AceShowbiz - Patricia Heaton won't be buying Christmas gifts this year as the pressure of purchasing presents during the festive season leaves her "anxious and cranky."

The "Carol's Second Act" star shares four sons with husband David Hunt, the youngest of whom is 20. And now her children are older, Patricia has decided to make a stand against the "commercialism" of Christmas and bow out of the gift buying process.

"This is the first year where I've told everyone I'm not buying," she told The Christian Post. "My boys are all in their 20s, and so I said to my husband after last year that I realised that I get so cranky during the Christmas season. This whole gift thing and it's just making me anxious and cranky. I just don't want the holidays to be about that.

"It's easy to get caught up in the commercialism of it all. Ultimately, Christmas is never about the gifts. It's about family being together and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ."

And the "Everybody Loves Raymond" star is hopeful that by going public with her decision, she will encourage other people who struggle with the stress of Christmas to do the same.

"I think a lot of moms and parents get anxious about gifts, and things like that make the holidays stressful and I think we need to work toward making it just about our family being together," she concluded.