Coping with festive pressures
Christmas is a wonderful and exciting time of the year when families and friends get together and gifts are exchanged. But for many people it can also be a particularly difficult time when issues such as loneliness or family disputes are magnified by the festive season.
Festive pressures for families can also be financial with added worries of meeting the expectations to make each Christmas bigger and better than the last.
And for others, Christmas may not be celebrated at all because of cultural or religious beliefs, sometimes resulting in individuals feeling isolated or different from other people.
Children, in particular, can be affected by all of these issues and feel like they have no one to talk to at a time when there is pressure to appear to be enjoying the festive season.
Whatever the reason, if it is a time of year you don’t look forward to, our advice at Childline is to talk to someone about your concerns. Telling a trusted adult about what Christmas is like for you can help you feel less alone.
You can also call Childline, which is available 365 days a year – including on Christmas Day – for young people to share worries over the phone or online.
Our volunteers hold thousands of counselling sessions over the festive period – more than 500 on Christmas Day alone in 2017 – about all sorts of problems and we will be there for children this Christmas as usual.
It can often help to realise you are not the only person feeling like you do. Childline message boards give young people the chance to share their feelings with their peers.
Children and young people with any worries can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or www.childline.org. uk, while adults concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC’s free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000.