This month’s health and lifestyle column from Corinne Yeadon, pictured, of the Being Better private therapy practice in Skipton

“There’s something about this time of year.” I’ve always believed this to mean that more bad things happen in the lead up to Christmas, I’m not sure this is the case, my reckoning is that the volume on emotions are ramped up at this time of year.

There is a standing family joke that I begin crying on the release of a certain retail Christmas advert and don’t stop until Boxing Day. As a rule, I am not known for unfettered crying but at Christmas anything can set off the waterworks.

Last week we said goodbye to our lovely cat Edward following a short and unexpected illness, this would have been upsetting at any time but the sadness felt to cut deeper as we returned home from the vets with the jingle of Christmas songs playing on the car radio.

People close to me are in the heart breaking position of either having recently lost a precious loved one or have braved many a Christmas day with an empty chair. Losing someone is never easy, irrespective of the time of year and Christmas is a challenge for anyone who has suffered a bereavement. It is often said that there are no good times to lose someone but there are worse times. The pressure of forced jollity for those left behind can be unthinkable, let alone the prospect of Christmases yet to come where anniversaries and associations are dreaded and keenly felt. Christmas is a time of reflection, it is natural for thoughts to wander to those no longer with us and to recall memories from Christmases past.

To experience heightened emotions at this time of year feels completely appropriate and proportionate. It is a once a year occurrence where everything is amplified and in your face. The important thing is to have the Christmas that is right for you and yours.

Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year for some but for others the desire is to hide under the duvet, bucking the usual traditions until it has passed and they may have good reasons for feeling this way.