Holiday syndrome is not a disease, but it is really fatal when it occurs? Here is the reason →

The Spring Festival holiday is like a balloon, "whoosh" and disappeared ~ these two days are full of voices such as "I don't want to go to work" and "I'm so tired and sleepy". After the holiday, it seems that it is particularly easy to go back to work tired, insomnia, drowsiness, poor appetite, and difficulty concentrating on work, so that you feel anxious, empty and even irritable. If you have the above feelings, then you may be experiencing "post-holiday syndrome".

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01What is holiday syndrome?

Post-holiday syndrome, also known as holiday syndrome, is not a disease, but a common psychological phenomenon that usually occurs after a long vacation, especially after a long vacation such as the Spring Festival, summer vacation or winter vacation. People usually experience the following symptoms:

▶Fatigue and lack of energy

▶ Lack of interest and motivation in work or study

▶Anxiety and depression

▶Headache or other physical discomfort

▶Sleep problems, such as insomnia or excessive sleeping

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It is normal to have these symptoms within a few days of returning to work after a long vacation, but it can also make us feel troubled. Through some self-adjustment methods, we can better help you get through this period. To get the adjustment method, we first need to understand why there is holiday syndrome?

02Why does holiday syndrome exist?

● Withdrawal reaction - like a heavy smoker quitting smoking, the happiness suddenly ends

What do we do during the Spring Festival? We do things that make us happy: sleep in, eat all kinds of delicious food, hang out with friends, etc. So we always look forward to the festival and are full of expectations.

Dr. Naomi Torres-Mackie, a clinical psychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, explains that after exciting events like the holidays, people often feel a sense of disappointment or depression . Looking forward to something like the holidays can make people feel excited, but when the event is over, the loss of this excitement can feel terrible, and there is almost an emotional sense of being withdrawn from the holiday joy. This feeling is similar to a person who is addicted to smoking and quits smoking. The joy suddenly ends, and the body produces a withdrawal reaction, triggering a series of discomforts .

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● The short-term conditioned reflex is broken

The term conditioned reflex was first proposed by psychologist Pavlov. It refers to the temporary neural connection established between external stimuli and the response of an organism under certain conditions. For example, we feel sleepy when we see a bed, and we subconsciously enter a working state when we enter the office. Many people sleep in during the holidays, go to bed late and get up late. This breaks the original tense and regular work and rest habits during the working day. The brain's nervous system will consciously remember the unconscious behaviors we perform in daily life, and they will be strengthened in repetition until a subconscious physiological response is formed. During the holidays, our brains have been receiving external stimuli related to rest and entertainment, and our daily behaviors are lazy, which form short-term conditioned reflexes in the brain.

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Therefore, when we go back to work, the rhythm of life is disrupted again, causing the body's briefly formed conditioned reflexes to be broken again, resulting in corresponding negative emotions and the physical symptoms caused by them.

● The implication of “ I can’t do it ”

Psychologist Pavlov believes that suggestion is the simplest and most typical conditioned reflex of human beings. From the perspective of psychological mechanism, psychological suggestion is a hypothesis affirmed by subjective will, which may not be based on facts, but because its existence has been affirmed subjectively, people tend to tend to this content psychologically . In the first few days after returning to work, many people were not fully prepared mentally, and they were more inclined to catch negative signals, which would lead to more accidents than usual. For example, the alarm clock rang but they woke up late, and then they blamed themselves for it. This feedback would further strengthen the suggestion of "I can't do it", making it more difficult to adjust.

● Physical state affects cognition

In addition, during the Spring Festival we usually go to bed late, have irregular schedules, eat and drink a lot, and our bodies are usually burdened and lazy, which also affects our work state.

Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, believes that our bodies constantly integrate the state of muscles and bones to obtain information about the whole body's movement ability, which constitutes our internal cognition of what we can do . In other words, a person's physical condition will affect the brain's cognition of its own abilities. The healthier the body, the stronger the self-cognition, and the more confident you will be in your work. And vice versa. Therefore, a body that does not get regular sleep and a proper diet will find it difficult to support our intelligent brain and efficient work.

03What can we do?

Strictly speaking, post-holiday syndrome is not a disease. It is just a temporary physical and mental disorder caused by a happy holiday, a process of going from tension to relaxation, and then back to tension. It can be recovered through active self-regulation. You can refer to the following methods.

( 1 ) Give yourself more buffer time . Now that we understand why you are so tired and anxious these days, give yourself more time to adapt. When you start making a new work plan, give yourself an extra day or two to use this time as a buffer before returning to your normal schedule. Remember to give yourself some breathing time, don't be too anxious, and take your time.

( 2 ) Find something to look forward to . You can plan something to look forward to. Instead of spending February in a daze, it is better to start looking forward to something new. Making an appointment with friends to exercise together, visit a museum exhibition, or have a meal together are all good options.

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( 3 ) Eat well, sleep well, and start exercising . We mentioned earlier that the body affects the brain, so it is also important to adjust the body. Eat a moderately light diet, go to bed early and get up early, and reduce the use of mobile phones. Start exercising and lose the three pounds of weight you gained during the Spring Festival. Start by walking more. Exercise will also promote diet and sleep, killing two birds with one stone.

I hope everyone can get through the holiday syndrome smoothly and have a good start in the Year of the Dragon!

Author: Yiyi, Master of Applied Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Reviewer: Tang Yicheng, editor of the National Psychological Service Grassroots Collaboration Network, deputy secretary-general of the Psychology Popularization Working Committee of the Chinese Psychological Society

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Produced by: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., China Science and Technology Publishing House (Beijing) Digital Media Co., Ltd.