How to beat “Post Vacation Blues”- Here are some tips for students

Well, this is the moment that most of you would have dreaded and it could be harder than you thought of… All it took was just a blink of an eye for these vacations to pass and most of you would be facing “Post Vacation Blues”

What is “Post Vacation Blues”?

“The feeling of sadness and anxiety associated with the return to coaching or work after vacation is called “Post Vacation Blues”. Anybody may suffer from the Post Vacation Blues after returning from home or a long vacation, especially if it was a pleasurable one. The longer a trip lasts, the more intense the post-vacation blues maybe. This is because, when people return from home, they realize how boring and unsatisfactory their normal lifestyle routine is when compared to the activities they did at home or while they were on their holiday/vacation.

And to make you recover from these blues, we asked Dr Harish Sharma, a renowned Child Psychologist, to recommend some ways to overcome this sadness.

Dr Sharma says “when students come back to schools or coaching, there’s a pile of work waiting for them and when this realisation occurs to the students then the fun they had during the vacations begins to fade away at a fast rate. This post-vacation worry then ends up eating all the recovery experience and in turn, puts you back to your work when you’re supposed to be still destressing and recovering.

So here are a few suggestions which will help you to destress

• Don’t panic, if you have these symptoms

We must switch from the vacation mode to the regular mode. The vacations are meant for relaxation and regeneration. So once you resume to your regular life you might feel tired, lose appetite, nostalgic, and in some cases, it might be accompanied by depression. So do not panic if you have any of these symptoms as they will eventually fade away. 

• Accept the Stress

There is sadness when you return to work or coaching-related post-vacation which is normal and it might take some time for you to be back to your studying mode. 

• Get Enough Sleep

Many times travelling or vacation does not give your body a sufficient amount of physical rest. It is a good idea to sleep for quite some time before you return to your daily routine life.

• Prepare an action plan

The vision of finishing your pending homework, your syllabus or leftover work may cause anxiety. It is a good idea to make an action plan to finish all the pending work. Taking action, prioritizing and planning will help you to feel in control again.

• Plan your next vacation

Based on his research, Dr Sharma suggested another remedy for the post-vacation blues is planning the next vacation/holiday in your mind. This self-help visualization method is very effective, and according to his research, the vacation planning stage provides the highest levels of happiness to the brain.

• Understand Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

If you feel low more severe than an average in this coming winter, this may be called “Winter Blues.”  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs due to the change in seasons. Since these vacations took place during the beginning of winter, it’s possible to mistake the side-effects of SAD with other health conditions —which can include loss of energy, trouble sleeping, sluggishness, agitation, difficulty concentrating, hopelessness, and disinterest—for regular study or work stress. But if you identify the problem as SAD, there are several ways to tackle it, including Vitamin D supplements, studying or spending time outdoors under the sun.

But whatever state of mind you are currently in, you should always remember how blessed you are with a beautiful life, such loving parents, helping friends, wonderful teachers and a great dream to pursue. After all, it’s all in the mind and a happy mind can do wonders any day.