Have you ever felt frustrated when your long-awaited vacation arrived and you were surprised by illness?
This is known by some as “disappointment effect,” “leisure sickness,” or even “vacation sickness.”
Vacation Sickness
The term “leisure sickness” was coined by Dutch researchers in a 2002 study. It refers to people who rarely get sick during workdays but get sick relatively frequently during weekends or public holidays.
The researchers conducted a survey of 1,893 people, and the results revealed that about 3% of them reported feeling sick during their vacations. The symptoms usually included headaches, fatigue, colds and flu, muscle pain, and nausea.
Individuals were more likely to become infected during vacations compared to weekends, and the symptoms were more common during the first week of vacation.
It may seem strange, but it seems that reducing stress triggers migraine attacks. “When a drop in stress is recorded on a given day, they usually have a migraine attack within the next 24 hours.”
There is also some evidence that strokes are more common on weekends compared to weekdays in some groups. There is no clear reason, but the study authors suggested that strokes may be caused by “changes in lifestyle during weekends.”
What’s happening?
Another theory suggests that being busy with work distracts us and reduces our chances of noticing symptoms.
On vacation, symptoms such as muscle pain or headaches may become more apparent.
In addition, people travel a lot during vacations, and spend time in closed and crowded places such as airplanes, which increases their chances of exposure to germs. Traveling to distant places may also expose us to strains of germs that we do not have immunity against.
What is the relationship of stress to the nervous system?
Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, causing our bodies to release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.
Chronic stress can lead to persistently high levels of cortisol in the body. Over time, this reduces the efficiency of immune cell response to infection, making us more susceptible to illness when exposed to viruses or bacteria.
But in the short term, both adrenaline and cortisol can boost the performance of some parts of the immune system. This means that acute stress may temporarily improve our immunity to infection, which is why we may feel busy and stressed without getting sick. Also, the anti-inflammatory properties of cortisol may relieve pain.
When acute stress goes away, such as when we have a chance to rest, a sudden shift may occur. We no longer benefit from the temporary immune stimulation or pain relief provided by cortisol.
So, in this case, we may get sick and experience symptoms such as headaches and muscle pain.
Therefore, maintaining physical activity, getting enough sleep, and following a healthy and balanced diet can help boost the immune system.
