Putting up Christmas decorations early can be good for you, according to psychologists, who say their presence makes people happier.
“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,” psychoanalyst Steve McKeown told Unilad.
“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.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Decorating can fill people with joy and also prompt them to share it with others, as it projects a friendly appearance to neighbours, according to a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Christmas may bring on “a bittersweet feeling”, said psychotherapist Amy Morin. “Perhaps the holidays serve as a reminder of when a loved one was still alive. Or maybe looking at a Christmas tree reminds someone of what life was like when they still believed in Santa.
“For people who have lost a loved one, the holidays may serve as a reminder of happy times they had with that person in the past. Decorating early may help them feel more connected with that individual.”
Twitter users are, of course, divided on the subject. Some suggested that anyone objecting to early decorations is essentially a Grinch.
And many had a set family tradition from which they refused to stray:
But others insist that decorating before December is premature:
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A silver-painted boy, a raging flood, and more
-
Roblox, one of the world's most popular video games, has become a bastion of hate speechThe Explainer The platform has over 111 million daily users
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU officesSpeed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
Nan who charges family for Christmas dinner puts up priceTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Woman solves 'rude neighbour' mysteryTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Office Christmas parties give us sleepless nightsTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
'Dead' woman nearly suffocated in morgue bagTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
World's 'smelliest cheese' hits shelvesTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
White Easter more likely than a white ChristmasTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Why Yorkshire town’s Christmas tree is still upfeature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
