The weeks leading up to Christmas can be quite stressful for some people, especially for those in the medical profession who have to work over the holidays. This Christmas season, I want to challenge you to overcome the stress associated with today’s society. As a health professional, you may very likely have to work over either Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. This can be very stressful because not only do your patients want to be with their families over this season, but so do you. I want to suggest a way for you to make this upcoming season less of a burden on yourself.
But the Christmas season is meant to be about happiness, thankfulness, faith, and family. Why let the expectations of having a perfect Christmas ruin such a happy time? I suggest that when the stress associated with the hustle and bustle of 21st century Christmas preparations starts to hit you, take a break. Sit down with your family, and watch a Christmas movie to reconnect with what the season is about. You can watch a sappy cliché Christmas movie that makes you cry which can actually be a release for pent-up stress according to M.D. Judith Orloff (2010). She states in her blog, Emotional Freedom that tears have multiple health benefits with only one of them being a way to excrete certain hormones that accumulate in our bodies during times of stress according to the findings of Dr. William Frey. Dr. Frey, a biochemist and author of Crying: The Mystery of Tears (1985), states in his book that not only do tears help to excrete these accumulated stress hormones and toxins, but they also help with releasing endorphins into the body. Orloff goes one step further and says that after crying, your heart rate and breathing rate decrease, which sends your body into a state of calm. Therefore, after having a good cry, your body has not only extricated itself of a surplus of stress hormones and stimulated the production of endorphins, but it has also naturally brought itself into a state of calm. The combination of these benefits makes for a very effective and natural anti-depression/anxiety routine.
The above image was downloaded from moviefone.com
You can also watch funny Christmas movies such as The Christmas Story or Elf to make you and your loved ones smile and laugh, which would also release endorphins according to many experts including Tim Murphey (2013). This expanding knowledge about the effects of crying, laughing, and smiling on the chemical secretions in our bodies supports the necessity of watching Christmas movies that will make you cry, smile, and laugh. Of course, you do not have to watch Christmas movies to get these desired results. However, Christmas movies in general have very uplifting and hopeful messages that typically derive from the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ. Over the years, Christmas has become more and more about presents and Santa Claus rather than giving thanks for the birth of Jesus. However, Christmas movies still preserve feelings of awe or magic, love, and joy that also accompany the story of the miracle of Christmas. That is why non-Christians can also enjoy Christmas, because the holiday season is naturally a time for happiness. Christmas movies often appeal to the public’s emotions by using plots that combine joy, sadness, and a sense of awe or magic which make us laugh, cry, and ultimately feel emotionally invested. Thus, with our knowledge of emotional crying and laughing, Christmas movies are prime resources for reducing stress. Happy Holidays and have a Merry (stress-free) Christmas!
References:
Frey, W., H. (1985). Crying: The mystery of tears. Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press.
Murphey, T. (2013). Know happy, know life! Journal of Saitama City, 3 (5) 18-21. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/6931924/Know_Happy_Know_Life_
Orloff, J., M.D. (2010). Emotional freedom: The health benefits of tears. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/emotional-freedom/201007/the-health-benefits-tears
Faye
I love the idea of this post! I watch christmas movies all the time (may have started last week…) because they always make me feel better. My only recommendation would be to try and add some more hyperlinks and maybe some festive photos 🙂
Theresa
Thanks Faye! I agree. When I have time I’ll go back and add some more.
Kaiser
I’ve never thought about using movies as a stress relief but its seems like a good idea. Also, have you heard of the idea of the 4 humors? This seems a somewhat like that in the idea that you remove something to help restore the balance in your body. Food for thought.
Theresa
That sounds very interesting Kaiser. I’ll have to look into it!
Kathy
Four humors? Is that 21st century medicine? I know people in the 19th century commonly talked about diseases being caused by an overbalance of one of the four humors, which is why they used to bleed people who were sick.
Daniel
Very cool post Theresa. I love how you tackled a subject that wasn’t very scientific and added a dose of science to it. Reading through this post was refreshing after seeing so many posts about the big problems of the world and stuffy science.
The part about tears releasing toxins and hormones doesn’t sound totally right to me. Maybe consider finding a more recent and reliable source.
Theresa
Yes I agree that the book I referenced is possibly dated; however, Judith Orloff M.D. is a professional in the field and posts her blog through Psychology Today which is highly renowned. I consider her to be credible, but I agree that more supplemental research may be needed, so I’ll look into it.
John
I thought this was a really interesting topic topic to talk about, especially because you don’t normally think about watching a movie to be good for your health. I thought the topic this time of year was very relevant as well, as the end of the year can cause a lot of stress both for us in school as well as professionals. One thing I found interesting when doing my research on the topic using this website, http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/why-we-cry-the-truth-about-tearing-up?page=3. I found that they said for people with depression and anxiety, crying actually is not helpful. In the article they did not have a reason for this, but do you have any ideas of why this might be? Maybe something doesn’t allow endorphins to be released?
Theresa
Thanks John. That’s an interesting thought. I’ll have to research some more to answer that question thoroughly, but I suppose that it may be because people with diagnosed depression and anxiety often have hormonal deficiencies that could be worsened through the act of crying. Everyone is beautifully unique, so one treatment method may aid an individual but also worsen the symptoms of another individual. This may be similar to why some anti-depressants can actually make someone’s depression worse as a side effect.