An update to the blog on Tips To Maintain Your Emotional Wellbeing During The Holidays.
Everyone looks forward to the holidays. Most people start planning their vacation much before the holidays begin. There is so much excitement about getting a break from your busy work life schedule and the opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family. The flip side is that some people tend to experience depression and anxiety during and after the vacation. We discussed holiday-related stress in our previous blog. Let’s now take a look the reasons and solutions for post-vacation blues.
What Causes Post-Holiday Depression?
Why do people feel depressed after a vacation? We welcome the holidays as it gives us the much-needed break from routine. You disconnect from the endless pressure of having to be available by phone or email. A restful vacation rejuvenates your body and mind. But feelings of sadness engulf you the moment you get home.
Post-vacation blues are common and vary from person to person. According to mental health experts, a lowering of adrenaline levels is responsible for triggering depression after the holidays, social events, or family gatherings. Emotional stress also occurs when your brain tries to adjust between significantly different experiences and return to the realities of daily life. Stress, anxiety, sadness, fatigue, lack of confidence, feeling less motivated, and difficulty concentrating and sleeping are typical symptoms of post-holiday depression.
Overcoming Post-vacation Blues
The certain ways to overcome feelings of sadness and depression after the holidays.
- Tidy Your Home before Your Holiday: When the vacation days are about to start, we tend to be busy shopping and packing. Between these activities, make time to tidy your home before setting out on your trip. Change the bedspread, pillows and towels, clean the kitchen, clean windows, doors and floors, and so on. After the trip, you feel glad and refreshed when a tidy home welcomes you. You feel comfortable and relaxed in this environment.
- Find Time For Yourself: Find for some quality time for yourself during trips and activities. Spending some time alone is important as your loved ones may not be with you after the holidays. Spend your ‘me time’ writing or reading something you like.
- Save Memories: Capture photos and videos of memorable moments during holidays and save it as a folder in your laptop. You can ask your companions for video bites of their experiences and most memorable moments with you. You can save them as personal mementos or turn the recording into a vlog by adding your experience as well and upload it on social media. You can even write a travel journal and preserve those memories as a lifelong asset.
- Take A Day Off: While planning your trip, include a couple of days for transition. This will help you cope with the return to the “real world”. Get back to your cooking, grocery shopping, doing laundry, and so forth. This will help you focus on your work when you return to the office.
- Start Planning for your next Holiday: Even if you take a day or two for transitioning, you may still feel a void. The best way to get out of this is to make sure you have something to look forward to. So plan something like watching a movie or a special dinner during the weekend. You can even start planning for your next trip, which help you recharge and keep yourself in a state of anticipation and excitement.
- Write Reviews: You can write reviews about the places you visit, the hotels you stay or visit and travel partner (if you depend one) either on their own websites or in your blogs. This gives you the chance to revisit these places and experiences.
Vacations can gift you lifelong memories, new knowledge, and even friends. Treat post-vacation blues as a common emotional feeling that comes with the memorable experiences. It is not even considered clinical depression. Majority of the people goes through this emotional rollercoaster only for very few days. However, if you feel depressed and down for a long time and can’t cope, see your doctor.
Enjoy your holidays and return refreshed. Follow these tips to avoid post-vacation blues.
Happy Holidays!
