LIFE & CULTURE

The Psychological Reason Why You’re So Anxious About New Year’s Eve

According to an expert

If you’re feeling anxious about ringing in 2019, there’s a very good reason why.

Psychologist Danielle Keenan-Miller explained to InStyle that by expecting New Year’s Eve to be the “most fun night of the year” you’re setting yourself up for worry.

“When people experience anxiety about New Year’s Eve, it’s because they have some kind of irrational and unhelpful thought about the night. Those thoughts might be things like ‘This has to be my most fun night of the year’ or ‘Everyone else is having fun and I’ll look like a loser if my night isn’t great’ or ‘If I don’t have an amazing time, that will be a bad sign about the year ahead,'” Keenan Miller says.

“The self-imposed pressure to have an ideal night can sometimes lead people to choose plans that they feel like they ‘should’ have, rather than the plans that are truly going to make them happy.”

So put down the jagerbomb and put on the kettle – if you’re planning to go all out on a night that’s not really your cup of tea, Keenan Miller advises against it.  

“It’s better to choose the plans that are closest to how you truly have fun than it is to choose a glamorous idea that is someone else’s idea of fun.”

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