This Christmas why not help spread some cheer a little further and check up on someone you think could be spending the day alone?
By Interchange Australia Marketing Coordinator Kelly Taylor.
Christmas – time to spend time with your loved ones, spreading cheer and usually eating too much food. Sadly this is not the case for everyone…
Did you know that one in five people over 70 have no one to spend the day with?
Many people of all ages spend this day alone for many reasons, such as the death of a loved one, living far away from family, or social isolation. Some have social anxiety disorder and don’t have close relationships with family and friends. For all of these people Christmas can be particularly hard as it is associated with celebrations with family and friends.
While there are some tools which people can use to cope with being alone at Christmas, there is always down time where feelings of loneliness start to come to the surface again.
- Find things to do that make you feel less alone.
- Plan ahead so that you are not alone if you don’t want to be.
- Practice gratitude, write down three things you are grateful for on this day. This will help you move past your anxiety and help you to live in the present moment. You can choose to feel alone or choose to be grateful for positive for the things you have in life. Reframing your thoughts is an effective was to deal with anxiety.
This Christmas why not help spread some cheer a little further and check up on someone you think could be spending the day alone? You could pick up the phone and reconnect with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while or check in on a neighbour who lives alone.
