Some people experience nighttime depression and daytime elation. However, some people only feel the blues on Sundays. The “Sunday depression,” sometimes known as the “Sunday blues,” is a common Sunday (typically in the evening) sense of sadness, hopelessness, or dissatisfaction. If you went to a doctor or therapist, you wouldn’t be given a diagnosis of Sunday depression. The phenomenon is quite genuine even if it has no recognized existence in the medical community. Many people should be able to recognize the next scene. When you consider the upcoming day or week, you become upset. Each Sunday, this pattern is repeated.
Although this sensation is known as Sunday Depression in the case of those who work a typical work week (Monday through Friday with Saturday and Sunday off), those who adhere to an alternate schedule are not exempt. When a break in a regular schedule comes to an end, the emotions can start to sneak up. Accordingly, a person who works from Sunday to Thursday can feel Saturday versions of their Sunday Depression. These emotions might be experienced on Monday by a student who attends classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
How Can I Avoid the Sunday Moods?
Numerous things can lead to Sunday depression. Triggers are particular to each individual. The phenomenon can typically be connected to underlying ideas or emotions about the next week. Sunday depression can be lessened with the help of therapy. The discussion of further possibilities follows.
Who don’t like to work?
There’s a good chance you’ll have the Sunday blues if you don’t like your job. Finding the drive or enthusiasm to go someplace you don’t want to go might be challenging. Although many people claim to be unsatisfied with their jobs, a severe case of Sunday Depression may indicate that it’s time to hunt for alternative employment.
Too Thinly Stretched
Your emotions could also be a result of a lack of emotional stamina to handle the responsibilities you have ahead of you.
Too much is accumulating
Some individuals find that Sunday serves as a reminder that they haven’t completed all on their to-do list from the previous week.
Weary of the Same Old
Most people find routine to be difficult. Our brains are stimulated by new experiences, whereas daily life quickly gets boring. Sunday night becomes a regular time to get ready for the week in many houses. This routine could involve boring tasks like meal preparation, laundry, packing and preparing for the next day, or scheduling events on a calendar. It’s fairly simple for the routine to start becoming associated with Sunday depression.
Odd Thinking
Sometimes polarized thinking might make Sunday depression worse. Polarized thinking is another word for our propensity to view the world in terms of polar opposites, such as “all or nothing.” We frequently get into the habit of thinking that the weekend is for having fun and the week is for working. We risk becoming overly dogmatic in our conviction that having fun during the workweek is inappropriate or that resting up should wait until the weekend. According to this perspective, Sunday night precisely represents five days of undesirable behavior.
Anxiety
Anxiety frequently coexists with Sunday depression. A variety of things can cause anxiety. It can be a response to worries about the unknown in the upcoming week or a response to a potential threat.
How to Improve Sunday a Little?
Unfortunately, Sunday depression will strike many of us occasionally. There are, however, a few minor adjustments you may make to your week or weekend to lessen its effects.
Utilize Your Morning
Sunday night is a popular time for people to prepare for the next week. As the hours pass and we are left with a tons of work to complete, this always causes Sunday depression. Think about preparing for the week in the morning.
On Sunday night, have fun.
Avoid doing any work on Sunday. This may be a long meditation session, a movie night, or an art lesson.
Organize Yourself for Success
The best time to stock up on the things you’ll need for the week is on Sunday. This may manifest as self-care for many people. Put yourself first on Sunday instead of cramming in more obligations over the weekend or taking the day off. Everyone has a distinct definition of self-care. Stick to the pursuits that leave you feeling revitalized and prepared to face the week.
Sunday should be used for healthy food and exercise, prescription renewal, and a restful night’s sleep. You may give yourself the extra boost you need to get through the week by starting it off prepared and healthy.
Engage a therapist
Online therapy is incredibly efficient at giving patients with depression the tools they need to control their symptoms, according to research. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which combines a range of components (self-help books, lessons, and tasks) with therapist interaction and support, is one of the most widely acknowledged approaches to treating depression. CBT aims to change mental patterns, such as unfavorable connections with routine or job.
How stress affects us?
Our flight-or-fight reflex, which floods the body with adrenaline, might be triggered by worrying about something. Blood pressure and heart rate increase. Breathing quickens and the increased oxygen in the brain makes people more alert. Energy is increased as blood sugars and other nutrients flood the bloodstream.
The body maintains high alert levels and releases cortisol, the primary stress hormone, if the brain continues to perceive threats (cue work anxieties).
Even though it is impossible to estimate how many people receive them, there is anecdotal proof that some do. By late Sunday afternoon, if they are questioned about mood swings, it’s likely that they will identify the signs and admit that the visitation occurs regularly.
A deeper understanding of this phenomenon arises with the end of the summer break, the start of classes, and the joy or melancholy that comes with dedicating Sundays to doubleheader and tripleheader football. Some people may find the solution to their Sunday blues to be too simple.
This state of mind has been dubbed “Sunday Syndrome,” which describes our dread of Monday’s return to work or school, our mourning over the weekend’s passing, and our general sense of hopelessness or homesickness for the promise that Friday afternoons offer as they usher in a new weekend. It is sometimes referred to as the “Sunday Fear Syndrome,” as the anxiety about another Monday in the rat race is what causes it to develop.
Why on a Sunday?
The Sunday Night Blues can occur for a variety of causes. You might be because it coincides with the understanding that the weekend is winding down.
- Rushing to complete your weekly duties and tasks.
- Wishing you had accomplished more, or regretting how you wasted your time.
- Dreading the demands of the upcoming five days and contemplating all the unpleasant aspects of the upcoming workweek.
Additionally, according to Loo, visualizing the worst-case scenario for the coming week or lacking confidence in your capacity to effectively handle potential stress might make Sunday phobias worse. But since the week hasn’t really begun, perspective is definitely a factor. “Someone is way more likely to have Sunday scares if they think, ‘This week is going to be so stressful and awful,’ versus someone who thinks, ‘I’ve got a lot happening this week, but I’ll be okay,'” says Loo.
Find your happy place?
If you’ve prepared everything and still have nothing planned for Sundays, it would be a good idea to take some time to consider what genuinely brings you joy.
Time with friends is spent
If you frequently have Sunday anxiety, socializing can make all the difference. Your thoughts may be diverted from the upcoming week by spending time with friends, which will allow you to relax a little.
Make Sunday a special day for you.
Making Sunday your sole day of self-care, especially in the afternoon, can also help you start the week with a clean slate.
Set up a regular Sunday pastime that will nourish and soothe you, such as reading a book while sipping wine, taking a bubble bath, or practicing meditation.
Your mind will instinctively anticipate the action later in the day when you first wake up, which will improve your mood.
Treating Symptoms Rather Than the Cause
Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done to combat Sunday Syndrome’s root cause. The majority of us inhabit a world that is structured around a 5-day on, 2-day off schedule. But it’s fascinating that a good friend of mine who worked in retail management didn’t quite grasp the “Sunday Syndrome” that certain people went through. There never seemed to be a period long enough to produce the 2-day buildup of worry and dread that most people experience on Mondays because job schedules varied from week to week.
Conclusion
Don’t feel bad if the consequences of Sunday depression are depleting you each week. We are frequently tugged in numerous directions, and occasionally commitments require going to or doing things that we would rather not. Even though your doctor may never give you a diagnosis of Sunday depression, its repercussions are genuine.
