Leisure Sickness 休閑病 

 
　　放假就病真掃興

　　leisure sickness  n. Ill health that occurs during leisure time, especially on weekends and vacations.

　　Leisure sickness(休閑病)是由荷蘭蒂爾堡大學心理學教授Ad Vingerhoets命名的。研究表明工作狂在周末或假期初期工作壓力剛解除的時候，會出現的頭痛、疲倦、肌肉酸痛、感冒等，并感到"周身不自在"，但只要一上班便"藥到病除"，這可能代表已患上"休閑病"(Leisure sickness)。

　　研究發現，有3%的人士每逢假期便會生病，當中大多是工作狂，或完美主義者，

　　Professor Ad Vingerhoets, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, said people in high-stress positions are most vulnerable to the disease - people consumed with work and who find it difficult making the transition from work to relaxation.

　　Vingerhoets, who surveyed 1,128 men and 765 women across the Netherlands between the ages of 16 and 87, estimates that around 3% 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 vacation, viral infections causing flu-like symptoms and colds.

　　負責研究學者表示，認為「休閑病」主要成因是壓力所致，當工作緊張壓力大，身體分泌的腎上腺素會增加，令人心跳加速、流汗，促進免疫能力，不過，身體同時亦會分泌皮質醇，此激素原本可提供能量，但皮質醇持續偏高，則會減弱抵抗力。另方面，當工作停下來，壓力亦會降低，腎上腺素很快會停止分泌，但皮質醇就要過一段時間才停止分泌，這段時間免疫能力就會較弱，較容易染病。

　　The other sort of leisure sickness is found among men and women who have become tired of the rat race and who have downshifted to enjoy a quieter life, only to find themselves suffering from these recurrent minor illnesses plus boredom and depression.

　　另一種休閑病常見于那些厭倦了職場競爭，選擇放慢腳步享受寧靜生活的人身上，通常表現為小病不斷，情緒低落，生活無趣。

　　How do you know if you have been struck down with leisure sickness? Well, think back to the past few times you were ill. Did you have to take time off work? Or, after a prolonged period of good health, were you struck down by some mystery bug just as you were setting off on a long-awaited two-week vacation to some far-flung corner of the world? If it is the latter, chances are you, too, have leisure sickness.

　　研究人員呼吁，工作緊張或者要求特別高的人士，要適當地降低要求，每日給予一些時間自己放松一下，便會減少"休閑病"發作的機會。

　　So what do you do if you want to avoid leisure sickness? Of the 20 people in the Dutch study who claimed to have recovered from the condition, 85% were able to identify a specific life change or episode they held responsible for its disappearance, either a change of job or a fundamental change in attitude towards work and life in general.

　　But if you can't change your job (or your attitude), Vingerhoets suggests exercise on a Friday evening, which can help with the transition from work to weekend leisure; or if you are a perfectionist who takes work responsibilities too seriously, see a psychologist for some cognitive therapy.

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