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Solicitor, Public Law and Human Rights
With the holiday season in full swing, Christmas reminders adorn the streets, shops, restaurants, TV programmes, and advertisements. We want to share our thoughts on the difficulties many people face during this period, and how you can look after yourself and others.
Though many of us relish in the Christmas festivities, there are a quarter of the UK population that stated that they struggle with their mental health at this time of year. Along with this, more than two in five Brits have felt stressed during the festivities, and one in four struggles with anxiety or depression. Sadly, this can be for a number of reasons.
The holidays can be a time for joy and celebration, but as many of our staff and clients know, it can also be a time of great difficulty for any number of reasons. For many of the survivors and victims of abuse we represent and support, Christmas can be tainted with the possibility of seeing abusers, family estrangement, or returning to settings of abuse. For our clients across other departments, the festive period can also be a time of loneliness, anxiety and enormous pressure, even if they’re surrounded by loved ones.
And it’s not just mentally people are feeling strained in this period, either. Christmas is renowned for bringing huge pressures, which can make financial situations unmanageable. Millions of people are set to have to make stark financial choices during the impact of the cost-of-living crisis in the UK, and 2.7 million of us will be choosing between buying food or presents on this important day. And whilst some children across the country will be waking up to presents on Christmas day, our heart goes out to the families who are struggling now, more than ever. Whether it’s your mental health, memories of past abuse coming back into your home, or financial stress – you should always remember, you are not alone.
At Simpson Millar, we feel strongly about supporting our clients. For many, this means helping them find support outside of their legal matters which we are helping resolve, even if it’s just for a quick conversation. While regular support networks can be interrupted at Christmas, you can still access support, information and advice through a number of organisations.
YouGov. (n.d.). Christmas Harms Mental Health for a Quarter of Brits. [Online] Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/health/articles/26954-christmas-harms-mental-health-quarter-brits?redirect_from=/topics/health/articles-reports/2019/12/18/christmas-harms-mental-health-quarter-brits
Medium. (n.d.). Surviving Christmas. [Online] Available at: https://medium.com/trauma-breakthrough/surviving-christmas-ba5056206e2f
The Guardian. (2023, December 6). Heat Homes for Christmas, Says UK National Debtline. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/dec/06/heat-homes-christmas-uk-national-debtline-food-presents
Mind. (n.d.). [Online] Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/
CALM. (n.d.). [Online] Available at: https://www.thecalmzone.net/
The Survivors Trust. (n.d.). [Online] Available at: https://www.thesurvivorstrust.org/
NAPAC. (n.d.). A Survivor's Guide to Christmas. [Online] Available at: https://napac.org.uk/a-survivors-guide-to-christmas/
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