Europe wakes up from holiday dream

The back-to-work blues can really get you down

In this story: Humans 'not designed to work' Beating the blues RELATED STORIES, SITES

By By Paul Sussman, CNN.com writer

LONDON (CNN) -- Mark Roberts had a dream summer holiday in New York. Then he had to go back to work.

"I just can't describe how depressed I felt on the plane," he groaned. "I really hate my job, and the thought of doing it for another year was like a sort of torture.

"When I walked back into the office, an enormous dark cloud descended on me. I just wanted to run out and never come back. I thought I was going to cry."

Roberts, 34, a manager in a printing firm in London, is one of millions of people across Europe currently suffering from the back-to-work blues.

The heartache is particularly widespread at this time of year as Europeans return en masse from their summer vacations to be faced with the more mundane reality of life back in the workplace.

"It's getting harder and harder each year," sighs Olive O'Brien, 43, a training consultant from Dublin, Ireland. "You have two weeks of freedom, and then come back to a desk piled high with work. The first day is always dreadful, a nightmare. If I didn't enjoy my job I'd just pack it in."

Carla Segers, 31, a secretary from Munich, Germany, agrees: "I always feel very sad to come back from my holiday. It takes me at least a couple of days to get back into the routine of things."

And it is not only employees from northern Europe who are suffering. Those from sunnier climes are also experiencing a nasty bout of post-holiday depression.

"I've just come back from two weeks camping," says Yiannis Drimousis, 34, manager of a yacht-chartering company in Athens, Greece. "Boy do I feel down. I've spent most of the last two days going through e-mails. It's been painful."

Worst hit, perhaps, are those who actually work in the holiday industry. People like Isabelle Barget, 26, a tourist information officer from Toulouse, France.

"It's bad enough that I've had to come back to work," she laments. "But now I've got to spend my time helping other people enjoy their holidays. It's like a constant reminder of what I'm missing."

Longer working hours and increasing workplace stress have made the return from the summer break a more traumatic affair than it was 20 years ago.

"People aren't just getting depressed about it now, they're actually getting ill," says British psychotherapist Phillip Hodson. "We often fail to realise just how much we are expected to carry on our shoulders in the modern work environment.

"Huge demands are being made on us both mentally and physically. Going straight back into that from a stress-free holiday environment can be a real shock to the system."

Hodson believes that humans are not actually designed to work, and the gloom most of us feel on returning from our summer break is because we are forcing ourselves to do something unnatural.

"Humans are creatures with a great need to play," he explains. "We're not programmed to sit in an office all day. We're designed to wander around the grassland kicking over the odd stone to see if there's anything to eat underneath it.

"The mental and physical stresses of work are in complete contrast to what we are actually designed to cope with."

The problem would seem to be particularly acute in those countries where people only take short summer holidays, thus not giving themselves the chance to wind down properly.

The UK has the shortest average annual leave of any nation in Europe -- just 20 days a year -- and also the longest working week.

I wish I were back on the beach

No specific study has been done on post-holiday depression, although a recent survey of managers in 24 European countries by the British United Provident Association (BUPA) revealed that those in the UK have the worst physical health and the second-worst mental health behind Bulgaria.

Andrew Arnold, 34, a public relations consultant in Copenhagen, Denmark, has also worked in the UK.

"I noticed a real difference between British and Danish holidays," he said. "Here in Denmark you get three weeks in the summer and that third week makes a real difference. It gives you time to relax properly

"In Britain, on the other hand, you only get two weeks and it's harder to wind down. I definitely feel less miserable coming back from holidays now I'm working in Denmark."

For some, however, even a long summer holiday isn't enough. Alain Jacques, 41, has just returned to work in Paris after six weeks' holiday on the Cote d'Azur.

"I feel miserable as hell," he moped. "I wish I was back on the beach."

So what can you do to ease that post-holiday crisis?

Fin O'Hara works for Ceridian, a London-based consultancy that advises companies on how to achieve a good work-life balance for their employees.

"Not everyone feels down when they come back from their holidays," she says, "But for those who do there are various tricks to lessen the pain.

"The most important thing is to organise yourself before you go. Get a colleague to cover for you while you're away so that work doesn't just pile up. There's nothing worse than coming back and having a thousand e-mails to go through.

"Also, try to keep a clear diary for the first couple of days so you're not rushed off your feet. And don't be afraid of delegating till you get back on an even keel."

Belgian psychologist Anne Willems says it is vital to give yourself something to look forward to.

"What's most depressing about returning from holiday is that sense of there being nothing good on the horizon for another year. It's vital to find something to aim for, some project that can give you a bit of excitement."

Imogen Daniels of the British Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, agrees. "You need to focus on something that enthuses you," she says. "Accept that the first few days are going to be a re-entry phase, and just try and concentrate on the aspects of the job that you enjoy."

And if, like London printing manager Mark Roberts, you do not enjoy any aspects of your job, then you might have to resort to a more alternative therapy.

"I make a point of going around telling all my work colleagues what a great time I had in New York," explains Roberts. "Most of them haven't been away at all and when I see how miserable they look, it really cheers me up."

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IPD
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