eHarmony’s psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos offers her solution for the January blues- love. But in what way does it help drag us from the slump of the post-Christmas depression?
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Be sociable
Everything looks bad in January- our waistline, our credit card bills, our meal choices and our social calendar. The isolation is one of the reasons that this month in particular has such negative connotations.
Dating forces you to fill up your social calendar again- encourages you to make new connections, interact with new people and change our perspectives of the world, giving us new insights. This has a massive impact on how we see ourselves but the wider picture too.
Chemical reactions
The dull days can affect people’s production of melatonin and serotonin which are the happy hormones making people feel unexplainably sad.
If you are feeling this way, then it’s important to keep your mind active and arranging a date and all of the preparation both mentally and physically it will keep your focused on something other than feeling glum.
Self-perception
A new year often makes people scrutinise areas of their life that they won’t to improve, and neglect what they have achieved in the year just gone. There is tendency for you to focus on the negative rather than the positive and you become your own worst enemy because you can’t shut the door on your thoughts.
Sharing these concerns with other people and putting your problems into perspective can sometimes help you to count your blessings and realise what you have got and what you should be grateful for. If you are not your biggest fan- someone else might be and that is a huge mood booster.
Environment
Cold weather is perceived as a nuisance you can’t just get up and go out- it’s disruptive, you can’t see the people you want to see or do the things you would normally.
Try to turn seemingly bad things into good ones- take a walk in the snow and get wrapped up before you go. Go and snuggle up by a fire in a pub or under a throw on the couch and watch a good movie with some popcorn. Don’t let the weather dictate you- find ways to work with it and adapt it to your needs.