Perspective

Valentine’s Day is a wonderful way to celebrate people in our lives whom we love. It’s a day of good feelings and good will, but celebrating it can also be good for your mental health.

After the excitement of the winter holidays, January can put someone into what Barbara Field calls the “post-holiday blues,” which can lead to depression.

So, Valentine’s Day is a small holiday to look forward to after all the glitter of the winter holidays. Getting back to business as usual after a season of excitement is difficult, and this holiday can help to break up that returning monotony, as well as –to put it plainly — make people feel good.

In fact, that’s science.

According to Dr. Kristen Mark of Psychology Today, celebrating successes with what she calls an “active constructive response” strengthens relationships by fostering “empathetic joy.”
And that idea translates to non-romantic relationships. Think about all the smiles you can get by giving your mom some flowers, or your friends some candy, or your siblings a heartfelt card. Doesn’t it just make you feel warm and fuzzy?

Obviously, roses and teddy bears won’t cure seasonal depression, but the warm motives behind the gestures can help alleviate these symptoms. Someone feeling dissatisfied with their life may rethink things when they see there’s someone who loves and cares about them. It’s not the be-all, end-all cure, but it sure helps to know people care.

Yes, Valentine’s Day is commercialized beyond sentiment and people can do nice things for the important people in their lives any day, so there’s no need to single out one day.

But I’d ask, what’s stopping you? To refuse doing something nice for the people you care about on Valentine’s Day because of its capitalistic connotation in your mind is still an active choice to refuse doing something nice for the people you care about.

According to Capital One, Valentine’s Day spending hit a “record high” in 2025, numbering at approximately $27.5 billion, and this is projected to go up by $200 million this year. Big corporations will continue to make more money, regardless. Why deprive yourself the joy of seeing someone close to you light up when you take the time to celebrate them? Why take away the opportunity to have a special day? To stick it to a holiday conglomerate that remains indifferent to your staunch beliefs? That would be a fruitless endeavor, my friend. Go ahead. Buy the candy.