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Greensboro psychologist offers tips to reduce holiday stress

People shop at an Apple store in the Westfield Garden State Plaza shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey, on Saturday, December 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

People shop at an Apple store in the Westfield Garden State Plaza shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey, on Saturday, December 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Managing the mind and body presents challenges in the season where indulgences can be part of the routine. LeBauer Behavioral Medicine Clinical Psychologist David Gutterman has some tips for maintaining mental health during the holidays. 

Gutterman says there are two main keys to managing stress over the holidays. One is keeping realistic expectations of what the season should be like.

“I really encourage people think back historically — what has worked, what they've really enjoyed, and what's meaningful to them," he says.

Moderation is the other key, Gutterman says: behaviors such as overeating, over-drinking or overspending can lead to more stress when the celebrations are over. 

“Be kind to yourself through the holidays," he says. "Make sure you're taking care of yourself, and always — both physically and emotionally — have good expectations. And in that regard, it'll be a good holiday.”

Gutterman says taking care of yourself means making sure to get enough sleep, eat properly and exercise.

 

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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