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Beat the Valentines Day Blues
Author: Jonathan StewartThose individuals who are in loving relationships for the most part enjoy Valentines Day and the season leading up to it (which now begins directly after Christmas in some retail stores). But many individuals are in transition, or they havent yet found the right partner, or they may be in a relationship that doesnt hold any value for them any longer. For these people, Valentines Day season is a real source of emotional pain.
Many individuals suffer from much higher levels of stress during the Valentines season, Frank Lawlis, PhD, co-creator of MindBodySeries.com and Chairman of Dr. Phils Advisory Board states. Couple the stress with the depression individuals feel when they are miserable in love and reminded daily by the holiday how wonderful it is when you are in love, and you have a recipe for both mental and physical distress.
There are also more incidents of colds and flus caused by the immune system being suppressed by elevated stress levels on the short-term physical side (long term, stress is now linked to some forms of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes). On the mental side, reaction to stress and depression can manifest as symptoms ranging from irritability to suicide and nearly everything in between. People who are stressed can become unpredictable, quick to anger, they may isolate themselves from friends and family, and often, this stress prolonged for a number of days will lead to depression.
You really can get assist for this, Kathleene Derrig-Palumbo, CEO of Online Therapy eClinic, MyTherapyNet.com. Its the difference between stewing with these feelings for days, weeks, even months or being done with them in a few sessions. She says that Online Therapy is a worthy option for individuals who are busy, homebound, live in rural areas, or even ashamed or intimidated to go to therapy in person. Besides that, its convenient, as clients can meet with a therapist any time of day or night and attend the session from the comfort of their own home or office.
Learning to relax is also very helpful in alleviating and reversing the negativity. This doesnt mean relax as in having a glass of Merlot while watching TV. It means clinical relaxation. On a recent episode of the Dr. Phil Show, Lawlis uses his MindBodySeries.com Relaxation Series to assist their guests recover from a home invasion.
Many times, we see that stress is having a significantly negative impact on our guests. Lawlis explains. By teaching them how to get into a real state of relaxation, they find that many of their issues go from looking larger than life to being manageable. Stress releases hormones into the bloodstream that cause a persons heart to race, blood pressure to rise, and neurological activity to be negatively impacted. The stress response evolved in homo sapiens to protect us if a tiger attacked, the stress response caused us to immediately decide between fight and flight. Stress filters our options down to two. But we live in a much more complex world now, with much more complex stressors stressors that can be addressed by many tactics the subtleties of which can have dramatically different long-term effects. These kinds of stressors present us with many options. The only way to be able to even perceive those options is to learn how to clinically relax as quickly as possible when stressed. Once relaxed, the person is able to see the options of the situation. Simply being empowered by having choices can be rewarding in and of itself. Most importantly, the person becomes better situated to making the best possible decision for the situation at hand.
There are also some simple things that you can do to minimize the emotional impact of Valentines Day.
Get together with other your friends and family, Derrig-Palumbo suggests. But stay away from those that unwittingly (or wittingly) rub your face in their happiness or your dating status. Surrounding yourself with individuals you love and who love you will make you feel better. And try to laugh a lot. Laughter instantly relieves stress and alleviates depression. Just laugh, even if you dont mean it at first, just the act of laughing will make you feel better.
And above all else reach out for assist as soon as you start to feel stuck. With the ability to use Online Therapy to instantly connect with a licensed therapist, theres no excuse for not getting the assist you need.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/beat-the-valentines-day-blues-103321.html
About the Author:John Stewart is a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers nationwide.
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Keywords:
stress people valentines even options feel depression therapy love man