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Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Be natural for the holidays
(CNN) -- Now that the holiday season is at full speed, so are the stress levels. With family pressures, shopping headaches and money woes, the Christmas season offers a lot of reasons not to be jolly. CNN anchor Bill Hemmer spoke with CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta about ways to make it through. HEMMER: 'Tis the season to be jolly, right? The reality, oftentimes, is a very different matter. The holidays are leaving a lot of people stressed out. What are some tips on coping with that holiday stress, with a capital 'S'? GUPTA: I have got to be the Scrooge here and give you some of the stressors of the holiday season as well, the really important things to consider: • Unrealistic expectations. People have unrealistic expectations more so at this time of the year than ever. • Overcommitment. • Money. Unrealistic expectations really take a lot of different forms, especially this time of year. A lot of times, with family relationships, people expect the fireplace and some Christmas lights to soothe over a lot of family relationships that have been hurting over the years. That's not always the case. And it takes some time to repair those, even at the Christmas season or the holiday season. Also, just having other stressors in life. Those aren't going to go away at the holiday season either. You really need to take time to figure out what those stressors are. (To) address some of those unrealistic expectations, bring your expectations more in line with reality and surround yourself with supportive people, especially this time of year. For overcommitment -- whether it is trying to go to too many school performances for your children or whether it's trying to saying yes to too many parties -- people are trying to do too much in too little time this holiday season. Here are some tips for people who are overcommitted in terms of their time: • Ask for help. • Learn to say no. That's a big one. • Prioritize whatever events you are trying to attend or things you are trying to do. Money problems also don't go away at the holiday season. People oftentimes try to top last year's gift with an even more expensive gift. That's not always a good idea. Those money problems will catch up with you. Here are a couple of tips on that, as far as money problems go: Be smart and don't overspend when it comes to buying some of those gifts. Also, develop new gift-giving schemes. I buy all of my gifts the day before and give everybody the same exact thing. That seems to work pretty well. HEMMER: You do that? GUPTA: Yes. HEMMER: Really? GUPTA: No. I'm kidding. HEMMER: I like it. You know, the whole thing about trying to say no, I think a lot of people have to learn that. But Americans get busier and busier every year. GUPTA: I tell you what, let me jump in here and give you one more little mnemonic device for tips that actually help a lot of people in terms of trying to get through the holiday season. You know what the key is, Bill? Be natural. B-E-N-A-T-U-R-A-L. "B" for Breathe deeply. "E" for Exercise. "N" stands for nutrition and don't forget your three meals a day. That's really important. And Attitude, everybody needs to have a good attitude. Try and see the glass is half full. Time management, it's never more important than the holiday season; Uniqueness -- saying no, when necessary. Relaxation -- take some time. Don't plan the next event. Read, listen to music and think about nothing else, at least for a few minutes a day. "A" is associations with close friends and "L" -- laughter is always the best medicine. Take it from me, Bill. HEMMER: And it's the best time of the year to do all of that.
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