Managing Holiday Stress and Depression: How to Protect Your Mental Health with Compassion and Boundaries

The holiday season can bring warmth, connection, and joy — but it can also trigger deep stress, loneliness, and depression. In this insightful conversation, Dr. Anita Sanz, psychologist and board member for Giving Voice to Depression, joins hosts Terry McGuire and Bridget to talk about how to navigate the holidays with compassion and balance.

Using a surprising lens — Ebenezer Scrooge — Dr. Sanz explores how grief, loss, and unrealistic expectations can transform the season into an emotional burden, and what we can do to reclaim meaning. She shares practical ways to manage mental health, from setting boundaries and redefining traditions to offering (and receiving) grace.

Listeners will learn actionable self-care strategies and a simple but powerful way to support friends with depression during the holidays — what Dr. Sanz calls “the gift of the out.”

If you’ve ever felt pressure to pretend everything’s fine when you’re struggling, this episode reminds you: You have permission to slow down, simplify, and celebrate on your own terms.

💬 Primary Topics Covered

• Why the holidays are emotionally challenging for people with depression
• How grief and unrealistic expectations fuel holiday stress
• “The Scrooge Perspective”: empathy for those who can’t feel festive
• What it means to “offer the out” to someone struggling
• How to set healthy boundaries with friends and family
• Giving yourself permission to rest, say no, or leave early
• Non-negotiable self-care during the holidays (sleep, nutrition, sunlight)
• How to simplify and find meaning beyond consumerism
• Dealing with financial pressure and post-holiday burnout
• Choosing quality over quantity: redefining what “celebration” means

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction and welcome
02:28 – Why holidays amplify stress, grief, and expectations
03:38 – Reframing “Scrooge” through the lens of empathy and depression
05:13 – Why some people withdraw or avoid gatherings
07:24 – The emotional cost of unpredictability in depression
08:00 – “The Gift of the Out”: offering flexibility and compassion
08:47 – Allowing guests to arrive, leave, or skip without guilt
09:13 – Why flexible invitations reduce pressure for people with depression
10:32 – Turning empathy inward: offering compassion to yourself
10:57 – The basics of self-care during the holidays (sleep, nutrition, movement)
12:07 – Simple, low-cost ways to recharge emotionally
12:54 – Asking “What do I really want this holiday to mean?”
13:31 – Letting go of traditions that no longer serve you
14:43 – Redefining family expectations and setting limits
15:53 – Post-holiday burnout and financial stress management
16:42 – The importance of permission and choice in healing
17:38 – Hosts share their own holiday simplification experiences
18:59 – Closing reflections and message of hope

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