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I write lots of articles about stress, especially workplace stress but as it is Valentine's Day, an important time in the annual calendar for expressions of love, an article on romance and stress seems relevant. On Valentine's Day, the romantics among us send cards, give flowers and chocolates, and take time out for romantic dinners and outings. The two Valentine symbols are Cupid and the heart. No doubt, Valentine's Day is as much about commerce as romance, with men spending twice as much as women, and over one billion cards being sent across the world. But how does romance flourish during tough economic times and what is the impact on personal and workplace stress?

Here is a simple conclusion: when times are tough people spend to make themselves feel better. They want to do things which are memorable, even extravagant. They want to feel valued and secure. They want to reduce their stress and they can do this through pleasant events, romantic interludes, and physical expression of love.

We are in the middle of one of the gloomiest financial times since the stock market crash of 1987. So how does this affect our feelings about romance and sex?

There are conflicting theories and research about the effect of sexual interest and activity during a recession. But is there a chemical basis to the sexual interest?  There are three main neurophysiological chemicals that affect our behavior: dopamine, epinephrine (adrenaline), and norepinephrine. These three chemicals are involved in arousal and stress although the main chemical seen in stress situations is cortisol. One of the earliest stages of human sexual response is called libido and we talk about people having high and low libidos in terms of the level of their sexual interest. Testosterone and estrogen are two chemicals implicated in libido but a major one is dopamine.

There are two different and conflicting points of view from the research about the relationship between sexual interest and difficult financial times as in a recession. One view is that stress causes an increase in dopamine levels and, as I mentioned above, elevated levels of dopamine increase libido. An increase in libido means an increased interest in physical and romantic relationships. So, one research conclusion suggests that Valentine's Day, recessions, and romantic and sexual interest would interact and probably reduce personal and workplace stress.

There have been reports recently of very large increases in people subscribing to websites like eHarmony, Manhunt and Match, Internet dating sites. As well, there are reports of increases in sales of sex toys around the world. From a psychological point of view, though, increased stress levels typically dampen arousal and desire. If people feel uncertain, insecure, stressed, and anxious libido is negatively affected. All of these negative feelings lower one’s feelings of self-efficacy and self-confidence. Both of these emotional states are important in terms of reducing performance anxiety and increasing pleasurable anticipation.

It is difficult to draw out the lesson from these two conflicting points of view but one of the constants in this analysis is the concept of stress. The events which surround us at home or in the workplace or in the larger society all affect our levels of stress. Stress makes us feel anxious, worried, distracted, and even tired. Stress affects our personal and our workplace relationships. Stress is manageable and requires us to work diligently to control and reduce our levels of stress. I would like to think in this time of Valentine's Day that enjoying each other romantically and physically is a great way to reduce personal and workplace stress and see the real value in our lives.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dr Jeff

For the team at mightydigitaldownloads.com 

Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about workplace stress, personal stress, interpersonal stress, and how to manage stress. On his blog,http://www.drjeffbailey.com, he answers questions from readers. He works hard to make his articles practical and helpful and all of his articles are based on sound research evidence and extensive clinical experience. Please go to his Dr Jeff blog to get your free report on stress.

Tags: manage stress, relationship stress, relieve stress, stress, stress at work, workplace stress

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 7:44 am and is filed under Dr Jeff on Emotional Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.