Holiday behavioral challenges affect many people. Here are some explanations and things you can do to help. You may notice your child and others having more trouble with their anxiety, ADD, ADHD, or other sensory conditions during the fall months, when they seem relatively fine the rest of the year. Transitioning back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas…there’s a lot going on.
Here are some tips to help your kids de-stress and have a smoother, happier, calmer, more sensory, emotional, and behavioral-regulated transition.
What Causes Holiday Behavioral Challenges?
- Changes – Let’s face it; some people don’t handle changes very well. Children, in particular, have trouble with changes, especially when things get a bit chaotic. Add to that the anticipation for a school break and all the fun times during the holidays, and it’s understandable why it can be a sensory overloading time. Children with sensory conditions like ADD, ADHS, seizures, anxiety, and ASD (autism spectrum disorder) may find it especially difficult during the holidays.
- Our Emotions Follow the Seasons – It’s natural for our bodies to adjust to the seasons. Holiday behavioral challenges are just a difficulty adapting to changes and can cause sensory overload. The way nature intended, our nervous system follows our circadian rhythms and is always adapting to changes in the environment and our surroundings. Seasonal changes like temperature, changes to daylight hours, time changes, and seasonal activities all create changes we must navigate. Naturally, our bodies attempt to slow down in the winter months when a typical family’s activities are at an all-time high. Our activity contradicts our circadian rhythms, causing stress that can affect those with or without existing challenges.
- Seasonal Allergies – Allergies can cause additional stress on our bodies. During the holiday months, our immune systems have a hard job. When the green turns to tan, the leaves fall, the grass goes dormant, and there’s an increase in dust in the air. Our bodies have processes in place to handle allergies, but they can increase our inflammation levels and increase stress. But what do you think happens if something is preventing your body from reacting the way it should? What if you add drugs to the mix, which counteract your body’s natural responses? It can take some of the fun out of the holidays.
So, how does chiropractic affect your body’s response to seasonal allergies, emotions, adaptability, and more? A subluxation can hinder your body’s defenses along with something called The Perfect Storm, which can trigger sympathetic nervous system dominance. When this happens, your immune system is less effective, and you could have moderate to severe inflammation issues (allergies, aches, pains, stiffness, headaches, etc.)