Alone on Valentine’s Day – what to do?
Feb. 14
Glenda Russell
Are you finding yourself alone on Valentine’s Day? If you do and you get
anxious and start to think it’s the end of the world, Glenda Russell, a psychologist
with CU-Boulder’s Counseling and Psychological Services, says to take a
moment and try to get some perspective, and stop worrying because it isn’t the
end of the world.
CUT 1 “For people who are the alone the first question I think they need to ask
themselves is what messages they’re giving themselves about the meaning of
their being alone. Often times people get in to catastrophizing messages about
this means I’m not loveable. This means I’m never going to be loved. This means
it’s the end of the world. Well almost never it does any of those things.” (:19)
But it’s not just single people who sometimes get anxious around
Valentine’s Day. Russell says even though the idea of having special days to
acknowledge relationships is a good practice sometimes, due to various reasons,
couples also can find the day stressful.
CUT 2 “You know it really does make sense that we would devote some days
each year to making it a practice to acknowledge relationships and to
acknowledge the good parts of relationships and that’s a nice opportunity that
Valentine’s Day presents (: 15) At the same time because the timing is not
necessarily chosen by individuals or couples it can come with a lot of stress
around how are we doing in our relationship right now.” (: 26)
She says one way for couples to avoid stress around Valentine’s Day is to
keep the lines of communication open.
CUT 3 “A lot of that stress could be taken care of if people would have a
discussion. If two members of a couple, say, would have a discussion about how
do we want to do Valentine’s Day? (:09) What could we actually do that really fits
our relationship, who we are as individuals and what we want to express to each
other? (:17)
Anxiety or not, Valentines Day is a moneymaker for florists and other
merchants.
According to eNation, an estimated 233 million roses were purchased on
Valentine’s Day last year.
More than half the gifts given this year will be candy, according to the
National Retail Foundation, spending $1.6 billion.
Men will spend an average of $175 on the holiday this year, compared to
an average of $88 for women.
-CU-