Got a Case of the Sunday Scaries? Try These 7 Things With Your Pet
If you’re the type of person who likes to plan and prepare your meals ahead of time, why not get your pet involved? You could try making homemade dog food, or if that’s a bit too ambitious, make some simple homemade treats for your pet to enjoy throughout the week. For some people, meal prep can be a bit of a daunting task, so Caraballo suggests making it more fun by letting your pet be your sous chef. “Have them be your de facto vacuum as you are chopping and stuff is falling on the floor,” he says. Just enjoying that time together and looping them in, like you would if there were another person there helping you — that could be a really great way to make the experience more enjoyable, and it’s also a way of taking care of yourself, so it’s a win-win.”,You know that feeling when you’ve been enjoying a nice, restful weekend, and then all of a sudden Sunday rolls around and you’re hit with feelings of dread and doom? If so, you’re not alone. This common phenomenon is known as the “Sunday scaries” and refers to the feelings of nervousness that come with the start of a new week. A type of anticipatory anxiety, the Sunday scaries generally revolve around returning to school or work — and all the things that could happen once you’re back in the classroom or office. “For many people, the Sunday scaries can look like general feelings of nervousness or unease. Sometimes people have racing thoughts, so they’re really anxious and they find it hard to relax and hard to enjoy the rest of the weekend,” says Jor-El Caraballo, a licensed mental health counselor and co-founder of Viva Wellness in Brooklyn, New York. “It can be really disruptive in that way.” The good news is that if you have a pet, they can help you cope with the Sunday scaries — because they’re great for our mental health in so many ways. “Pets can produce a mild euphoric feeling and put people at ease. Even being in the same room or looking at pictures of pets has been found to reduce heart rate and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety in people,” Caraballo says. “So they’re really good to help ground us.” So the next time you feel those Sunday blues start to creep up on you, try these seven coping strategies that involve the ultimate decompression machine: your pet.
