When leisure time is no holiday
Incredible as it may seem, a Dutch study has found that a significant
number of people experience leisure sickness. At the onset of holidays or
weekends, they find themselves developing headaches, nausea or even flu-like
symptoms.
What exactly is this condition? Who’s at risk, is it curable – and how do
you make sure you never get it?
“An ideal employee”
There has been anecdotal evidence of leisure sickness for a number of years,
and although there has been reference to the condition in medical literature,
there has been no detailed study.
Researcher Professor Ad Vingerhoets – from Tilburg University in the
Netherlands –decided to remedy this. And he’s probably the best person to
do it. As well as encountering cases of the condition through friends, he also
has leisure sickness – if only a mild case.
“I considered myself the ideal employee. If I was ever ill, then it started
Friday 5pm,” he says. By Monday 7am, he had recovered.
Prof Vingerhoets’ study, published in the journal Psychotherapy and
Psychosomatics, suggests that as many as 3 per cent of people are plagued with
ill health during their leisure time.
The survey of 1,128 men and 765 women from across the Netherlands showed that
sufferers experienced headache, migraine, fatigue, muscular pains and nausea.
In addition, viral infections such as flu-like symptoms and the common cold
were often reported during holidays.
Most of the people involved in the study had suffered from leisure sickness
for more than 10 years, and many linked their symptoms to both stress and the
difficulty in making the transition from work to play.
Prof Vingerhoets says, “It seems as if there are pre-disposing factors which
can be to do with a high stress load.” Some cases occurred after a stressful
or busy period in life, such as change of job, marriage, or birth of a first
child.
Personality also appeared to play a role. Perfectionists were particularly
susceptible, as were those unable to adapt to a non-working situation and
those with a high sense of work responsibility.
Travel sickness
The term leisure sickness may sound bemusing to non-sufferers, but Leila
Collins –who has had the condition for years – highlights the reality.
“I’m one of those people who has been sick around the globe,” says the
chartered counsellor and psychologist. “Flu, colds, backache, all the aches
and pains – you name it. You spend the first week of the holiday getting rid
of the ailment, and then the second week you relax and enjoy it.”
And that’s not to mention the weekends. Leila – who is also a principal
lecturer at Middlesex University – says that she and some of her colleagues
regularly fall ill as the weekend approaches, only to feel better again on
Monday morning. “A lot of people are like that,” she adds.
Her family treats it as a joke. “There’s nothing I can do about it – I
just live with it,” she says.
Immune system overload
Leila suspects her condition is connected with the change in pace from work to
leisure. “While I’m working, I’m feeling fine. You know, you’re doing
things and going from one place to another and keeping yourself busy.
“It seems that when you go off duty, your immune system relaxes and you
become susceptible to all types of things,” she says.
Carole Spiers, chair of the UK’s International Stress Management
Association, says this is a possible explanation. “People will normally
relate to the fact that you get your Saturday morning headache, or you go on
holiday and the first three days you’re so wound up that it takes you about
four or five days to calm down.
“It’s almost as if your body is working on high adrenaline throughout the
time you are busy working. And at the times when you stop, then obviously your
adrenaline levels go down and you’re actually more open to getting coughs
and colds as a result of that,” she suggests.
Change of scene
If this talk of leisure sickness is ringing a bell, you don’t necessarily
need to resign yourself to a life of all work and no play. Prof Vingerhoets
found there were cases of “spontaneous” recovery. However, in 85 per cent
of these cases, a specific life change tended to be the solution.
“Some told us they had simply chosen a new job, a less hectic and stressful
job. Others said they had developed a new view of their lives and had found a
new balance between their home and work life,” he says.
That may sound like a drastic measure, but Prof Vingerhoets says the condition
may be a signal that things do need to change in your life. However, further
research is still needed on the leisure sickness phenomenon, he adds.
Until then, maybe it’s best to bear in mind that all work and no play could
end up spoiling your holiday!
Further information:
International Stress Management Association
http://www.isma.org.uk
© HMG Worldwide 2002
http://www.health-news.co.uk/