People should set aside alone time for themselves to relieve social burnout and anxiety from cleaning their homes, entertaining guests and observing traditional customs during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, Taoyuan General Hospital Department of Psychiatry director Su Po-wen (蘇柏文) said.
Social gatherings with friends or family could be a great source of anxiety and exhaustion, Su said.
Su cited the case of a woman surnamed Lee (李) who married into a big family that places great importance on traditional customs.
Photo: Fan Pin-chao, Taipei Times
She told him that shopping, cleaning, preparing offerings and hosting guests could be more exhausting than going to work.
In another example, Su quoted a man surnamed Chang (張) as saying that getting together with friends and family during the holiday is exciting, but inevitably talk about jobs, salaries, or when to get married or have children is brought up.
What is supposed to be a time for reunion and relaxation can, amid all the comparisons, suddenly turn into a sense of melancholy — “feeling as if you have accomplished nothing at all,” Su quoted Chang as saying.
Lunar New Year culture in Taiwan is reflected in spring cleaning, family get-togethers, spring outings, and visiting friends and relatives, which results in a tight schedule laden with social formalities, creating stress for people who try to take care of everything, but themselves, Su said.
“Ask yourself: ‘What do you want to do over the holiday?’ Save some time for yourself, even if it is just to get some quality sleep,” he said.
“Talk to someone who would listen and understand when you feel emotionally overwhelmed,” he said.
“When dealing with inappropriate questions that evoke discomfort, prioritize your mental welfare and cut yourself some slack by leaving the conversation or setting boundaries,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare urged parents to foster emotional self-awareness in their children, as family conflicts and domestic violence incidents spike during the holiday.
During winter break and the Lunar New Year, extended family time could mean more pressure for some people, Protective Services Department Director Kuo Tsai-jung (郭彩榕) said.
With gatherings and inevitable comparisons of children’s achievements, stress can quickly mount, and tensions often rise along with it, Kuo said.
If parents have difficulty managing their emotions, tend to set unrealistic expectations or lack a support network, they can be more prone to give harsh criticism — or even physical discipline — when under pressure, she said.
Comparing children’s achievements can especially strain parent-child relationships and quickly become a trigger for conflict, she said.
To prevent stress from accumulating during the holiday, parents should emphasize calmness and understanding over blame and corporal punishment, the ministry said.
Parents who feel emotionally overwhelmed during the holiday can seek assistance by calling the ministry’s 1925 mental health hotline or the 1957 social welfare hotline, Kuo said.
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