What is the Sunday night blues, and how do you say goodbye to it?

For many people, the weekend is synonymous with freedom, tranquility and activities with family or friends. But even if you’ve planned the best weekend of your year, there’s always a downturn when it comes to an end. Nervousness, depression, lump in the stomach… What if you were suffering from the Sunday night blues? This phenomenon is described by psychiatrist Florian Ferreri, co-author of the book “Beat the Sunday night blues” published by Hachette.

The doctor describes these blues in Psychology as “a certain gloom and nervousness. It’s a mixture of deep boredom and concern which causes an inability to enjoy the present moment and have fun on Sundays.” Symptoms can even become physical with tensions ranging “from simple facial twitching, to muscular and digestive pain.” If there are no studies strictly speaking on the subject, this blues would be frequent. According to the various surveys that have been conducted on this phenomenon, about 50% of people have already felt this specific feeling of unease at the end of the weekend.

Work can be a trigger

Many reasons can explain this moment of depression at the end of the weekend. The most obvious is of course the apprehension of Monday, and a new start to the work week and routine. If your Sunday night blues is work-related, several more specific causes can increase your risk of suffering from it.

• If you lack organization : on weekends, we tend to want to procrastinate on binding tasks, whether professional or personal. Sunday evening is also the rather unpleasant prospect of having to manage all these chores at the same time.

• If you are sensitive to rhythm changes : some people have a particularly well-regulated internal clock, and it can be tricky to escape from their habits. Getting up later than usual, not always sticking to your morning routine, or not planning a lot of activities can make the weekend feel unproductive. that we haven’t taken advantage of it enough. Florian Ferreri explains: “the further the day progresses, the less they (affected people) want to perform activities since it is starting to be too late to start anything.”

• The work itself If the Sunday night blues return every week, accompanied by a form of anxiety at the very idea of ​​returning to your office, this may be a sign of a deeper problem. It may be that your stress at the idea of ​​going back indicates that something no longer suits you. Whether it’s management, missions or the environment in which you operate, burnout may be waiting for you.

Children are particularly prone to it

If adults are often impacted by the Sunday night blues, children and teenagers are also confronted with it a lot. With Monday morning, also comes the return to classhomework, school pressure… For some of the bullying environments or in which they do not feel comfortable, especially at ages where self-confidence is rarely at its highest level.

Plus, who hasn’t put off the long list of graded homework assignments and homework for Monday morning? Except that of course, in this case, Sunday night is also synonymous with duty rather than fun. According to psychiatrist Florian Ferreri, questioned this time in the Figaro “Children are particularly affected because they live much more than adults in an imposed rhythm, on Sundays like the rest of the week, and they can have the feeling of always suffering without ever being a decision maker.”

Reduce the impact of the Sunday night blues

If you are prone to the Sunday night blues, certain techniques can allow you to reduce the impact on your daily life. First of all, if you are one of those people whose biological rhythm does not appreciate being disturbed, the easiest way to avoid the weekend slack is try to keep your usual pace as much as possible. All while practicing activities that you enjoy during the day, and not work. Wake up at the same time, carry out your daily routine… This will allow your body not to be too confused.

If your stress comes more from work and unfinished tasks, trylearn to organize yourself better. If this is not your forte, some tools can help you. For example, develop a retro-planning to better distribute your tasks. This will save you from having to do them at the last moment. By applying this method also during your working week, you will be less stressed at the idea of ​​finding a pile of files on your desk.

Learn to really switch off on weekends

Not having an obligation can require real learning. To not feel the blues, make sure you have better weekends. try do not concentrate all your activities on Saturday. On Sundays, go to the cinema, visit a museum, spend time outdoors or see friends… This will allow you not to have the impression of ruining your day.

It is also very important to manage to take time for yourself, and to really disconnect from work. We turn off the notifications, we cut off our professional mailbox, and we relax. If you are prone to stress, practicing relaxation methods can also help you reduce the pressure of daily work. If meditation or yoga are not really your cup of tea, you can also count on sports. It has been proven that the practice of a physical activity can help both for morale and to occupy the mind. Psychiatrist Florian Ferreri advises to play sports at least before 3 p.m. on Sunday to escape the blues in the evening.