Putting Christmas decorations up early can make you happier, psychologist says

If you’re already yearning to get your tree out of storage and stock up on mince pies, then there’s good news. . .

• 16:28, 14 SEP 2019

Reporter Matthew Porter tells us, it’s going to make you happier and I’ve got to believe we need no studies to show that if YOU are happier, the folks around you are going to get some happier benefits, too. . .

The most Christmas obsessed people among us will already be counting down the days to mince pies, mulled wine (OK, Maybe not the Mulled wine) and presents.

But, while the nights have started drawing in a bit, there’s no longer a long way to go until that magical month of December.

Nonetheless, if you’re looking for an excuse to get in the festive spirit as soon as possible, then science is your friend.

Getting the decorations up early might draw groans from your less festive friends, but it turns out there might be genuine psychological benefits to savouring a few extra weeks of Christmas fun.

Y E S
it’s true:
I have my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree up
3 6 5
days a year . . .
S T I L L :

The impulse to get the tree out at the earliest opportunity has a rational logic.

Psychoanalyst Steve McKeown says: “Although there could be a number of symptomatic reasons why someone would want to obsessively put up decorations early, most commonly for nostalgic reasons either to relive the magic or to compensate for past neglect.

McKeown added: “In a world full of stress and anxiety people like to associate to things that make them happy and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood. 

“Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement. So putting up those Christmas decorations early extends the excitement!”

So there we have it. If having all your decorations up makes you happy, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t indulge your impulse and get that tinsel hanging up

THE REAL SCOOP?
The Real Deal
is that I’m not so much of a Christmas fanatic
AT ALL
even though I post on the
25th day of every month:
M E R R Y
P R A C T I C E
CHRISTMAS. . .
It’s not the day I like
It’s the the Season I love
It’s the
F E E L I N G
that I will forever strive to make
A
L I F E S T Y L E
and hopefully infect others
so contagiously
they’ll want to make it a
L I F E S T Y L E
t o o. . .

JOIN ME