A Tool to Set Boundaries with Thanksgiving

Take 5 minutes to mentally prep for next week

We are entering the time of year that is the most stressful for my patients. Yes, next week is Thanksgiving…and with it will come a hurricane of too much food, too much drink, too much family, and a pile of expectations.

Consider some data¹:

• When surveyed about stress and the holidays, 44% of women said that their stress increased during this time of year (as opposed to 31% of men).

• When asked about being able to “relax” (haha, what is that?!), just 27% of women said that the holidays were a time for relaxing. In contrast, 41% of men said they felt relaxed during the holidays.

• In order to cope with stress, women most frequently turn to food for comfort (41%) and drinking as an escape (28%).

This data was collected in the early aughts. I’d venture to say that the burden on women has only increased since then. We now deal with not only a hyperconnected world flooded with Pinterest worthy Thanksgiving milieu’s but also one in which holidays take up more and more space (as Anne Helen Petersen …