“The immune system’s natural killer cell activity is negatively affected by three “distress indicators” – one of which is lack of social support. One study of 75 medical students found that those who were lonely had more sluggish natural killer cells than students who were social” Andrew Weil, MD
Some family and social situations around the holidays can be especially stressful. You may want to limit these and learn more about setting boundaries. But this does not have deter you from finding comfortable ways to increase your social interaction and engagement during the season and for the rest of the year. Everyone is different in their need and tolerance of social interaction.