Putting up decorations earlier can help you feel a joyful innocence by allowing you to reconnect with your inner child: a less stressful time when Christmas was full of excitement, psychologists say.
Psychoanalyst Steve McKeown believes that the earlier you get into the holiday spirit, the better you will feel.
"Although there could be a number of symptomatic reasons why someone would want to obsessively put up decorations early, most commonly for nostalgic reasons, either to relive the magic or to compensate for past neglect," McKeown recently said to UNILAD, a British Internet media company and website.
"Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement. So putting up those Christmas decorations early extends the excitement!" he added.
Decorating the outside of your house for the holidays could even make you appear friendlier to your neighbors. In a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, participated rated decorated houses as more "friendly and cohesive" than undecorated houses.
For many, however, the holidays can be a bittersweet reminder of loved ones who are no longer present to share the celebrations with them.
Amy Morin, psychotherapist and best-selling author of "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," told UNILAD, "Perhaps the holidays serve as a reminder of when a loved one was still alive. Or maybe looking at a Christmas tree reminds someone of what life was like when they still believed in Santa."
"For people who have lost a loved one, the holidays may serve as a reminder of happy times they had with that person in the past. Decorating early may help them feel more connected with that individual," she added.
