{"id":66526,"date":"2022-12-28T02:38:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T07:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=66526"},"modified":"2022-12-28T02:38:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T07:38:32","slug":"holiday-burnout-why-it-happens-and-three-research-proven-ways-to-help-you-recover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/holiday-burnout-why-it-happens-and-three-research-proven-ways-to-help-you-recover\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday burnout: why it happens \u2013 and three research-proven ways to help you recover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nAlthough Christmas only lasts a few days each year, many of us spend months planning for it. But as enjoyable as all the parties and festivities might be, many people find they feel a bit burnt-out once the holidays have come and gone. This feeling has even been termed \u201cfestive burnout\u201d or \u201choliday burnout\u201d. Here\u2019s why this happens \u2013 and what you can do to recover after the holidays are over.<\/p>\n

Many of us are exposed to numerous stressors over a very short period of time throughout the holiday season \u2013 whether it\u2019s queuing for presents, sitting in traffic on the way to visit friends or family, worrying about money or even the stress of seeing family.<\/p>\n

As soon as your brain perceives a stressor, it ignites your sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body\u2019s \u201cfight or flight\u201d reaction. It does this to prepare your body to stay alert and get you through a stressful situation.<\/p>\n

When the\u00a0sympathetic nervous system is activated<\/a>, the body produces adrenaline and begins working harder \u2013 with more blood being pumped through the heart, the lungs increasing their air intake, and eyesight and hearing being enhanced. You may experience these changes as feeling more sweaty or having a pounding chest.<\/p>\n

But as we face up against repeated stressors during the holidays, this can lead to lasting changes within the body systems connected to this stress response \u2013 ultimately leaving you feeling\u00a0burnt-out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Specifically, it can make the sympathetic nervous system more prone to activation and dampen the effects of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps your body balance out stress responses. Add to that the increased production of cortisol, a hormone essential in controlling your energy levels, and you may find it difficult to sleep at night, become irritated for no reason, or feel over-excited and\u00a0unable to relax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, when your cortisol activation lasts too long because of a cascade of small stressful events leading up to Christmas, your body may start producing lower daily cortisol levels, leaving it\u00a0feeling drained<\/a>. Eventually, the constant activation of the sympathetic nervous system inhibits your body\u2019s ability to recover from stress and feel energised throughout the day, contributing to feelings of festive burnout.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re finding you feel burnt-out after the holidays, here are a few things you can do to feel better and recover.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Reminiscence<\/a><\/h4>\n

One way to reduce the negative impact of stress is to experience\u00a0positive emotions<\/a>. Reminiscing can also help you get a\u00a0new perspective<\/a>\u00a0on your experiences, which helps you see your life in a more balanced way.<\/p>\n

You can do this activity on your own or, better yet, with your loved ones. Reminisce about the good times using prompts such as photographs. Discuss them with family and friends. If you\u2019re on your own, close your eyes and think about your memories carefully, or write them down. The more effort you put into this activity, the better your results.<\/p>\n

Trying to re-experience the positive emotions you had during the holiday season will help\u00a0remind your body<\/a>\u00a0what it feels like to feel good.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Listen to music<\/a><\/h4>\n

If you find it difficult to relax, have difficulty sleeping or feel tired even after sleeping for many hours following the holiday season, try bringing more music into your life. This is especially important\u00a0before you go to sleep<\/a>. Music is associated with\u00a0stress reduction<\/a>, and reducing stress will help ease symptoms of burnout.<\/p>\n

It can be any music you like, so long as it does actually\u00a0make you feel better<\/a>. It you want to maximise the positive effect of music, listen to it throughout the day or try\u00a0dancing to it<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 either on your own or with loved ones.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Anticipate a good day<\/a><\/h4>\n

For the next week, before going to bed, try to vividly imagine four positive events that could happen to you the next day. They might be as simple as receiving a text from someone you care about, going for a walk, or doing one of your favourite things.<\/p>\n

Try to use all your senses when imagining this \u2013 then as soon as you are ready, go to bed. This technique will help you get a\u00a0good night\u2019s sleep<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and sleep is important for helping you to rebuild all your depleted resources and recover from burnout after the festive season.<\/p>\n

Although Christmas can certainly be a stressful time for many of us, remembering why we choose to celebrate with friends and family can help us to overcome any stress and burnout that we may now be experiencing.<\/p>\n

Author Bios: <\/strong>Jolanta Burke is Senior Lecturer, Centre for Positive Psychology and Health and Justin Laiti is a Fulbright\/StAR PhD Student, Centre for Positive Psychology and Health both at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Christmas only lasts a few days each year, many of us spend months planning for it. But as enjoyable as all the parties and festivities might be, many people find they feel a bit burnt-out once the holidays have come and gone. This feeling has even been termed \u201cfestive burnout\u201d or \u201choliday burnout\u201d. Here\u2019s […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[434217],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-66526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-holiday-burnout"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHoliday burnout: why it happens \u2013 and three research-proven ways to help you recover - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/holiday-burnout-why-it-happens-and-three-research-proven-ways-to-help-you-recover\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holiday burnout: why it happens \u2013 and three research-proven ways to help you recover - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although Christmas only lasts a few days each year, many of us spend months planning for it. 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