Christmas

Nope. Childhood Christmases were not fun. Adult ones even less so. I've been asked to two places, sibling and friends. Now I have to make a choice, someone will be upset I didn't pick them, I'll have to be careful to watch my tongue cos the kids are clearly ND and not being seen a such and I get pissed off that their dysregulation is ignored and I'll have to eat things I don't like to please others 

Think I'll stay home and watch Doctor Who. Thankfully there's is one thing good about Xmas. Thanks RTD from bringing Xmas Who back. 

Not really although I like wrapping up gifts and the craft side of card making. the social aspect no and Im not invited to any parties or in work so Im glad about that!

you don't have any family at all?? 

I'm a big kid. 

Christmas is the opportunity to have the Childhood I never had. I see others with their families, and wish I had that. 

I'll spend Christmas Day with an old neighbour of ours, and Boxing Day with my current neighbour. 

My girlfriend and I celebrate Christmas together but we have a quiet one and that makes it more bearable.

On Youtube so many of the adverts are Xmas related all ready and the other day I saw shops have Xmas stuff for sale as well lololol. 

The worst time of the year for sure. I like the music and I like the Xmas films but the hype is insane. People go insane! Busy shops, people pushing and shouting...and at home it's just as bad loud music and bright lights...big family party.

School is bad to Xmas concert and play. Then there's the rotten secret santa omg I hate it lolol. Please let Christmas be forgotten this year

have a love hate thing with Christmas. I hate the shopping, the people, quite like having time off work but genrally do not get it. I hate the falseneess about it of having to be happy, having to celebrate and having to enjoy yourself. Always annoys me that Christmas day evening pubs are closed, would love to go out fo a pint after all that crap during the day. Love boxing day, all that sport, eating anything you like. Personally I would swap the whole thing for a sunny, warm day when its light to 9pm!

As Christmas can be a time of year that not everyone looks forward to and can cause anxiety, Christmas adverts can serve as an unwelcome reminder.

Whilst there are some Christmas adverts I can rather enjoy watching, the fact that every advert or every other advert is Christmas-themed can sometimes be a bit much.

For some people (including NTs), they just don't want the constant reminders. For other people who may have deeply religious beliefs, it is the fact that Christmas has become so commercialised.

Why would you be anxious with christmas ads xD??

Christmas is my fav time of year!!

Thanks Goosey

That sounds like a really good idea! My family decided to do Christmas somewhat differently when I was growing up and after some arguments with other parts of the family- We ended up going away to Switzerland over Christmas each year and just took it in a very very relaxed way.

I really like the idea of the medieval Christmas - or of mixing it up completely! It doesn't sound crazy to me at all :) 

My Christmas ornaments don't hold any sentimental value as such, I just like looking at them. 

Whilst I appreciate that Christmas can be a sensory Hell for some, it has always been my idea of sensory Heaven. When I have the energy and patience, I really like to go to town with Christmas decorations and illuminations. However, I cannot abide rapidly flashing Christmas lights. The multi-function coloured sets with a gentle slow/fade setting are more my cup of tea.

I'm so sorry for your loss Amerantin (former member) x

No- I'm not. Christmas was never a big deal anyways in my family and I really struggle with traveling and eating socially etc. I will spend Christmas alone as I have done the past few years. I don't like it though. It is so lonely- I do like alone time but I also like some social interaction or work to distract me and around Christmas no one is available and everything is closed. Shops and everything being closed also makes me very anxious. I don't have a hobby anymore so nothing to do. If I can ever hike again, I want to go on a hiking trip over Christmas- like in Mallorca where mountain huts are open over Christmas and the weather is usually mild enough so that even in the hills the trails remain passable. 

Yes that is a good thing at Christmas if the ornaments remind you of good times in the past. I have some like that and that is a good thing. Hoping your collection will help.

The short answer is no.

Although it will just be me and my adult son, I currently feel like I just cannot be bothered with any of it. However, I am hoping that my mood will start to improve closer to Christmas, as there are some aspects of it that I usually do enjoy.

For example, I get a lot of enjoyment from looking at the collection of Christmas ornaments and pictures I've built up over the years. I also like the fact that I can pig out on food that I love, but normally wouldn't buy the rest of the year.

In one way it’s strange, as in all the 21 years that I’ve lived here in Manchester, I always refer to Boxing Day as St. Stephen’s Day, which the day after Christmas is still referred to in Ireland and I always get puzzled looks from my English friends - we Irish have a tradition on St Stephen’s Day called the Wrenboys (only practiced in Rural Ireland now) where people dress up in various costumes and collect money for charity - in our local area, we also have the Ward Union Hunt, a fox hunting group (fox hunting is still legal in Ireland) - when I was growing up in the 1970’s in our local village, we had 5 working farms and at least 5 pubs, some of which doubled as grocery, drapery, hardware and petrol stations, which was normal in a typical Irish village - these days, the village is almost a suburb of Dublin 20 miles away and the farms are all gone and the pubs are standalone and only one of the hardware stores is left as a stand-alone but no longer serves petrol 

Having worked in supermarket retailing for over 30 years at age 53, including in my native Ireland and here in the U.K., I do empathise, as I’m also very religious minded, as I was raised Catholic in Rural Ireland - not only has Christmas become way too commercialised, it starts ever earlier every year and after Halloween is finished, it’s full on Christmas, where one Christmas Eve before leaving work, I saw the shop floor teams putting out Easter Eggs - people have forgotten the “reason for the season” about which they are in denial and it’s now a taboo to even mention it - trying to find a Christmas Crib (Nativity Scene) is almost impossible in most shops nowdays and when you do find one, it is massively overpriced - I was lucky to find mine at a local Catholic shop a few years ago in Ireland that was made by Enclosed Catholic Nuns and was Blessed by the local Bishop, so as soon as I made my own star for it, I pinned it on the top and I super-glued the figures in the correct place so I take it out every year - I’m lucky to be able to attend a Traditional Latin Mass on Midnight Mass and on Christmas Day, where I’ve also found a Rosary group - during Covid, I was not able to attend any Masses so I simply prayed the Rosary on Christmas Day - I never travel in the run up to Christmas as it’s a nightmare, trains get cancelled, flights are fully booked, coaches are full up, ferries stop operating, so I usually travel home to Ireland from Manchester by train or coach and on the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin just after Christmas - this year, I’m hearing that there may be travel disruptions out of Dublin to where I come from in Rural Ireland, so I may have to delay this further into next year than usual, possibly into Feb or March 

Like you I have some bad memories - I lost my dad and my beloved 22 year old cat around Christmas 3 years ago - and this year I’ll be by myself so I’m worried I might end up feeling very sorry for myself.

To be honest I’m anxious about Christmas too. We’ve had a few years where serious things have gone wrong for us during the Christmas period (such as illness etc) and we now associate it with some quite bad memories. So this year we’ve almost considered just ‘not doing Christmas’ at all. But we’re not sure. We’ve considered just doing Christmas completely differently (eg doing a medieval style Christmas (this sounds mad now I write it!) - just so it’s not like any previous Christmas we’ve had. Or doing it on a completely different day, or going away somewhere. I don’t know - deep down I think I feel a bit like forgetting about the whole thing! I used to really like it but now it’s associated with some quite traumatic memories and it’s making the whole thing seem very unappealing. Why does it make you anxious?