The eight-day vacation for workers is more tiring than going to work. What can they do?

Socializing has a psychological and emotional impact on people, and some people fall into a vicious cycle of "constant holiday drinking", which ultimately results in exhaustion throughout the holiday. So, is there any way to maintain self-esteem without affecting relationships?

Written by Fang Xuanchang (popular science writer)

After three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a major change among the Chinese public is that they pay more attention to their physical health than ever before - this can be seen from the sharp increase in the number of people running in the park and the fact that it is almost impossible to get a ticket to a marathon of a certain standard.

Based on this understanding, we need to re-examine things like drinking parties and social events that have always been a headache for many people.

It is not to say that all socializing is bad. Living in society, a person needs to constantly make trade-offs and find a balance between life, work, socializing, personal hobbies, and health pursuits. As people pay more attention to health, this balance point can undoubtedly be adjusted appropriately and shifted to the health side.

Socializing is inseparable from drinking. The impact of drinking on health is mainly reflected in three aspects: eating, drinking, and smoking (including passive smoking). This is easy for the public to understand. In addition, socializing also has a psychological and emotional impact on people, which is less publicly discussed. In fact, this aspect has a significant impact.

A considerable number of people have experienced an abnormally low mood the day after a drinking party. There are four main reasons for this mood change. The first is the loss caused by the end of the party, which is especially reflected in those who like to get along with friends. The second is the influence of alcohol. After excessive alcohol intake, with the end of the excitement caused by alcohol, most people will enter a period of low mood. The third factor is the lack of sleep caused by the combined effect of the first two, especially excessive drinking, which will have a serious impact on sleep. Some people seem to fall asleep quickly after drinking, but in fact, the quality of sleep after drinking is very poor. The last factor is also related to drinking, that is, hypoglycemia caused by alcohol, which will make people more listless.

Most alcoholics experience depression to varying degrees the day after drinking, the degree of depression varies from person to person.

The way to prevent or alleviate this problem is of course to restrain yourself from drinking less at drinking parties. The question is, if emotional problems have already appeared the next day after drinking parties, how to alleviate or eliminate them? Here are some simple suggestions: replenish enough water and sugar, you can drink sugar water or honey water directly, or drink porridge, eat noodle soup, etc., to avoid letting the body be in a state of dehydration and hypoglycemia; try not to lie in bed all the time, do some soothing exercises (such as walking) appropriately; adjust your work and rest schedule to give the body enough rest.

However, some "experienced" drinkers have a simpler solution: seeking new drinking sessions and using the so-called "reviving wine" to quickly solve the problem of low mood and lack of spirit.

Does "resurrection wine" really work? Yes, it actually uses alcohol to stimulate the body to return to an excited state with a stressful nature. But this comes at a health cost: on the one hand, more alcohol is consumed, and on the other hand, the body is in a state of stress for a long time, which is also harmful to health (in competitive sports including marathons, the body will return to a relaxed state after passing the "extreme", which is also a state of stress and is also considered harmful to health).

For those who rely on "rejuvenating wine" to solve the problem of depression after drinking, the originally set "socializing-health" balance point is easily broken by the first drinking party, and they fall into a vicious cycle until they are too tired to drink anymore - this is the origin of the phenomenon of "constant festival drinking parties" for some people, and sometimes the parties themselves are not very clear why they did not resolutely turn down the drinking parties they did not want to attend. The final result of this is that the whole festival is very tired, even like a serious illness, and it takes a long time to adjust.

If you are the type of person who is easily influenced by drinking, then you should prepare yourself mentally on the first day of the festival and plan how to avoid this situation. Remember: there is no need for a reason to refuse social events. But in order not to disappoint your friends, you can make a plan in advance, take stock of the people you want to get together with, organize a good party, and complete the social tasks at the right time. And control your drinking in advance, and don't persuade others to drink - the three flavors of wine are worth savoring when communicating in a slightly tipsy state, rather than getting drunk together.

Or, you can start now and make a plan with your friends to celebrate the holidays in a healthy way.

The famous pathologist Ji Xiaolong once said: Festivals test a person's willpower. It depends on whether you can maintain your self and spend the entire festival as usual. With such determination, you can be calm even when you go to a drinking party.

This article is supported by the Science Popularization China Starry Sky Project

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

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