--- title: "Psych News Alert: Holidays Especially Hard on Those Who Are Grieving" description: The Christmas/New Year holiday season is often the most difficult time of the year for people who are grieving, Michael Miller, M.D., editor... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Xmas%20candles_65834404-Jun-24-2025-05-24-51-3802-PM.jpg --- 12/19/11 12:00 AM # Holidays Especially Hard on Those Who Are Grieving ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/12/holidays-especially-hard-on-those-who.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/12/holidays-especially-hard-on-those-who.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/12/holidays-especially-hard-on-those-who.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/12/holidays-especially-hard-on-those-who.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/12/holidays-especially-hard-on-those-who.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Xmas%20candles_65834404-Jun-24-2025-05-24-52-3670-PM.jpg?width=166&height=200&name=Xmas%20candles_65834404-Jun-24-2025-05-24-52-3670-PM.jpg)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Xmas%20candles_65834404-Jun-24-2025-05-24-50-4696-PM.jpg) The Christmas/New Year holiday season is often the most difficult time of the year for people who are grieving, Michael Miller, M.D., editor-in-chief of the *Harvard Mental Health Letter, *notes in its December 2011 issue. Among strategies he suggests to help grieving individuals ease their pain at this time of year are placing a lighted candle on the dinner table or leaving an empty chair on behalf of the deceased loved one. Another suggestion to ease the pain is to make a donation to a favorite cause in memory of that person. The death of a loved one, however, is just one of the types of loss that creates emotional pain and can be interpreted as a blow to one's ego, James Frosch, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, maintains. To spare themselves the anguish, rage, or other negative emotions provoked by a serious loss, people need to develop a capacity to tolerate loss, Frosch asserts. For more information about Frosch's views on this subject, see *Psychiatric News * [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=108268) . 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[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/05/gao-report-raises-questions-about.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T17:30:04.883Z", "datePublished" : "2011-12-19T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Holidays Especially Hard on Those Who Are Grieving", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Xmas%20candles_65834404-Jun-24-2025-05-24-51-3802-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/12/holidays-especially-hard-on-those-who.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```