The festive season is portrayed as a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration, and for many of us, it truly is all of these things.
But, for some veterans, this time of year can bring challenges. It’s important to say upfront that not all veterans struggle during Christmas: many enjoy the season just as much as anyone else.
However, struggles such as loneliness, financial hardship, mental and physical health challenges, and addiction don’t pause for the holidays. Sometimes, they are even intensified as a result of the festive season.
This blog explores why some veterans find the festive period difficult and, importantly, how we can all offer genuine support throughout.
Why the Festive Season Can Be Challenging for Some Veterans
Understanding the specific pressures that can arise for veterans during this period helps us recognise when support is needed and how best to offer it.
Loneliness and Isolation
The festive season places enormous emphasis on the idea of family and social connection.
Everywhere you look, there are images of families and friends gathered around dinner tables and children unwrapping presents with their parents watching in delight.
So, for veterans who find themselves isolated, this time can often serve as a reminder of what they don’t have or are missing out on, making feelings of loneliness much worse.
Some veterans deeply miss the camaraderie and traditions they experienced during Christmas while they were serving, such as enjoying Christmas dinner with the men and women they served and forged close bonds with. These experiences can be incredibly difficult to replicate in civilian life, where the same closeness and shared understanding can feel absent.
Loneliness thrives in silence, and the festive period, with its relentless cheerfulness and expectations of togetherness, can make that silence feel even louder.
Financial Hardship
For veterans and non-veterans alike, Christmas comes with significant financial expectations.
These might include gifts for family members, food for Christmas dinner, travel to see relatives, and Christmas decorations. For veterans facing unemployment or financial instability, these costs can be unrealistic. The cultural expectation to participate in gift-giving and celebration assumes everyone has the means to do so, which simply isn’t reality for many.
There are also many veterans who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, making the season particularly difficult.
The expectation to participate in traditional celebrations can create deep shame and stress when the resources simply aren’t there, and beyond that, the cold of winter can pose a significant threat to the lives of those veterans without a roof over their heads over the Christmas season.
Mental Health and Addiction Challenges
For veterans managing post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions, the festive season can present more triggers than normal. Busy shopping centres and loud family gatherings are just a couple of the environments that can be overwhelming for someone dealing with heightened anxiety or hypervigilance.
It should also be noted that alcohol consumption typically increases dramatically during the holidays, and drinking more becomes far more socially acceptable.
For veterans battling addiction, being surrounded by drinking at every social event can make recovery feel exponentially harder. The combination of social isolation, stress, readily available alcohol, and reduced daily structure can create what feels like a perfect storm.
Some veterans may also be experiencing moral injury, which is the deep psychological impact of actions or witnessing events during service that conflict fundamentally with their values. This can feel particularly acute during a season so focused on goodwill and harmony, creating an internal struggle that’s difficult to articulate to others.
If You’re a Veteran Struggling This Season
If you’re a veteran finding this time of year difficult, know that there is no shame in that.
Reaching out is strength, not weakness. One of the most powerful things you can do is reach out, whether that’s to friends, family, fellow veterans, or support organisations.
Loneliness and pain thrive in isolation. When you ask for help, you give people the chance to support you in the ways you most need. You don’t have to face this season alone, and you don’t have to carry everything by yourself.
It’s also okay to do things differently. You don’t have to participate in every tradition or attend every gathering, and it is perfectly acceptable to set boundaries around what you can and can’t manage.
Support Resources Available Year-Round
Combat Stress – Specialist mental health treatment for veterans, including support for those struggling with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and addiction.
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OP COURAGE – NHS specialist mental health services for veterans across England, providing assessment, treatment, and care for service-related mental health conditions.
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SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) – Practical, emotional, and financial support for veterans and their families facing hardship.
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Samaritans – Confidential emotional support for anyone experiencing distress or struggling to cope, available 24/7.
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Walking With The Wounded – Employment support, mental health services, and care coordination to help veterans and their families achieve independence.
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Care after Combat – Specialised mentorship and support for veterans in the justice system, providing non-judgemental guidance during and after release.
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Supporting a Veteran This Festive Season: Guidance for Family and Friends
If you’re supporting a veteran through the festive period, your care and understanding can make an enormous difference. It may not always be easy to know what to say or do, but your willingness to listen and adapt means more than you might realise.
Here are some practical ways you can support the veterans in your life:
Communication is Key
The most important thing you can do is ask the veteran in your life what they need. What feels manageable for them this season? What situations might they prefer to avoid? How can you best support them during gatherings or family events?
Listen without judgement and take their concerns seriously. It’s important not to make assumptions about what they should be able to handle based on what they’ve managed before or what others can do.
As the season gets busier, try to check in regularly, not just during the big events but in the quiet moments too. Sometimes those are when support is needed most.
Adapt Traditions and Expectations
Be genuinely willing to change traditions if needed.
This doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice having an amazing Christmas celebration, but creating celebrations that work for everyone in your family is a brilliant way to show veterans that you see them and want them to be a part of the festivities.
This might mean having smaller, quieter gatherings instead of large parties with dozens of people or avoiding crowded shopping centres and Christmas markets in favour of opting for online shopping instead.
Avoid Guilt and Shame
Never make a veteran feel guilty for struggling or for needing to do things differently. Comments like “but it’s Christmas” or “can’t you just try to enjoy it?” are genuinely harmful, even when they’re well-intentioned.
They add pressure and shame to someone who’s already struggling, making them feel as though they’re letting people down or ruining things for others.
Veterans may not be able to participate in festivities the way they did before their service, and that’s absolutely okay. Their wellbeing is more important than appearances or meeting others’ expectations.
Ways to Help Veterans This Christmas
These initiatives make a real, tangible difference to veterans facing hardship, ensuring they’re not forgotten during what should be a time of warmth and support.
The Veterans Charity – Be A Christmas Hero Appeal
The Veterans Charity’s Christmas campaign provides essential support to veterans and their families who are facing hardship during the festive season. Donations help fund Christmas support packages filled with food, festive treats, and essential supplies; practical help that can transform someone’s Christmas from a time of stress into something special.
For someone facing financial hardship, knowing that Christmas dinner is taken care of or that there are gifts for their children can lift an enormous weight.
Support the Be A Christmas Hero Appeal.
SSAFA – Christmas Appeal
SSAFA’s Christmas Appeal focuses specifically on helping veterans who have recently escaped homelessness. After the incredible achievement of securing housing, these veterans can find themselves in empty properties without the everyday household items most of us take for granted.
Donations help veterans purchase essentials for their new homes. These might be kitchen equipment for cooking meals, bedding for a comfortable night’s sleep, towels, and basic furniture.
Contribute to SSAFA’s Christmas Appeal.
Care after Combat – Supporting Veterans in the Justice System Over Christmas
The festive season doesn’t change our commitment to veterans in the justice system. Throughout December, we continue providing one-to-one mentorship to veterans during their time in the justice system and after their release.
Your donation helps ensure that veterans receive consistent, non-judgemental support even during the holidays, a time when isolation and lack of structure can be particularly challenging for those we work with. Every contribution helps us be there for veterans when they need us, offering the support that has helped reduce reoffending rates to just one-fifth of the national average.
Support our work this Christmas.
Walking With The Wounded – Walking Home for Christmas
This fundraiser offers a wonderful way to combine festive activity with meaningful support for veterans. Walking With The Wounded challenges supporters to raise funds by taking on a sponsored walk with family, friends, and colleagues throughout December.
The funds raised will go toward supporting veterans and their families, not just throughout December, but in the months beyond.
Join the Walking Home for Christmas fundraiser.
Help for Heroes – Send a Message to a Veteran
Sometimes the simplest gestures carry the most meaning. Help for Heroes invites people to write messages of support to veterans during the festive season. You can write to a specific veteran if you know someone or send a message to veterans in general. All messages appear on the Help for Heroes online message wall, where veterans can read them.
It’s a small act that takes just minutes but can genuinely brighten someone’s day. For a veteran spending Christmas alone or feeling forgotten, knowing that someone took the time to send a kind message can be so incredibly valuable.
Supporting Each Other This Christmas
Every conversation, every adapted tradition, every donation, and every message of support can make a genuine difference to someone’s experience of this season.
This Christmas, let’s ensure that support, understanding, and compassion extend to everyone. The true spirit of the season isn’t about perfect celebrations or elaborate meals. It’s about being there for one another, especially when times are tough. That’s something we can all be part of, and it’s what really matters.
If you or a veteran in the justice system that you know needs support, please don’t hesitate to reach out. No one should face difficult times alone, and that’s especially true during the holiday season.