Christmas season puts the stress on family

IT is supposed to be a time of goodwill and relaxation but the festive period is more like a time of stress and fraught nerves, according to research published today.

Many hit the bottle, light up a cigarette or eat to excess in an attempt to stave off Yuletide exasperation. A survey by high street retailer Kwik Save found three in five people found Christmas stressful.

Christmas Eve was named the most daunting time of the holidays for most, but one in ten said it was New Year’s Eve which sent blood pressure soaring. A row with a family member was the most likely cause of stress, with seven in ten saying a bust-up with a sibling is most likely to ruin the holiday.

Just having to see relatives at Christmas was too much to bear for one in ten. To battle the seasonal stress, 24 per cent indulged in binge eating and 21 per cent turned to drink. One in ten lit a cigarette to try to relax.

Women felt the pressure more than men, with 61 per cent admitting to being stressed, compared with half of the men questioned. Meanwhile, just under half of Britons say they find shopping in the January sales an unpleasant experience, separate research by Morgan Stanley shows.

Queues are the biggest gripe for 38 per cent of people, while 25 per cent dislike the busy shops.