Why is it that we sometimes get sick after taking vacations? Is there, therefore, a “post-holiday syndrome”?
Well, yes, it is known by this name, and it is represented by a particular condition of stress or despondency, a kind of breakdown that can occur after a period of intense emotions and stress. Some symptoms of this post-holiday syndrome may be the same as anxiety or mood disorders.
Yet, after a relaxing vacation, fitness should be great, the body should look rejuvenated, the immune system invigorated. But here incredibly are some ailments appearing, a sudden cold, some muscle aches, a bit of back pain, seemingly inexplicable phenomena after spending so many days at the beach, mountains or lakes, in the fresh air, eating healthy foods and in the sweet life.
In short, it would seem to be a clockwork malaise, even before returning home and resuming life as usual, a kind of “leisure” disorder.
Regardless of how one went on vacation, whether of the “complete rest” or “sports life” type, however there was a change in the usual rhythm of life, frequently a kind of “post-holiday sickness” can make its way in, which seems inexplicable but instead has its scientific reasons.
Here are some possible causes of post-holiday malaise:
- Return air travel.
Temperature changes due to air conditioning can generate colds, nasal drips, and alterations in body temperature. Low air humidity in the airplane cabin at high altitude can result in dryness of the respiratory tract. Many people also fear that they are breathing recycled, germ-carrying air; in these cases more than an illness as it is the belief that they are about to get sick. - Continuous exposure to external infectious egents.
The many contacts, especially when traveling to foreign countries, with hundreds of people in airports, train stations, ships and ferries, public transportation, and tourist sites are a source of possible infection, especially in this post-pandemic period, but not only because of the risk of viral infections such as Covid 19, but also because of many bacterial, fungal, or even foodborne infections. - The re-emergence of old fears coming to the fore.
Vacations are enjoyed by many, but unfortunately they include a number of labors such as traveling, paying attention to what you need to take with you (documents, certifications, credit cards, money, medications that you take regularly, technology tools to protect and not to forget in the hotel, etc.) These tasks can bring up fears, fears, cause stress and a permanent nervous condition.
It would be best, being in company, not to centralize tasks but to share them with one’s fellow travelers, thus lessening the burden of attention and fatigue. - Sleep deprivation.
If one has spent “good nights,” getting up later at dawn to take special photos, or taken ships or planes at inconvenient times, or traveled miles to visit monuments with interminable queues perhaps even in different time zones, then fatigue combined with lost hours of sleep may have created a specific psycho-physical stress with an immune weakening, which then upon returning from vacation may manifest itself with some ailment or illness.
One remedy may be effective time management, contenting oneself with doing a limited number of things, avoiding wanting to see just everything about a new country, adopting the habit of not giving up a sufficient number of hours of sleep, which induces more calm and reduces that over-excitement that causes people to adopt out-of-control lifestyles.
Generally speaking, this post-holiday malaise does not last long and disappears after a few days, but in some cases it persists longer, sometimes it can help to fade that condition of “blues” the closeness of family members or comparing the common vacation experience, sharing memories and commenting on the photographs taken. Slowly life as usual resumes and the memory of the vacation taken gradually fades.
There is also to take into consideration that the end of the vacations, as well as, the beginning of them, represents a break, a rupture of established habits and as such entails, alongside the positive effects already dealt with, however, a disorientation and readjustment with the aggravation, moreover, of the reoccurrence of all those problems shelved or postponed in view of the holiday break.
