Post-holiday syndrome: fact or fantasy? (2)

All in your head

Laziness and not liking your job is apparently now a verifiable medical disorder, one that the entire population of China seems to suffer from about twice year. We're only just back to work, but already the flood of articles indicating that you have some kind of psychiatric disorder, and how to prevent it, are on their way. Known as post-holiday syndrome, the ever reliable Xinhua was one of the first places to pick up the torch. Symptoms of the aforementioned syndrome include drowsiness, depression, lethargy and fatigue. In other words - work.

Ever since the 1970s, the term "medicalization" has been tossed around by medical professionals, who possess a great deal of common sense. It refers to very basic human behaviors which are encroached upon by doctors and diagnoses, in a subtle form of social control. Over 50 years ago, a child would be seen to be excitable or over-active on some occasions, and required a lot more attention and exercise. Today they are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and given a stiff dose of Ritalin and plonked down in front of the TV, so Mummy and Daddy can go out and get wasted. Around two to three percent of the world is thought to have ADHD, while up to 16 percent have been diagnosed.

Also 50 years ago, drinking yourself into oblivion after a diet of pig fat and rice pastry and then turning up to work the next day might have been considered a bad idea and feeling horrible would have been understandable. Today it means you're suffering from post-holiday syndrome. If we're not careful, soon the pharmaceutical companies will be in on the act, providing caffeine pills and methamphetamine in nice expensive packaging in order to get workers back on their feet for the post-holiday working week.

Is feeling lethargic and bored at work really a symptom of the holidays? Why are all these social networking sites so popular then? A survey from Salary.com in 2010 found that 20 percent of employee time was wasted looking at social networking sites. Assuming the average day is eight hours, that's nearly two hours every day lost per person.

Isn't this a symptom of boredom at work? Aren't those who paw at computer screens over photographs taken outside of the workplace trying to relive a past, happier experience, like a serial killer would do when stroking a lock of hair from his drawer full of trophies?

Next year, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is going to release a new standard for the way the industry is governed. They've toned down and even eliminated many diagnoses from the pages over fears that the basic human condition is becoming medicalized. Narcissism will no longer be a verifiable psychiatric problem, which will obviously annoy narcissists because they're special and deserve a label to make them stand out. Other natural human conditions, like feeling depressed after bereavement, or if you're a woman, feeling irritable prior to menstruation, will also be under review for the chop. Why should post-holiday syndrome be any different?

It is just part of the natural human condition, and ironically Xinhua got something right. Not turning up on the first day with a massive hangover and clogged arteries is a good way to start your working week. But that's not just after a holiday, that's every day.