Much has been said about post-vacation depression, the one that occurs just at the moment of returning to the routine after a few days of relaxation. The "good life" and the disconnection with the world that has been enjoyed for a specific period of time collides head-on with the return to daily obligations, causing significant discouragement that inevitably affects the state of mind. On the other hand, we know little about the opposite case, about the anxiety that some people suffer when it is time to take vacations, which is what the vast majority craves.
Although it seems impossible for most mortals, vacation depression, or also known as 'depression on the deck chair', is a reality. It emerges among a very specific social profile and is produced by the feeling of emptiness when not being busy with work. Logically, it is associated with people with a very active working life who generally enjoy their work tasks.
"They tend to be very self-demanding, rigid and very perfectionist individuals, who also have a very addictive component when it comes to working, since they have to give everything and don't know how to delegate anything," explains Laia Arias i Queralt, psychiatrist from the Disorder Unit. Limit of Personality and Eating Disorder at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau in Barcelona.
The degree of self-demand of these people is such that "they have a hard time when the holidays arrive, because they believe that whoever stays in charge at work doing their tasks will not do them as they should and it will mean having to repeat them when they return," adds the doctor. It is an anguish that, more than a depression itself, is associated with a picture of anxiety and phobia. "For this type of addict, vacations can become a real hell," sums up Laia Arias.
These behaviors can also manifest as a way of escaping from problems, including family and domestic ones. "Work can also be understood as an escape route, because while you work intensively, you don't usually think about those things that cause us emotional discomfort," explains Arias, recalling that through boredom many people tend to rediscover their thoughts and This is where the worries begin.
But all these people threatened by their own problems and who emerge when they get away from their office, have mechanisms to reduce the impact of vacations on their lives. For the psychiatrist, "a good planning and organization of their free time prevents the individual from being absorbed by work concerns", which is why she observes that these profiles organize events of all kinds and at all hours so as not to have time to think about the job.
Addiction to work assignments is a pathology that few are aware of, but "it is much more common than we think," says the psychiatrist. In fact, medical experts insist on equating this problem with other dependencies, such as gambling, sex, and even drugs. At Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona, there is a specific unit for behavioral addiction disorders whose purpose is to treat this type of people who constantly yearn to return to work during the festive period. In this department, the families of these patients play a very important role because on many occasions there are dysfunctional relationships that reinforce this type of behavior.
In general, this type of worker ends up becoming profiles that are highly coveted by bosses, since they embody an almost infallible individual where the confidence generated by their dedication is complete. "For this reason, when these people start therapeutic treatment and are induced to reduce their commitment to work, those who immediately detect it are their superiors, for which they reproach the employee for the change in productivity," explains the doctor.
But the invasion of work into private lives and vacation time isn't just a matter of the obsessed. Some reports reflect data that validates the connection that many workers maintain with their jobs while enjoying their well-deserved vacations. Already in 2018, before the expansion of technological resources to carry out work from our homes and from our personal devices, 51% of the Spanish active population declared answering emails and answering work calls during their summer vacation or on their weekends. according to the annual study on the State of the Labor Market carried out each year by the InfoJobs and ESADE portal.
By job level, the more responsibility at work, the more this percentage grew. Specifically, workers with an employee position were connected to their work outside working hours in 45% of cases and middle managers in 68%; while, in the case of managerial positions, 84% stated that they attend to their digital correspondence and their telephone outside of working hours.
But for the psychiatrist, the patient's involvement is not only observed in contact with other people related to the job, such as meetings, phone calls, instant messages or emails, but it can also be observed in his inner world, in his constant thoughts. towards their tasks and obligations.
According to the Murcia Family Therapy Center, 'depression in the lounger' can also be triggered by other factors not so closely related to work-related causes, but which can equally affect many individuals. This type of anxiety can be caused by having too high perspectives of what our rest period will be, which does not always reach the planned satisfaction.
And another situation that can also cloud the mood of our summer vacation can be the discussion with the family, which can occur during those moments, since there are "more occasions to discuss with our family about all those issues that we had saved."
