Whether you're celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's or Three Kings Day, the added stress of shopping, decorating, cooking, cleaning and traveling can be overwhelming. This can contribute to problems associated with a variety of stress-related illnesses, including headaches, skin outbreaks, digestive tract problems, back pain, insomnia, heart attacks, high blood pressure and stroke.

The American Psychological Association and other experts offer the following tips for keeping stress at bay during the holidays:

1. Don't close yourself off from others. Be sure to make plans to spend time with family or friends.

2. Recognize that you have financial limits; make a budget for holiday spending and follow it. For many people, stress comes after the holidays – when the bills arrive for purchases they couldn't afford to make.

3. Set realistic goals. Don't expect the dinner party or decorating to be perfect. It rarely is and you are setting yourself up for failure and heartache.