Fast Pace Behavioral Health Offers Guidance on Navigating the Dual Burden of Holiday Loneliness and Grief

Strategies for helping you cope with isolation, loss, and emotional triggers during the holiday season.

Franklin, TN, December 1, 2025 — The holiday season, often a time of joy and togetherness, can also be a time when feelings of loneliness and grief are at their peak. The Fast Pace Behavioral Health team is providing guidance to help you proactively manage the emotional complexities of isolation, loss, and strained relationships during this challenging time.

Understanding the Dual Triggers

The Fast Pace Behavioral Health team acknowledges that the combination of social pressure and personal loss can make emotions difficult to manage.  Loneliness during the holidays is common, whether because of geographical distance, social isolation, or the stark contrast between personal experience and unrealistic seasonal expectations. The weight of grief, whether from the loss of a loved one or a change in a significant relationship, can often be exacerbated by traditions, music, and sensory cues associated with memories.

Nikita Duke, DNP, PMHNP-BC, VP of Operations—Fast Pace Behavioral Health, has found that understanding and anticipating emotional triggers can be important first steps in coping.  Such triggers, which can range from specific holiday decorations to the dynamics involved with family gatherings, can evoke intense feelings of grief.  Feelings of loneliness or grief may contribute to increased stress and emotional fatigue, emphasizing the need for implementing strategies that can foster connection. 

Nikita Duke offers the following tips to help you cope with feelings of loneliness and grief that may intensify during the holiday season:

• Acknowledge and Honor Feelings
  Allow yourself space from holiday gatherings to mourn or feel lonely instead of trying to force happiness.  Acknowledging your emotions openly is one of the healthy ways to process them.
• Practice Self-Compassion and Resilience
  It can be valuable to stay socially active, whether in person or online.  When doing so, you are encouraged to try to practice gratitude and limit comparisons of yourself to others on social media. 

• Create Meaningful Connections
  Even small, everyday social interactions, such as talking to a neighbor or attending a low-pressure community event, can help reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness.  Creating new and simple rituals, such as baking, journaling, or taking a walk, can bring comfort and a sense of purpose when observing past traditions feels painful or impossible.
• Seek Professional Support
  When grief or loneliness begins to significantly impact daily functioning, emotional health, or physical well-being, Fast Pace Behavioral Health strongly encourages you to seek support from our mental health professionals. Connect today!

“The holidays bring both loneliness and grief into sharper focus for many people,” said Nikita Duke. “By equipping our community members with proactive, compassionate strategies, we aim to make this emotionally charged season more manageable. No one should feel they have to navigate loss or isolation alone.”

The Fast Pace Behavioral Health team encourages anyone experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or overwhelming grief to seek mental health consultation. We can help. 

About Fast Pace Health

Fast Pace Health is a trusted healthcare provider committed to delivering accessible, high-quality medical and behavioral health services across Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana, Arkansas, and North Carolina. Guided by an unwavering focus on patient care, the organization continues to broaden its reach, enhance access to services, and create meaningful, lasting impacts in the lives of individuals and families in underserved communities.

Contact:
Christopher Craig
Senior Director of Marketing Strategy
marketing@fastpacehealth.com