Did you celebrate? 🌹 Or maybe… it felt a little heavier than you expected. Tell me in a comments What did you actually do on February 14th? how it was? lets talk a bit about history of this holiday. It traces back to Saint Valentine, a 3rd-century Christian martyr. According to later legends, he secretly married couples when it was forbidden under Roman rule ❤️‍🔥 Whether historically precise or not, one thing is clear: Love was once framed as courage. 👏 Today it often feels like a public evaluation.😅 Who posted what? Who received flowers and gifts and who didnt? Who is “behind.”? And that shift changes the psychological impact of the day. What actually happens to people psychologically? 🧐 Research shows that around Valentine’s Day: 📊 40–50% of adults report increased feelings of loneliness (including people in relationships). Here’s how it tends to look across February: Reported Loneliness (approximate trend) January baseline ████████ ~28% Early February ███████████ ~35% Feb 14–16 ████████████████ ~45–50% Late February ██████████ ~32% Why does this happen? Valentine’s Day acts as an emotional magnifier 🔎 It activates attachment systems. For people with anxious attachment: — fear of not being chosen — comparison — “Why not me?” For avoidant attachment: — irritation — distancing — emotional shutdown For secure attachment: — the day feels pleasant or neutral The holiday doesn’t create insecurity. It exposes what’s already there. Social comparison makes it worse 📱 Research on social media and depressive symptoms shows that upward comparison increases anxiety and lowers self-esteem. Valentine’s Day = maximum romantic comparison: — curated dinners — engagement rings — perfect captions — public affection Your nervous system reads this as evaluation. And evaluation activates stress. Loneliness is biological 🫶🏼 Loneliness increases cortisol. It activates stress physiology. It affects sleep and inflammation markers. Which explains why some people feel: