This time of year comes with mixed blessings. The feelgood sentiment of “peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind” is a noble one but for some people living in the UAE, Christmas can be a real struggle.
Unfortunately, the reality of this winter holiday can sometimes fail to live up to expectations of peace and joy for all. For some, it can be a particularly lonely time while even those surrounded by family and friends occasionally find emotions coming to a head.
For those who are spending the festive season in isolation, separated from their loved ones, Christmas is often a particularly painful time. Feeling lonely is bad enough but feeling lonely when we imagine everyone else is experiencing enriching family gatherings hurts even more. We might have been feeling lonely all year – but the arrival of Christmas shines a light that makes those feelings even more painfully obvious.
Psychologists have come up with the theory of cognitive discrepancy, in which we experience loneliness when we perceive a gap between our desired and actual levels of social interaction. The larger the gap between expectation and reality, the more isolated we feel.
For many of us, the habit of being surrounded by other people at Christmas is ingrained from childhood. Finding ourselves alone with no one to even pull a cracker with is a stark reminder of just how isolated we are.
Some UAE residents from overseas might be fortunate enough to have family and friends in the country or are returning to their home country for the holiday period. However, even if we are fortunate enough to reconnect with loved ones, that can come with its own issues at this time.
Large extended family gatherings, gift shopping and party planning can all take a considerable toll on our stress levels. These prolonged get-togethers can give rise to unmet expectations, perceived slights and the reignition of unresolved personal disputes. Put those people in a confined space for a prolonged period of time and that can create a highly volatile situation.
In a survey of 786 adults, published by the American Psychological Association, 44 per cent of women and 31 per cent of men reported that their stress levels increased during the holiday season. The higher number of stressed women was explained by them shouldering more responsibility for planning and preparation for Christmas and trying to ensure everyone was happy.
The survey also reported that one of the most significant sources of stress over the holiday period related to finances. Many of us face an advertising onslaught claiming happiness and joy can be bought expensively gift-wrapped at Christmas.
The commercialisation of the holiday has reached record levels. This year, spending on advertising over the holiday period is forecast to hit £6.4 billion (Dh29.69bn) in the UK, according to the Advertising Association. The hype surrounding the festive break promotes an angst-fuelled consumer excess that is powerful enough to drive some into debt.
As a consequence of Christmas excess, a number of countries record a considerable spike in consumer-related debt in January. Debt is a major contributor to stress and unhappiness. A study of 7,451 British adults, published in Psychological Medicine in 2011, found that personal debt was a significant risk factor in those contemplating suicide. However, according to Psychology Today, the highest suicide rate is during spring, not winter, with the holiday season acting as a buffer for those struggling with suicidal thoughts, who were at least protected by the proximity of relatives and the notion that their situation might improve. Spring, by contrast, roused feelings of hopelessness in those already suffering.
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With all the potential for stress, tense family exchanges and heightened emotions, it is unsurprising that January 8 is called “divorce day” because of the high number of couples seeking to split after an extended period of time together. The UK-based relationship counselling service Relate says there is enormous pressure and expectation of having a good time over Christmas. The desire for the whole family to get along with each other for tension-free fun and for problems to magically disappear adds another layer of stress to the equation, which can test relationships to their limit. According to a poll of 2,000 married people by UK legal firm Irwin Mitchell, one in five couples considered separating after spending the festive season together.
Fortunately, there are a number of effective ways to manage stress and loneliness. My own way of coping with such feelings is mindfulness-based stress reduction, which involves cultivating a more accepting and flexible approach to undesirable experiences, including loneliness. If you find yourself alone or lonely, that is one (free) gift to yourself that could get you out of a rut.
Dr Justin Thomas is a professor of psychology at Zayed University
BELGIUM%20SQUAD
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
- Level 2 features curated inspiration zones and solutions for bedrooms, living rooms and dining spaces. This is also where you’d go to customise your sofas and beds, and pick and choose from more than a dozen mattress options.
- Level 3 features The Home’s “man cave” set-up and a display of industrial and rustic furnishings. This level also has a mother’s room, a play area for children with staff to watch over the kids, furniture for nurseries and children’s rooms, and the store’s design studio.
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
The%20specs
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
57%20Seconds
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Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
