Do you resent being told you should be simply having a wonderful Christmas time — in October? Or hearing that the weather outside is frightful but the fire inside's delightful while it is still hurricane and forest fire season? Perhaps you simply don't care to hear about somebody whose heart was stolen last Christmas, then given away, before eating your Thanksgiving turkey. It isn't just you.
Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist in Great Britain, says that hearing Christmas music months before Christmas can cause stress, reminding people of all the things left to do before the holidays — buying gifts, making cookies, decorating the house, planning parties. "Music goes right to our emotions immediately and it bypasses rationality," she tells Sky News. "Christmas music is likely to irritate people if it's played too loudly and too early." And if you think it's bad as a shopper — Best Buy starts the Christmas tunes Oct. 22, according to the Tampa Bay Times — imagine working in a mall.
Subscribe to 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.
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproarSpeed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain PrizeSpeed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
-
Is Downton Abbey set to return for a final film?Speed Read Imelda Staunton reveals that a third movie may be in the pipeline
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 winsspeed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
-
'Rust' armorer convicted of manslaughterspeed read The film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal
