Published on 12, July, 2020
Does anyone else really struggle with Christmas or find it too overwhelming?
I love Christmas day with my family but I get very nervous about it in advance and can't stand the pressure of a day where I feel we all have to be happy. Also, I can't stand the build up. I hate all the endless Christmas songs in shops and the fact that everyone tells me I have to look forward to Christmas and it has to be this big amazing thing. I don't understand why, I mean it happens every year its not a novelty. I have always struggled with anything people tell me I have to enjoy, I automatically feel so much pressure then that I cant enjoy it and I can't cope. Christmas is that times 100, society and everyone telling me I have to enjoy it and be happy, i cant cope with the pressure.
Also I hate the greed of Christmas, everyone just out for what they can get. I hate the crowds and the people barging past you in shops to get more for themselves. I dont understand the point of giving cards to people you hardly speak to all year or giving presents that people dont really want just for the sake of it.
I really hate the commercialism and the endless adverts telling you you cant enjoy yourself unless you spend loads of money you dont have on stuff you dont need just to make these companies richer
I really struggle with the sensory overload of all the noise and decorations in shops and the fact that you cant escape it, whereever you go its just Christmas stuff everywhere in your face and it is such an overload for me.
Also, I cant tell anyone any of this or they just make me feel like a grinch. It feels like your not allowed to say you dont enjoy it
Im a Christian so i love the meaning of Christmas ( I realise that might not be the case for everyone) and I love spending time with my family but thats about it.
I always have a complete breakdown just before Christmas every year, regular as clockwork
Sorry if I sound like a party pooper but I just wondered if anyone else out there felt like me? Is this an autistic thing or is it just me
Hi Billy, no you're not a party pooper and I totally get what you are saying.
In fact, I never thought I would hear another human being on the planet say exactly what you just said because that is exactly how I have felt most Christmases of my adult life. It's such a relief to hear someone else say it.
The office Christmas experience is the worst. I used to work in a job requiring a lot of people skills, I have good compensation strategies so I did well, but was always exhausted by the commute and the effort in 'doing people'. I'd routinely be hitting burn out about that time of year.
And then yes! I agree. If Christmas is spiritually meaningful - great, but why do we have to turn it into this orgy of commercialism? I've felt strongly about that since I found out there was no Santa and was furious with my parents for having told me lies and I couldn't stop thinking about all the children who might not get anything and then think it was because they'd been "naughty" when in fact it was just that their parents couldn't afford expensive presents. I concluded at 10 Santa was a dangerous lie.
We have created this myth in society that it has to be this perfect, magical time, such that it tries to force people into pretend "happiness" under conditions that are actually very stress inducing for everyone. Many people worry about affording Christmas; will even go into debt to "do it for the kids" or having to cope with relatives they don't like, and then there is all the extra work involved! It's bonkers and a far cry from the true meaning of Christmas. Why does the NT world subject itself to this?
AND then for us, on top of that, we have all the sensory issues and the enforced socialising with heavy duty emotional blackmail to participate "because it's Christmas". You are made to feel like a bad person if you can't paint on a happy face and dance. I loved my colleagues in that office, but their well meant pressure to get me to come to the office party one year got me into such a state I had a melt down - rare for me outside of medical situations. Mercifully, I felt it coming and managed to lock myself in an empty office for a hour while it passed. No one ever knew.
At least lockdown spared me that last year. This year, there's just me and my lad and we'll pop to my mum's Christmas day. No forced party and no big build up! I might actually enjoy it this year.
This is so true! Im so glad you felt the same as me. I agree with all of this, the sensory issues and the being made to feel like your a bad person if you cant paint a happy face on really chimed with me.
I never understand why people get into debt at christmas either, it seems crazy to me.
Its nice to know its not just me.