How to cope with Christmas holiday stress? Psychiatrist answers

Christmas is fast approaching, and so is the stress that the holiday brings. 

According to Dano Tingcungco's report on "24 Oras Weekend," Sunday, some Filipinos are having a difficult time juggling everything that comes with the season, such as holiday traffic, end-of-the-year work quotas, organizing Christmas parties, and buying gifts.

Dr. Ma. Bernadette Manalo-Arcena, a psychiatrist, said that many people can get overwhelmed with all the things to do come the holidays.

"Physically, there is exhaustion. There is the fatigue kapag hindi mo pinaplano ang dapat mong gawin," she said.

"Psychologically, expectations can actually create also what we term as gusto natin ganito mangyari, ganiyan mangyari and then kung hindi siya ma-meet, we feel like we failed," she added.

Arcena advised people to plan ahead and to manage their expectations for themselves.

"Do your best. Expectations should be fair and should be honest enough. Don't do things na hindi mo kayang gawin. We can make it just very simple," she said.