When stress builds, even ordinary responsibilities can start to feel urgent. This week’s Mental Health Matters looks at why the brain can turn a simple to-do list into one big mental pile, how overload can make everything feel immediate, and one small way to slow things down before it turns into a true dumpster fire.

Holidays can be joyful, meaningful, stressful, complicated, or all of those things at once. This Mental Health Matters post offers a gentle reminder that you do not have to feel festive just because the calendar says it is time, and that being honest about what you can handle is not rude or ungrateful — it is human.