Welcome to Wellness on Mass. I'm Dr. Nicole Sapphire, and today's show is a great one because we are

in the thick of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, which can be a wonderful time for many.

It is a time for joy and family and togetherness and celebrations and rooting ourselves in our

faith or whatever it is that we believe in. But the holiday

season can be tough. It can be tough on a lot of people. Some people who are dealing with loneliness,

it can be stressful for kids. It can be stressful for adults. And it's really important that we

take the time to acknowledge what we're all dealing with. And I am very excited that we have

author Holly Swenson. She has a new

book called Stop, Drop, Grow, and Glow, forming deeper and more joyful connections with yourself

and your children. She's also a registered nurse and a mother of four. So she obviously knows a little

bit what she's talking about, and I'm very excited to have her on today. Thanks for joining wellness en masse.

Hi, Nicole. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So I have been talking about, you know, mental health, obviously, mental health crisis that we find ourselves in this country, not only are just kids, but adults too. This isn't new news. In fact, we've been talking about this for the last five to ten years. It's only just rapidly gotten worse throughout COVID. But I'm always so cautious to talk about it even more as we enter the holiday seasons. Because as you know, the holidays, it can be a warm, wonderful time for people, but it can also be tough for others.

Talk to us a little bit about it. Yeah, you're so right. I mean, the holidays are a joyful time for many, but it's important to point out this time of year isn't joyful for all children. I mean, as much as we would like it to be, there are a lot of realities in today's world that, unfortunately, our children are living with. There's a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression, and children are incredibly sensitive.

And so if there are things going on

at home, in the school, socially, it can really play out in not a good way for our children. And

so I think just having awareness, having conversation about this, bringing this to the forefront for

our adults, our parents, it's really important so that they can keep a pulse on what's going on think just having awareness, having conversation about this, bringing this to the forefront for our

adults, our parents, it's really important so that they can keep a pulse on what's going on

with their children, especially this time of year. So for, you know, talking to parents, because a lot

of parents, they always like to say, my kid's doing just fine. You know, not everyone is as in tune,

especially as we have a rise in digital media, social media,

kids are spending more time there and less face-to-face time with their peers, teachers,

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