An expert has come forward to confirm that putting your Christmas decorations up early can make you happier.
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year for many, and as soon as Halloween and Bonfire Night are over they start hanging baubles, stringing fairy lights and draping tinsel – sometimes much to the chagrin of a lot of people claiming 'it's too early!'
However, psychoanalyst Steve McKeown, founder of MindFixers and owner of The McKeown Clinic, claims that Christmas decorations are an anchor to magical childhood emotions.
Speaking to UNILAD, Steve said: 'In a world full of stress and anxiety people like to associate to things that make them happy and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood.
'Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement. So putting up those Christmas decorations early extend the excitement!'
There's something Christmas decorations that can make you feel more connected to your roots, provided that those memories are good ones.
McKeown's suggestion, as he told UNILAD, to get decorations up early might also be a good way to start your own traditions. In addition to the soothing effects of Christmas decorations put up earlier in the month, putting up exterior decorations can also put out good vibes to your neighbours.
Researchers in a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology showed participants houses with Christmas decorations and those without.
As they expected, people assumed that the residents with decorations up were 'friendly' and 'sociable'.
According to Psychology Today, most people do enjoy Christmas, with 74 percent of people in a survey they conducted in 2015 reporting overall satisfaction with their holiday and 44 percent of them reporting stress.
But the main point is that Christmas means nostalgia and nostalgia tends to take people back to their childhoods, where they were free of responsibility and a whole lot happier.
Christmas is a time when you get to reflect on the people who aren't around anymore – grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends.
Christmas and all the stuff that goes with it gives people a chance to reconnect mentally with those who are no longer here.
What do you think? Will you be putting your decorations up early this year? Let us know in the comments box below.
