By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

The holidays can seem like a busy and hectic time of year, but there are ways to help those times run a little more smoothly.

Joe Vaughan, executive director of IHR, was a recent guest on the Community Forum, and gave tips on how to cope with nerves during the holiday season.

“Everybody says ‘Oh, you must be busy around Christmas time.’ Well, really not. People are busy doing other things – spending time with their family, getting ready for Christmas, doing those types of things, so by keeping themselves busy, they’re less likely to become depressed, and if they operate in a way that they can function around the crowds and they can predict when to go certain places and do certain things, they can avoid some of that, which will help decrease some of their anxiety, as well,” Vaughan said.

The full forum with more information can be found at wjez.com.