Holidays are often described as a period of light, connection, and rest. In public discourse, they appear almost monochromatic: family dinners, smiles, wishes, “let’s have a good time.” However, in clinical practice, and often in people’s private experience, holidays are something more complex. They are a period when emotions that remain on the periphery throughout the rest of the year come more intensely to the forefront.
It is no coincidence that for many people, this period is accompanied by an increase in substance use or other addictive behaviors.
The Social Normality of Excess
Alcohol, food, and overconsumption are an integral part of festive culture. Substance use is not merely tolerated; it is often expected. “Come on, it’s the holidays,” “we only live once a year,” “it’s okay these days.”
Within this framework, the boundary blurs. Excess is legitimized, and for some people, substance use becomes the most direct way to integrate, de-stress, or escape.
When Holidays Activate Memories
Holidays do not only bring the present. They also bring the past. Losses, relationships that were not mended, family dynamics that repeat, roles that seem frozen in time. For people who have experienced trauma, loneliness, or chronic relationship difficulties, this period can act as an emotional multiplier.
In this context, substance use often does not appear as a search for euphoria, but as an attempt to regulate intensity. A way to “lower the noise,” even temporarily.
Not Weakness, But an Attempt at Relief
International literature is clear: stress and emotional burden increase the likelihood of substance use and addictive behaviors. The World Health Organization notes that alcohol consumption increases during festive periods, while studies show a strong link between chronic stress and vulnerability to substance use.
This shifts the discussion. Substance use does not need to be seen as a lack of self-control or personal failure. Very often, it is a human attempt to manage difficult emotions, in an environment that leaves no room for them.
The Pressure to “Be Well”
Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of the holidays is the unspoken demand for joy. Sadness, fatigue, ambivalence seem almost inappropriate. When there is no room for difficulty, internal tension grows, and with it, the need for immediate relief.
At this point, substance use is not the problem. It is a symptom of a context that struggles to accommodate human experience as it truly is.
A Different Perspective
Holidays do not cause substance use. They often merely illuminate what already exists within a person’s inner landscape. When the perspective shifts from guilt to understanding, space is created for greater awareness, care, and, potentially, different choices.
Perhaps the most useful question during this period is not “what am I doing wrong?”, but “what am I trying to endure?”.
Narrative therapy invites us to view substance use within the context of a person’s life and relationships, not in isolation from them. Especially during periods like the holidays, this perspective helps to acknowledge the difficulties that coexist with joy, without rushing to fix them, but with space to articulate them.
Sources
World Health Organization. (2018). Global status report on alcohol and health.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2022). Stress and substance use.
Sinha, R. (2008). Chronic stress, drug use, and vulnerability to addiction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1141, 105–130.
