 The Appalachian Wireless Holiday Sale is going on now. Till the end of the year, visit us in-store or reserve online for an unbelievable sale on the hottest devices. We know what you want for the holidays because we are you. We are Appalachian Wireless. The holidays can be a stressful time for everyone for one reason or another. Many events and traditions can bring along with them unwanted anxiety and depression during the happiest season of all. Some tops sat down with Michelle Martell to discuss ways of alleviating holiday woes. One of the subtypes of depression is something called seasonal affective disorder and I think a lot of lay people have a common sense understanding of it that's pretty accurate. But I feel like that is often compounded by the holiday season that often occurs at the same time for most people because that can be a stressful time for people and of course anxiety and depression can interact with each other and exasperate one another. Many families have deeply rooted Christmas traditions that may bring with them sadness due to the passing of a loved one or anxiety connected to preparing meals or buying gifts. Martell describes why switching up traditions can lighten these feelings. There have been a lot of losses in my family and I think with the pandemic hopefully kind of coming to an end here I think a lot of people might be in the same boat with having maybe lost a loved one recently. That's another reason the holidays can be very stressful and can be depressing for people instead of like necessarily an unmitigated source of joy like we like to think of them being and that can be another yet another reason to not be afraid to change things up. Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy but is more often than not accompanied by stress anxiety and sadness. By scheduling down time setting up a routine or switching up traditions you can lighten some of the load and enjoy a much more merry and bright holiday. For Mountain Top News, I'm Kelsey Dean.