Leisure sickness: Why taking time off feels stressful for some workaholics | Workplace News

Do people claim to term you as ‘the workaholic‘? You live and breathe work every day, and even when you give yourself a few days to relax, they’re filled with anticipation and dread. Turns out, there’s a term for that- Leisure sickness, and yes, it’s real.
Symptoms of ‘leisure sickness’ can be attributed to physical symptoms like “headaches, muscle pain, fatigue” or psychological repercussions like “feelings of tension and or unease”, even when one is away from work, explains Mehezabin Dordi, Clinical Psycholog at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai.
The pressure to remain connected to your work, or to be ‘productive’, even when you’re supposedly ‘off work’, to a heightened degree, can be characterised leisure sickness. Leisure sickness is quite different from the usual ‘FOMO’ ( ‘fear of missing out’) you might normally claim to feel, since it involves more physical symptoms. It’s more serious, yes, but what do you do to combat it?
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How to manage leisure sickness
Dr Roshan Mansukhani, a therap and counsellor, suggests a simple strategy of cultivating a hob to disconnect from one’s dependency on electronics. He also suggests “focusing on nothing”- “when you focus on nothing, you will find yourself, nothing is more important than what can calm you… Drowning in work creates a monotony which can be combatted diverting your mind. “A healthy way to do so would be engaging in activities like lening to your favourite music, practicing yoga, or exercising.”
Anxiety can be an overpowering and overwhelming feeling. (Source-Freepik)
According to Dordi, one can adopt different techniques to lessen the impact of leisure sickness:
1. Emphasise on setting boundaries
Limiting your time spent on social media to check information related to your work (compulsively refreshing your inbox) can be an inducer of work related stress that can progress into something more.
2. Practice mindfulness
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3. Provide structure to the day
A day without work can feel fun, but to those who crave a sense of structure, it can also be something away from the ‘normal’.
4. Develop a routine
Establish a consent routine that includes regular leisure time to normalize the experience and reduce anticipatory anxiety.
5. Practice positive thinking
Challenge negative thoughts related to leisure and replace them with more balanced, realic ones.
Remember, the constant “on” state of work culture, characterised an expectation to be continuously available and responsive, can contribute to leisure sickness as well. When the boundaries between work and your personal life are blurred, it can become challenging to completely disconnect. The ‘guilt’ that you feel when you’re ‘off work’ can be a contributing factor too.