The mental health organisation Grow says calls to its offices are increasing as the pressures of Christmas build up and take their toll.
"Christmas is a terribly stressful time for everybody," said Grow's national co-ordinator, Mr Mike Watt. "We always have more contacts at this time of year."
The organisation, which is part-funded by the eight regional health boards and the Department of Health, runs about 100 self-help groups around the State at any one time.
For some callers the pressures of Christmas come from "wandering around the supermarket and not having very much money and being bombarded with ads," according to Grow.
Increased drinking (Irish people will spend £300 million on alcohol this Christmas) adds to the pressures, Mr Watt said. "Alcohol has a huge amount to do with mental health breakdown."
As well as that, "parents worry about their kids down on the canal drinking cans. Spouses worry about their partners going to office parties and driving home drunk."
People living on their own often felt they were not living up to the image of Christmas, he said.
Indeed, much of the pressure of Christmas came from the fear of not being able to live up to the expectations which people felt were placed on them, but it was important to remember, especially for those who had relatively little money, that "real celebration doesn't depend on external things."
Up to 2,000 people a year go to Grow's self-help groups, Mr Watt said. Its headquarters are at 11 Liberty Street, Cork; telephone 021-277520.
Next Sunday night Ronnie Drew and Shane McGowan will be among the performers at a concert in aid of Grow at the Point Theatre in Dublin.