The December Dopamine Rush, and the January Blahs

Hello Friends! The Christmas holidays were amazing!

Have you been looking forward to January with the same excitement? Probably not. Let me tell you why -

During December, we love the lights. We thrill when we hear our favorite Christmas songs, and all the other holiday songs too. We look forward with anticipation for the gatherings with people we love. We get excited about the food and the decorations and the parties. We treasure notes and letters in the mail from people we know but may not see very often. We anticipate all the gifting - the receiving as well as the giving. We love the messages of hope and peace and joy. And we relax on the days with no schedule or demands.

Did you know that with every one of those things that we experience during the holidays, our brains get a rush of feel good chemicals? Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin levels have all been running high. In fact, that rush of chemicals may have started around Halloween. So, we have been living on a high for several months at this point.

And here we are in January.

January is the month of no festivities. There isn’t a holiday that gives us that dopamine or serotonin rush. And guess what? We experience a dip in the release of those feel good chemicals that the brain likes so much.

During January, many people experience chemical withdrawals.

There is nothing wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with January. It’s the chemicals that are or are not being produced in our brains, as well as what we think about January that need help.

I would love to coach you on what you feel and think about the January Blahs. Message me. Or schedule an appointment on my website. Let’s get going and fix that Blah feeling!

Just A Thought