Looking to relieve your stress during the holiday season? Those cheesy movies will do the trick
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Just between us...do you like to snuggle up this time of year with one of those cheesy holiday movies? Well, take heart, it can be good for you!
We're not talking Die Hard here. We're talking about those holiday movies that have become like comfort food for your soul. You know that from the time it begins, it usually gets to the kiss. There's always the romance, usually with a twist.
Dr. Chivonna Childs at The Cleveland Clinic said there's a physical comfort to immersing ourselves in these movies.
"We can connect with those people, and we can have that feel-good moment," she said. "It increases our endorphins and increases our oxytocin, which is that feel-good hormone. It gives us that true, warm and fuzzy feeling."
It's not just the cheesy moments, it's also seeing characters joyfully handling or dealing with the challenges that the holidays present.
"Taking all of that in, that can decrease stress and anxiety," Dr. Childs explained. "It decreases levels of depression. It can just make us feel, overall, really mentally healthy."
Dr. Childs said that while getting lost in the movies is a nice escape, she reminds us that it's a temporary revving up of our happiness.
"When the season is over, we absolutely need other ways to manage our frustrations, our stress, and our anxiety," she said. "So, finding hobbies, and things you like [is important.]"
Bottom line - Dr. Childs said a feel-good holiday movie can be a nice escape from all the seasonal pressures that go on all around us.
It doesn't even matter if we've seen the film before. She said even if you can recite the dialogue line-for-line, it's fun and it's a stress-relieving disconnect, even just for a little while.
