WEST HAVEN, CT – For many of us, seeing our neighbors' Christmas lights and other decorative touches is as much a part of the holiday season as exchanging gifts and singing carols.
Patch and T-Mobile are working together to help you put together a list of lights around West Haven that are worth checking out.
According to mental health experts, there's a good reason why twinkling Christmas lights and colorful displays make us feel good.
“It leads to this neurological change that can produce happiness,” psychologist Deborah Serani, a senior professor at New York's Adelphi University, told NBC's “Today” show. “I think anything that takes us out of our normal habituation, the normal day after day… signals to our senses, and then our senses measure whether it's pleasant or not.”
Decorating for the holidays “will spike dopamine, a feel-good hormone,” she said. “For many of us, Christmas is a magical time, a time of innocence. It is a time of joy.”
So who has the best lighting displays in West Haven? Send an email to vincent.salzo@patch.com and let us know the address. Please also send a photo (that you took yourself) so that it appears in our holiday report!