A Mental Health Expert’s Guide On How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health If Valentine’s Day Triggers You
Valentine’s Day has me cringing. NGL, but I’ve been writing Valentine’s Day stories for the past week or so and it’s driving me up the wall. If it wasn’t for my love for my readers I would not be writing these stories. Having said that, everyone in Team Hauterrfly probably feels the same way because we’re an all women’s team and we are all very much single. We got no one to shower love on us other than each other. And TBH, being single around Valentine’s Day can be rather depressing and it often takes a toll on one’s mental health and I’m sure there are a lot of other people like us out there. So, I went ahead and spoke to our resident psychiatrist (aka my therapist) Dr Rahul Khemani to give us tips on how to take care of our mental health this V-day.
Dr Rahul Khemani is a consultant psychiatrist who has been in practice for over four years now. He completed his DNB in psychiatry from Tamil Nadu and offers consultation at Heart & Mind clinic in Borivali. He is also affiliated with Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital. Dr Khemani works with child, adult and geriatric populations and has a special interest in child mental health, de-addiction and psychotherapy. Without further ado, let’s dive into these tips to take care of our mental health on this pyaar ka din.
TIPS TO CARE FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH ON VALENTINE’S DAY
– Speaking about Valentine’s Day celebration for single folks, Dr Rahul Khemani shared though the popular belief is that this day of love is all about couples and spending time with a special someone, that is not true but that’s the one thing we all miss out on. “The fact is that we all need to understand that Valentine’s Day is about love and love can come from anywhere. You can find love in your S.O. but you can also find love in your family and friends,” said Dr Khemani.
– Dr Rahul Khemani pointed out that self-love is also important. “Find love for you within your heart. As cliche as this may sound, you can only love someone else when you love yourself and take care of yourself. Moreover, you can only take care of someone else when you are capable of taking care of yourself,” says the psychiatrist.
– “Stop comparing. There are all kinds of people who are single. There are those who could be single for a while, there are those who are single for forever, then there are some who are going through a breakup or maybe they’re someone who decided to stay single till they get married. Whatever the case may be, you do not need to look at them and feel left out. You are not missing out on anything. Life is not a race and you will get what you want eventually,” says Dr Rahul Khemani.
– Dr Rahul Khemani urges people to celebrate self-love on this day of love. Instead of pining for a special someone and feeling the dard of being single, the psychiatrist says prioritize yourself over everything else and take time out for some me-time. “It is important to have ‘me time’ should be an everyday thing and not something that you do on special occasions. But on Valentine’s Day make sure to take out some time for yourself and hit the spa or plan a camping trip. You can also treat yourself to some retail therapy or pamper yourself with aromatherapy or a massage,” said Dr Khemani. “Cheers to all the single folks,” adds the psychiatrist.
Also Read: A Self-Love Guide To Celebrating Valentine’s Week If You’re Single. You Love You, Boo!
Here’s to hoping that all we single folks fall in love with ourselves this Valentine’s Day.
