​Leisure sickness: there may be no leisure, but we will thank it later

sBy Ellie Liverani

eli.liverani.ra@gmail.com

The holidays are supposed to be magical: party, presents, fancy food, lights and sparks. You are looking forward to it. You work very hard, you put in long hours at work as well as at home. But then you accomplish everything, you are happy and ready for the fun part to start, but bam — you feel sick.

I have heard this story many times (and experienced it first-hand). But I always wonder. Is there a particular reason? Is it “real” or just "perceived'?

Indeed, several websites are talking about it.It is called “leisure sickness.” Its symptoms are headache, migraine, a flare-up of other diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, or even a viral infection like the flu.

Every website seems to quote a Dutch study from 2002. They enrolled both men and women and had them fill out a questionnaire. I do not believe they collected any laboratory work. Interestingly, “leisure sickness” seems to be related not only to workload, but also to people's personality: hard workers, overachievers and highly responsible people are more prone to it.

It appears to affect a little more than 3% of the population, with a high percentage in males, although it is hard to establish any cohort with just one study. It can be due to dehydration, lack of rest, stress and traveling. But it was mostly explained with a change in your immune system.

Several immunologists provided explanations about adrenaline and cortisol cycles, pointing out the connection between stress and the immune system. Under short-term stress, the immune system can be overactive, offering protection. The body produces the stress hormone, adrenaline, which keeps our energy high. That is why during the stress of pre-vacation, we are able to work hard. But why do we get sick after?

It could be due to a “rebound” of the immune system, when the system needs to rebuild and repair. That is when our bodies are tired and prone to infection. When we relax, our immune system relaxes with us. In addition, adrenaline decreases, but other hormone levels, such as cortisol, are still high, and as a result, we feel tired.

I could not find any other studies, especially ones that collected laboratory work on the immune system. So “leisure sickness” is largely considered pop-science, or at best, it is psychosomatic. The fact that workaholics seem to be more affected can indicate that “leisure sickness” is a response to not working, which is stress for the addicted-to-work types. “(Unwinding” can be as challenging as work.) Leisure sickness could also be over-reported by perfectionists and the work-addicted, while the “others” just rest.

Well, disease or not, is there anything we can do? Self-care is highly recommended on every website. Keeping a healthy lifestyle when under stress can help, although preventing pre-holiday stress can be hard for some people. Do your best at work, without aiming for perfection. Although if you are an overachiever and workaholic, this can cause you even more stress. Know yourself and behave accordingly aka common sense.

During the holidays, we eat richer food, we drink less water and we do not move much. Traveling itself can also expose us to viruses that we would not be exposed to. All of these can contribute to “leisure sickness”. But should we give up our favorite food or drink for something that is not even considered a “disease”?

Regardless of the science, leisure sickness feels real to a lot of people. There is nothing we can do before or during the holidays but self-care and old-school common sense. It helps to know that you are not alone — 3% of the population is a lot of people!

It is just a shame that repairing your immune system does not look that glamorous, or it does not taste as good as apple pie. But we will be thankful later.