Do you have Leisure Sickness?

Harrie van Hoof closed his studio door and took a deep breath. At last, a holiday. But far from looking forward to the relaxing two-week break he had been planning for three months, the 45-year-old printer’s first stop on his way home was at the pharmacist – he knew tomorrow he would be lying ill in bed.

Sure enough, he woke up sweating with fever, every bone in his body aching, and the day passed in a blur as he slept, trying to shake off the overwhelming sense of exhaustion.

Once again, it would be a few days into his holiday before he could start enjoying his vacation.

Health experts have a name for this – and no, it’s not plain bad luck. Harrie suffers from a syndrome called Leisure Sickness, which makes such symptoms commonplace.

And for some people it is not just extended holiday periods that are ruined by illness – every weekend is the same, as they make the transition from full-on stress to total relaxation.

Professor Ad Vingerhoets of Tilburg University in Holland has experienced it too.

‘If I was ill then it was at the weekend or at Christmas,’ he says. ‘I was puzzled, and then I heard stories from friends who all said the same thing, and I thought, what’s going on? I tried to find some literature on it, but I couldn’t find anything, so I decided to do a first study.’

Vingerhoets surveyed 1,128 men and 765 women across Holland between the ages of 16 and 87 and found around 3 per cent of the population may suffer from weekend or vacation sickness. In a further in-depth study of 114 Dutch sufferers, he found that the most frequently reported symptoms included headaches, migraine, fatigue, muscular pains, nausea and, particularly in relation to vacations, viral infections causing flu-like symptoms and colds.

Many of those affected shared certain characteristics – a high workload, perfectionism, eagerness to achieve and an over-developed sense of responsibility to their work, making it difficult for them to switch off outside their work environment. And they all seemed to have these health problems just before or during the first few days of their holidays.

Vingerhoets coined a term for this condition in 2001: Leisure Sickness.

The professor believes there could be a number of possible explanations for the condition.

Those who push themselves to the limit all through the week may find themselves unable to let go of work stress and responsibility even at the weekend.

In an ideal world, we would constantly move between stress and relaxation, not allowing one to take over the other. But if we let work pressures build up and keep moving from one task to another without a pause, stress can set in eventually, causing fatigue to body and brain, he says.

If you are very busy with work, for instance, you might not recognise the warning signs that your body is sending. The body also tends to suppress conditions, recognising that you are stressed out over other burning issues.

However, once you are in a relaxed or leisure state, the body begins giving off strong signals about its condition necessitating action.

‘When you are in a stimulating environment, you don’t pay attention to those signals,’ Vingerhoets says.

‘To perceive pain and fatigue, you have to pay attention to your body. If you don’t pay attention to your body, then you won’t feel it.

‘For example, athletes and sports players often feel pain after the event or game rather than during it when their brain is focusing on the competition.

‘When people are very busy with work, they don’t focus on their body, so they may not be aware of the pain signals from their body.’

The syndrome also raises the possibility of mind over matter – that individuals have the power to postpone illness to a more appropriate time when it won’t interfere with work commitments.

‘It’s more or less similar to what’s already well known among people with terminal illnesses,’ says Vingerhoets. ‘It seems they can delay their death to allow them to see events that are important to them, like the birth of a grandchild, or a marriage.’

Another important factor is adrenaline, a hormone produced during stress that also boosts the immune system to help fight infections and keep us healthy.

But along with it comes cortisol, which can affect the immune system, weakening it and leaving it vulnerable to attack.

‘In normal conditions adrenaline production decreases when it’s not required, for example during sleep, when the body recovers and repairs itself.

Not giving our bodies the chance to recover from the constant adrenaline release can cause serious health issues, he says.

‘To prevent Leisure Sickness symptoms, it’s important to find an effective way to unwind and reduce adrenaline levels.’ And one way to do that is by having a good workout at the end of the day. ‘During exercises, endorphins, also known as happy hormones, are released, and they can leave you feeling exhilarated. It’s a great way to make the transition from work to rest,’ says Vingerhoets.

A decade ago, Vingerhoets decided to put his research conclusions into practice in his own life.

He has never looked back – since introducing a good workout at the gym on his way home from work every Friday evening and at the start of his vacations, he has never suffered any of his previous flu symptoms and has enjoyed healthy holidays and relaxing weekends.

‘My advice is before starting a vacation, take some rest. Never go from full speed work into full speed vacation.’

Problems occur most frequently among people who push themselves to the limit professionally during the week and struggle to switch off when they leave the office and have less – or different – levels of responsibility, he says.

‘Most people can handle a heavy, high-pressured workload for a few weeks, but not sustain it over the long term,’ he says. ‘Stress searches for weaknesses in your body and manifests itself in health issues.’

Aside from exercise another important factor is sleep. ‘Sufficient quality sleep is crucial to help the body recover between bouts of stress and adrenaline surges,’ he says.

Good nutrition too is crucial to prevent leisure sickness.

Nutrition experts highlight the need to focus on diet to maintain a healthy lifestyle and aid the transition between work and play.

Dr Sarah Brewer, a nutritionist and author of the Encyclopaedia of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbal Supplements, believes prevention is better than cure.

‘When I used to work in hospitals and would feel very stressed, I knew that I would surely come down with something the moment I had a break,’ she says.

‘It is important that you boost your immune system with nourishing foods and supplements. Make sure you’re getting a healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, and omega-3 oils. I would recommend a multivitamin and mineral supplement with probiotics. I also like Siberian ginseng, which seems to help the body adapt to stress and – some research suggests – can help ward off colds.

‘Vitamin C can help people under physical stress, and it can also help with mental stress, which depletes vitamin C levels as well.’

She offers a few tips to help you avoid Leisure Sickness:

Regular meals: Skipping meals causes blood glucose levels to fluctuate, which, in turn increases the production of stress hormones such as adrenaline.

Balanced meals: Your diet should consist of 20 per cent fat, 20 per cent protein and 40 to 60 per cent carbohydrates. Eat three to five meals and/or snacks per day, at roughly the same time every day. Our bodies’ defences are stronger when they can draw on a variety of nutrients.

Nutritious meals: The healthier your diet, the more resources the body has to combat germs and better cope with stress.

Dr Brewer also advises reconsidering where you choose to take your holidays. ‘If you’ve been under a lot of stress, why fly a long way to the other side of the world? Your immunity will be compromised because you’ll be exposed to bugs on the plane and in the foreign places when you get there. I recommend taking a holiday closer to home. Or what’s wrong with relaxing at home, pottering around, doing some gardening and going for walks?’

Vingerhoets agrees that sometimes it can actually be the holiday itself that makes us sick. He points out that changing one’s environment from home to a plane and/or different country can introduce new germs to the body, which can cause illness.

‘In different environments you’re with new pathological agents that can affect you, and you also sleep less due to jetlag, which might add to the problem. We need eight- to nine-hours’ sleep a night for the body to repair itself. Anything less and our system is weaker.’

A change in the water can also introduce new bacteria into the body, causing stomach upsets as one adapts to the new environment. Or people take less precautions around the food they eat, which can also lead to illness.

Another huge area of concern is staying connected. Experts suggest switching off from emails when on your holiday.

Several studies have shown overuse of smartphones can cause palpitations, high blood pressure and insomnia. For the truly dependent, just being separated from their communication devices can cause anxiety.

Check your phones for messages just once a day. It might take a few days to wean yourself off news, email and social media, but your mental and physical health will benefit enormously if you do.

A risk of illness is enough to make you want to stay at work. But some rest can do wonders. ‘Take time to relax,’ says Vingerhoets. ‘Just travelling to get on holiday can be stressful in itself. When you arrive, you need to take it easy rather than heading off sightseeing straight away. Drink lots of bottled water, have a massage. A lot of people take work with them. Don’t do that – you’re meant to be on holiday.’

Determined that his next holiday should not start with him in bed, Harrie, 60, has already improved his diet. ‘I’ve started eating healthy not just during the run-up to my holiday but all through the year,’ he says. ‘I’ve also begun exercising regularly.’

He has also reduced his 60-hour week by better time management.

‘I’m already feeling better,’ he says. ‘At the end of the working day I don’t feel tired and listless. In fact after a workout I’m totally refreshed. I should have done this years ago.’