Crossing back to work

2000/09/03 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Anatomia/Fisiologia

The difficulties that arise to return to work and adapt again to the rhythm of daily work are called in medicine postholiday syndrome. Slowness, tiredness and aversion remain the symptoms of this situation that is not considered disease. However, if the situation lasts for 10-12 days you may become depressed.

According to Neuropsychiatrist, however, when talking about this situation you can not talk about symptoms, but about the discomfort that occur when returning to jobs that have been temporarily abandoned. There are people who are more at risk of falling into this situation of fatigue and immobility than the rest. At this time they are the most vulnerable people. So, when on vacation or in regular work the level of demand is not very high, they are well, they are not noticed anything. However, when the level of demand increases or the slow pace changes sharply, they reach the threshold of depression and anxiety.

In fact, aside from people who are prone to depression or anxiety, for the rest, in general, returning to work after the holidays is usually not sweet. The causes of this situation can be many, but in most cases there is only one: the lack of hope. And if the work experience has not been very good, the adaptation effort is much greater. Therefore, you can find meaning to anything that has to do the best, because you can anticipate that inability. German psychiatrist Victor Frankl, who was in four concentration camps, wrote: "Those who discover why they live will face all forms of living."

Therefore, as you can see, the return to work can become a matter of faith, which will not be so hard and that somehow we will be able to face it. Problems arise when the opposite occurs, when there is no faith in work. If one does not have self-confidence, there is no security, acts with fear, questions all work and everything related to work, nor is it rare to fall into depression. There are no magic formulas to deal with the crisis. Some prefer to dive sharply into work, others need time to get ready, to take the quietest things and to live the pace of work gradually. Whoever chooses one way or another, must complete the adaptation phase to return to work habits.

According to psychiatrists, if the adaptation phase exceeds 10-12 days, problems may arise. In these cases fatigue and slowness can become chronic first and pathology later. It's hard to think it can be important. It is usually believed that it will happen over time, although sadness is the main one. Depression is currently the most widespread disease in developed societies, since if you add those who have had it and those who have it at some point in their life, it has suffered approximately 30% of the population.

School is also the source of the syndrome. As in adults, many children find it hard to go back to work. Symptoms can be boredom, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Depression is often associated with adults, but also children. In developed countries, the average number of predatory children is around 8%. However, it does not treat them as much as adults, since they do not manifest depression as adults, who are sad, while children are aggressive and irritating. For younger children, getting used to school is often especially difficult and when the return is sudden it can be dangerous.

In the case of children who are somewhat initiated, it is very important to keep the topics prepared for the first days, which they know in advance, so that there is no traumatic event to be relearned. Therefore, you can take advantage of the last days of vacation, even if it is gently. In most cases, after a couple of weeks, children get the rhythm of studies and return to normal. However, do not forget that both at Christmas and Easter, children face similar situations. However, being the shortest vacation, the process back to the center is usually shorter and faster.

Therefore, we must address the pill of illusion these days after the holidays, it is clear, the unforeseen that may bring the days of tomorrow or of the past. Writer José Saramago said in writing about blindness: What sets human beings apart from animals is hope." So, reader, you know, keep the roof, as for next year's holidays there is less.

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