Postvacational depression, what is behind?

What hides behind postvacational depression? Imagine that we are under the umbrella on the beach and with a soda in the hand. We are hot and we take a bath. We swim a little, we make the dead, we dive, we play the sand from the background with our hands, observe around us and return to the sand to sunbathe. We had been waiting for our vacations for months. So, apart from knocking down under the sun as iguanas, we also took the opportunity to eat a little more about the account, know new places and try different restaurants.

However, and despite the disconnection period, When we return to day to day, we begin to feel apathy, sadness, lack of vitality, certain desire to cry .. What is happening to us? When we face our usual routine we begin to experience depressive symptoms. It is, neither more nor less, of the well -known as Postvacational depression. But what is behind? How can we face it? Can it be prevented? In this article are the answers. Let's start!

Content

• Postvacational depression
• How to face postvacational depression
  • 1. Give it fair importance
  • 2. Come back
• How to prevent postvacational depression
  • Make your life a pleasant place
• Final reflection
  • Bibliography

Postvacational depression

Postvacational syndrome or depression is a set of depressive symptoms that occur once we return to our day to day after holidays. As Flórez (2000) describes it in his article Postvacational syndrome, is about "A psychological reactivity characterized by boiled and tiredness, disenchantment, inhibition, anhedonia, sadness, general discomfort, anxiety, social phobia, etc.". On the other hand, this type of depression can be encompassed within Short duration depressive episode (4-13 days) recognized by the DSM-5 (2013).

It is important to note that it is something short that can go from 3 or 4 days until two weeks. Even so, have the duration you have, It is important to know how to face it in the best possible way To have a lower impact on our lives. For this reason, in the following we will see how to face postvacational depression and learn something very important, how to prevent it.

How to face postvacational depression

1. Give it fair importance

It is important to know that these symptoms can appear after a holiday period and that It is something temporary. This information will help us give it fair importance. However, it is not about minimizing their consequences, but not magnifying them to prevent them from lengthening or even chronatic. The fact of being aware that for a few days we can be apathetic and with a certain degree of sadness, It will help us prevent us from focusing excessively on negative aspects.

"I don't feel like doing anything", "I'm tired", "I'm discouraged", "I don't feel like leaving home today, they are phrases that we can tell us after a holiday period. It is normal and nothing happens. The problem arises when these statements and depressive symptoms extend beyond an adaptation time considered "normal" how can two weeks be. Thus, Instead of focusing our attention on the negative, we will focus on the positive aspects of our day to day.

2. Come back

For example, if we start working on a Monday, it will be advisable to return home on Saturday or Friday. It is true that we lose one or two days of vacation, but in this way we get two benefits. On one side, We avoid a radical change. If we return a Sunday and start working on a Monday, the change is more abrupt. So, on the other hand, by avoiding abrupt change, We allow ourselves a psychological readjustment to routine.

For example, once we return, it is positive that we go for a walk through the neighborhood, the town or the city. We can also make the necessary purchases, we can keep friends and family. That is, returning on vacation is not synonymous with stopping enjoying, but It is very beneficial to return to normal gradually so that in this way the transition at the psychological level is as comfortable as possible.

How to prevent postvacational depression

Make your life a pleasant place

Without a doubt, this point is key, so we can sign up on one paper the following phrase and hang it on the walls of the house: "Make your life a pleasant place". An obvious issue and that we do not really formulate the frequency that we should is: why do we want so much desire for the weekend? And in this case, why do we take holidays as May water? The answer is simple and somewhat disturbing: We are not happy with our life. The fact of depositing so many expectations in the disconnection periods can be equivalent to the fact that during the week we do not have a full life.

Obviously it cannot be generalized, but in the vast majority of cases the background of postvacational depression hides a day to day in which happiness shines for its absence. Although we can do many activities, Do we feel full? Are we happy with the life we ​​have built or do we only settle for being mere spectators? These reflections are fundamental because if we work to have a full life, both on weekends and holidays will be an important period, but when returning to our routine the change will be much less shocking.

Thus, It will be key to make our lives a pleasant place. For example, we can dedicate a time of personal development through meditation. We can also do sports, go for a walk or perform any other physical activity. On the other hand, we have associated certain days of the week to work and others to rest. However, in some cultures, when leaving work they stand in a bar with friends or family to take something, that is, to socialize. In this way, we can break certain established barriers and enjoy working days.

Final reflection

If many, reading this, we think we don't have time for us, then we will be doing wrong. What are we prioritizing? What activities can we change? Maybe if we calculate the time we spend on social networks we realize that we can invest it in a more enriching time such as mindfulness. That is to say, It is important that we dedicate time to activities that really make us feel full. In this way, when we return from a well -deserved vacation, the change will be much less and we will live our life with more fullness.

Bibliography

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Pan -American Medical Editorial.
• Flórez, J. TO. (2000). Postvacational syndrome. Comprehensive Medicine, 36 (4), 121-124.