Welcome Professionals…
…today’s edition of Thursday Night Flight falls on Christmas Eve. For a couple of years in a row, I have felt sick on every Christmas break. I am not talking about all the social tension that typically occurs during that time of the year while sticking together with family members, in-laws and some distant relatives. I was feeling physically sick. I had a strong flu with headaches, fatigue, muscular aches and pains, and all the other sympthoms that typcially go toghether with a cold. I remember one night on Christmas Eve when I found myself lying under the Christmas tree at around 9 p.m. freezing and feeling terrible.
This was a classical state of “leisure sickness”. The phenomenon has been first described by two Dutch psychologists in 2001. They discovered that especially people with an “inability to transition from the work to the non-work environment, a high need for achievement and a high sense of responsibility” are suffering from this state.
If you discover symptoms of leisure sickness as well, take it as a warning signal. Do not underestimate the effect or even glamorize it as the typical working hero phenomenon like I did for a while. This is in most cases related to a high degree of perfectionism combined with deprivation of sleep. Two subjects that I have been dealing with in Thursday Night Flight as well. Check out these two editions if you ever had a case of leisure sickness:
I am wishing you all a healthy, merry Christmas! Take care of yourself and your loved ones and have a good rest!
Malte
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