Mission Mater's Magazine - Flipbook - Page 15
The biggest problem with the joy of Christmas, can often be, what comes next?
The other problem with alcohol is that, 8what comes up must come
down.9 By giving us some mild relaxation when intoxicated, this leads
to a rebound anxiety once the alcohol has left our body. What is
commonly known as 8the fear9 is a feature of almost every hangover
and also can be a mental state that distorts our view of the world and
can lead to decisions that we might in the future regret.
The biggest problem with Christmas is actually what comes next?
There is still a lot of winter left after the decorations and celebrations
have ended. Even if you manage to spread the holidays to New Year9s
Day there is a least eight weeks before we get daylight to 6pm. One of
the questions that I therefore always ask patients is, 8What do you have
to look forward to?9
Anticipation is after all, one of the strongest human emotions and is
much more powerful than the joy the event itself delivers.
It is then critically important that we all have
something to look forward to. Whether this is
a concert, a holiday, relatives visiting, or even
the release of the next instalment of your
favourite TV series, it is important that when
the world seems like it is getting on top of you,
that you have this release to focus on. I advise
people who may be going through hard times,
if they can to try and create a mini-festival
atmosphere around these events. So once you
wake up after Christmas ask yourself, 8What do
I have to look forward to next9 and if there is
no answer to that question, then do find one and now may not be a bad time.
Small quantities of alcohol can have a general relaxing effect; however, even moderate levels of alcohol affects our
minds by blocking our psychological inhibitory abilities.
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