To all who celebrate!
Holiday seasons can be a source of joy for many people; it is a time to be thankful for everything we have in life, a time for being with our families and friends, and a break from work or school for many.
This time of year can also be really difficult for many people. Many people are struggling financially and don’t know how they are going to get 2 holidays paid for (Thanksgiving and Christmas). Sometimes family gatherings have more dysfunctional elements and stressful arguments than happy family memories you see in the Brady bunch for example.
And for some people, like some in my family and friends, this is their first holiday since a loved one of theirs has passed away. Not to mention no matter how long ago a loved one has passed on, holidays can have a way of bringing back feelings of grief.
I hope anyone reading this who celebrate today for whatever reason is having a wonderful and peaceful holiday full of abundance, joy, loved ones, and good food!
I personally am having a wonderful day overall. My family isn’t doing our big meal until tomorrow when all of us can be together, but my mom and I went over to her cousin’s today and I had all the typical stuff I usually look forward to each year. Tomorrow I’m doing most of the cooking and it’s my first time so I’m a bit nervous about that, but I got to spend the day watching my favorite Thanksgiving things and talking to my family on messenger (the ones that live far away).
While my day was overall good, it did have aspects that were less than ideal. I didn’t get to spend time with all my family members because not all of them are safe to talk to, and not all of them want to talk to me, I am also one of the people who can’t stop stressing out about how I will afford Christmas presents for everybody even though Christmas is a month away, I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 when I was 24 and since then Thanksgiving has been harder for me because most of the good tasting Thanksgiving food is full of carbs, not the kinds that are good for diabetes to have too much of. Plus if you have been following my blog for a while you may know that this week is very hard for me because of the birthday, death day, and funeral of my favorite family member in my bio family, my maternal grandfather
Despite all of that, and while I am still processing all of my feelings and trauma surrounding all of these events, I am happy and grateful for the loved ones including friends I do have. I have a loving chosen family made of soe members of my birth family, half the members of my adoptive family, a couple cherished real life best friends, a new group of lgbtq elders I’ve started meeting with once a month, and a healthy, or sometimes unhealthy, dose of y online communities though that last one is less genuine connections, and more of a place I go to to get some laughs, or happy feelings.
If you are feeling the stress of the holiday season I have a little list of helpful things to do when you’re stressed out and a little list of things to do for your mental health
On top of that there are several resources you can reach out to where trained peers can help you get from an intense hard to manage moment/emotion, to one where you feel safe and calm
The two best ones, and available nation wide are the 988 suicide prevention and crisis hotline, and the crisis text line which you can reach by texting HOME to 741741. Both are available 24/7 and free of charge. I have used both personally and they are a big reason why I am still here.
If you are are in the LGBTQIA+ community and a youth and you are feeling like you are in crisis because of the holidays or any other reason like recent election events for example you can call the Trevor Project at their crisis hotline
You can text ‘START’ to 678-678
Or you can call at 1-866-488-7386
For Adults there is the LGBT national hotline
● Live
888-843-4564
LGBT NATIONAL HOTLINE
Providing confidential peer support, information, and local & national resources for callers of all ages.
● Live
888-234-7243
LGBT NATIONAL SENIOR HOTLINE
Providing confidential peer support, infomation, and local & national resources for callers ages 50 and above.
● Live
800-246-7743
LGBT NATIONAL YOUTH TALKLINE
Providing confidential peer support, information, and local & national resources for callers ages 25 and younger.
This hotline is open to people of all ages, but it sadly is not open 24 hours a day.
The hours are
Mon-Fri:
1 PM – 9 PM/pacific time
4 PM – Midnight/eastern time
Sat:
9 AM – 2 PM/pacific time
Noon – 5 PM/eastern time
If you or your family member are a veteran struggling with your mental health this holiday season here is the link to the veteran crisis service where you can call, text, or simply chat online. This line works for active duty service members and their families too including the national guard and reserves.
Whatever your situation I do hope you have a happy, healthy, stress-free, food filled, warm holiday season with all of your needs met. Happy holidays, and I will be back before you know it with more content! I promise this time.
Mental Health Blog | Fight4mylife | United States 