How to Survive a Toxic Family Christmas
Christmas can be a really exciting time of the year for some. If you have a toxic family full of tension and conflict, the idea of everybody coming together, to sit around and be in close company for the whole day can be enough to make you break into a cold sweat.
Christmas with the family can feel quite contained and the environment is quite isolating, even when the family dynamics are not particularly toxic.
The streets become eerily quiet and with everything on hiatus it can feel like a sense of being trapped, so it’s important to know what you can do and how you can survive a toxic family Christmas without completely losing your sanity.
Dealing with loss at Christmas
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – or is it? Many of us take for granted the festive period and the meaning of Christmas. The endless advertising of Christmas paraphernalia before the Halloween stock has even left the shelves. The usual Christmas pop songs playing on repeat.
We become bombarded with advertising campaigns of harmonious families coming together for the all-important overindulgent Christmas meal.
Christmas can be an amazing and festive time to be with those you love – but for those dealing with loss and bereavement it can also be a painful reminder and a heart wrenching time of year.
