Holiday Anxiety

Holiday Anxiety: How to Cope When Everyone Else Seems Relaxed

While summer holidays are often sold as a time for rest, joy and sunshine, the reality can feel very different for many of us. If you're feeling anxious, unsettled or low while everyone around you seems to be soaking up the good vibes, please know you're not alone—and there’s nothing wrong with you. The pressure to feel relaxed or happy can sometimes make things worse, especially if you’re navigating deeper emotional challenges or life circumstances that don’t switch off just because the sun's out.

In this blog, we’ll explore why anxiety often shows up around the holidays, and how therapy can support you in feeling more grounded and understood—whatever the season.

Why Do Holidays Sometimes Trigger Anxiety?

The idea that we should be carefree and calm during summer holidays can create a stark contrast with how we actually feel. Common reasons holiday anxiety can flare up include:

Changes to Routine

Many of us rely on structure and routine to feel steady. When everything changes—school’s out, colleagues are away, the usual rhythm shifts—it can leave you feeling disoriented or out of control.

Pressure to Enjoy Yourself

There’s often an unspoken expectation that summer = happiness. If you’re not feeling that way, you might start to wonder, “What’s wrong with me?”—which can lead to more stress, not less.

Social Overload (or Loneliness)

Holidays often involve more social plans, or the pressure to have them. For some, this can feel overwhelming. For others, especially if you’re feeling isolated or disconnected, it can highlight feelings of loneliness.

Financial Stress

Summer activities, days out, and holidays abroad can bring money worries to the surface, particularly during a cost of living crisis.

Mental Health Doesn’t Take a Break

Anxiety, depression, grief, trauma—these don’t press pause just because it’s warm outside. Sometimes the dissonance between how you feel inside and what the world expects of you can feel especially stark during this time.

How Therapy Can Help You Feel More Grounded

If you’re struggling with anxiety this summer, you don’t have to push through it on your own. Therapy offers a calm, compassionate space where you can explore what’s going on beneath the surface—without judgement or pressure to ‘cheer up’.

Working with a therapist can help you:

• Understand your triggers and how the summer season might be affecting you

• Develop gentle coping strategies that actually work for you

• Rebuild emotional safety and inner steadiness in times of unpredictability

• Give yourself permission to feel how you feel, rather than how you think you “should”

It’s OK Not to Feel OK in the Sunshine

Feeling anxious when everyone else seems relaxed can feel incredibly isolating—but you are not alone, and your experience is valid.

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or just not quite yourself, therapy can be a supportive place to feel seen, heard, and held. It’s not about fixing you—it’s about helping you make sense of things in a way that feels authentic and manageable.

If holiday anxiety is making this season harder than it needs to be, I’m here to help. I offer psychotherapy for adults, including those who are neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, or navigating grief or life transitions.

You don’t need to wait until autumn to feel better.