During quarantine if you don’t live alone chances are that you live with your family. Living with family can have pros and cons, but due to quarantine it’s easy for tensions to rise as it feels like there’s no escape. It’s a lot harder to just get up and go to get a break from the chaos.
Not only does quarantine mean an influx of family, but it’s also holiday season. Times like this sometimes come with inevitable family drama that’s hard to be avoided.
If you’ve been dealing with some tension in your household lately keep reading for some tips on how to cope.
We know nobody want’s to hear this but the first thing to do is take a look at your own behaviors and actions. Have you done anything that may have caused a reaction? Have you been displaying any toxic behaviors?
Sometimes we have to recognize our own behaviors and take accountability. Even if you look within and you realize that you haven’t done anything it’ll help you see a clearer image of the actual problem. If it isn’t anything you’ve done then you know it’s something or someone else.
The first step to identifying tension and trying to find a resolution is to recognize unhealthy behaviors displayed by you or others. What’s causing the drama? Is someone in your family always moody? Is someone always yelling?
Identify what’s being done that has a negative impact on others. Even take a look within and recognize unhealthy behaviors in yourself. If everyone can recognize their own behaviors and take accountability for them a resolution will come much easier.
Setting boundaries is an important skill to have with everything in your life. It’s something that isn’t emphasized enough when we talk about mental health. People who struggle setting boundaries always end up hurting and overextending themselves in the long run.
Once you recognize the unhealthy behaviors being displayed it is easy to set some boundaries around them. An example of a healthy boundary would be you saying that somebody needs to knock before coming in your room.
During the holiday season you might also have some family visiting that you wouldn’t normally. It’s important to set boundaries with them as well. They don’t really know how things work in your household and it’s easy for them to overstep.
Sometimes it can be uncomfortable to set the boundary but once it’s there we promise you’ll feel so much better!
The busier you are, the less likely you are to be involved in any type of drama. You simply just won’t have the time for it and others around you will recognize that too.
It may seem hard to constantly keep busy during quarantine and the holiday season but you can always fake it ’till you make it. Just seeming busy will make the people round you realize that you just can’t be bothered with the drama.
During quarantine and the holiday season it’s hard to keep yourself level headed. Not only has 2020 been a rough year, but family drama definitely could be the cherry on top to make you lose your cool. It is so important that you do things that you know can chill you out.
Whether that’s taking a bath, reading a book, listening to some music, or going to getting some exercise. Literally anything you can’t think of to keep yourself sane, go do it.
It’s important to maintain a close knit support system for basically your entire life. The fact is that life is hard and you need people you can trust to help you sometimes. I know we like to think we have everything figured out and that we can do it on our own. But honestly sometimes we just can’t.
Even just venting to someone and having someone listen can be so therapeutic. It’s also helpful to get an outside opinion on the situation at hand. Maybe they can see a light at the end of the tunnel and offer some advice.
Having a space where you can go at the end of the day that’s just for you can have such a positive impact on your mental health and well being. Always being around people especially when tensions are high can be overwhelming. You need a safe space where you can get some peace and quiet and just relax.
Quarantine and the holidays can make it hard for you to escape, but with those newly set boundaries having a space all for yourself shouldn’t be an issue.
Family drama has a negative impact on mental health and well being. It’s stressful and it’s draining especially when it’s a common occurrence. It’s important that you keep in tune with how you’re doing and what you’re feeling.
A good way to do this is to have a journal. Journaling helping you reflect on things that have happened during the day and it can help you sort out how you feel about them.
During times like this it’s important to be your own advocate. If you don’t like the situation that you’re in or you don’t like the way you’re being treated you have to speak up. Tell them what they did to hurt you and how they can fix it.
At the end of the day people aren’t mind readers. They may have no idea what they’re doing and that it’s having a negative impact on you. You need to say something or nothing will get resolved.
This goes hand in hand with being vocal. When tensions are at an all time high the best thing to do is suggest to have a calm conversation about things. Get your feeling out in the open and see what they think about things.
We know that sometimes having a conversation can lead to a full out screaming match but honestly that’s better than keeping silent and hoping things resolve on their own.
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