Resources to help you this holiday season
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!
We hope that you had a wonderful holiday full of family, friends food and fun. But, we recognize this might not be the case for everyone as this time of year can be more stressful than restful.
From family conflicts to holiday shopping, the season has its fair share of stress.
To help you check in with your mental health during this time, I’ve pulled together some stories that may be helpful.
If food-focused holidays are a challenge: Remember that “overindulging” at your Thanksgiving dinner or other holiday gathering isn’t a big deal. Click here to learn more about what experts say.
If alcohol is top of mind: The holidays are alcohol’s busiest season. Check out this story if you’re looking for information on how to to avoid binge drinking or if you’re looking to support sober loved ones.
If you’re dealing with family feuds: Uncomfortable or downright rude questions at your holiday table are a quick way to dampen a dinner. Here’s expert advice on how to navigate those tricky talks.
If your positive outlook is feeling forced: You may be dealing with toxic positivity, a coping mechanism experts warn can lead to negative effects. Click here to learn how to recognize it in yourself and others – and how to avoid it.
If you’re feeling lonely during cuffing season: Here’s how to start a good conversation on a dating app, according to relationship experts.
Wishing you a warm and healthy season ahead!
Lindsay Lohan’s new film was cute. The brain injury? Not so much.
With Thanksgiving over, it’s officially holiday rom-com season! One you might have seen pop up on your Netflix account is “Falling for Christmas,” a cutesy Christmas comeback for Lindsay Lohan.
While the film was fun and full of holiday spirit, experts say movies like this could do a better job of portraying the realities of brain injuries and amnesia, which are often used as light-hearted plot points.
Rami Hashish, a body performance and injury expert, points out many of these types of movies are “dramatizing and making the concept of sustaining a traumatic brain injury and having memory loss to be somewhat sexy.” It’s not, and he notes that for those who have suffered brain injuries, it can be a challenge for others to understand what they are going through. “A movie like this goes in the face of that.”
Even some viewers are starting to take notice of amnesia plots – and call them out.
“It’s so annoying when movies (portray) brain injuries this way. It’s not like that, nothing magical about it,” wrote one commenter in response to the New York Times’ review of the film.
Click here to read the full story.
My partner’s dad is a constant disappointment. Can we cut him off?
For this week’s advice column, a reader wrote in: “My partner’s biological father walked out when he was about as old as our baby is now (3 months). He has since been a very absent and neglectful parent. I’ve only met that side of the family a handful of times. When my partner told his dad that he was going to be a father, he responded by saying congratulations but then we never heard a peep from him throughout my entire pregnancy.
After our baby was born, they took a trip our way, and we had a short visit. They brought gifts and insisted we come visit next time we travel near them, and we did visit them the next time we went home. We thought it was just going to be my partner’s dad and step-mom, and we were surprised when we arrived that they had invited the whole extended family. There were at least 15 people! With our then-three-week-old baby, COVID and RSV are top of mind for us and we were not prepared to walk into a crowd like that.
Shortly after the second visit, we were surprised when my partner didn’t get a phone call, text or card from his dad on his birthday. We thought with the new situation it could be an opportunity for his dad to form a real relationship with us, and my partner was left hurt once again. I’ve seen how much my partner’s biological dad has disappointed him and how much that’s affected him. I want to protect our baby from that same hurt and disappointment. I feel like if we didn’t reach out to them, we’d hear from them once or twice a year. Am I wrong for not putting in any effort to continue the relationship?”
To read our columnist’s response, click here.
Today’s reads
Today’s pet
Meet Ollie and his cousins.
“Pekingese Ollie is grudgingly reunited with his pug cousins Clara and Henry for Thanksgiving,” writes Bonny Block. “Love your newsletter!”
Thanks so much for reading, Bonny! And for sharing this adorable holiday photo.
