feel you may need additional support, there are a number of services that can help that are available for you to connect with:
Grief line: https://griefline.org.au/
Beyond Blue: https://lnkd.in/ghKx9WT2
Lifeline: https://lnkd.in/gN_4t9G2
- Mitch Doyle
Integral Psychology
