Vacations have increased my anxiety

Sometimes, vacations can become an experience that feeds our anxiety.

Has it ever happened to you that you look forward to your vacation, but in the end it didn't offer you the rest you imagined?

It is clear that physical and emotional rest is necessary, so much so that when a person has worked he/she is entitled to his/her vacations by law, and in the academic area there is always an estimated time to rest between semesters.

If we are in the role of family and household chores, the situation is no different; the wear and tear of the routine with children is great and often stressful, so that we see the need to take a well-deserved vacation. But many times the emotional conditions avoided and, therefore, accumulated, do not allow us to enjoy a pleasant vacation..

The phenomenon of anxiety during the vacations

Vacations: it is a synonym of rest, of changing the routine and sharing time and space with the family or with our solitude. However, we miss it when instead of finding tranquility we want to rush out, our irritability increases or we seek to be active all the time. That is when we we realize that anxiety is taking over our longed-for vacations..

There are several factors that may be emotionally affecting the person who feels this way, among them: having to be aware of our emotional reality, family conflicts or standards of perfectionism.

Experiential avoidance

Untreated psychological processes, such as grief, childhood emotional wounds, low self-esteem or emotional pain, are partially avoided with heavy daily routines, chores, tasks to accomplish... so many work or academic occupations that keep us away from our emotional state.

This strategy is called experiential avoidanceThis strategy is called experiential avoidance, which has a specific objective and that is not to face what is emotionally affecting us. However, it is there in the vacations when we have a lot of free time and we cannot escape from ourselves, where we have to face this reality that has been denied for months and now it is difficult to avoid bringing us emotional discomfort.

On the other hand, although family dynamics freeze a little and become bearable when we are not at home or when we share very little time with our partner or family, when we are present again and share space and time, those discomforts in household dynamics reappear and family conflicts become more constant. those discomforts reappear in the dynamics of the home and family conflicts become more constant; we realize that we are definitely not the only ones who are not at home.We realize that definitely the emotional distance does not repair the family inconveniences, on the contrary, grudges and misunderstandings accumulate stressing the daily life.

The excess of perfectionism

Another reason that causes that the anxiety increases and is maintained in the time are the perfectionist personal standards that sometimes frustrate and sabotage our vacations..

Two situations arise in this condition. The first one does not allow us to enjoy the achievements and work done in our work or academic area, since we have a feeling of inadequacy and our result is not approved by ourselves; although we have had praise we do not accept it and we spend time ruminating on the dissatisfaction of not having done a better job.

The second one does not allow us to rest because of the feeling of guilt when we feel that we should be busy; we believe that by resting or stopping work, we are wasting time, money or opportunities.

In this way, free time is a martyrdom and emotional discomfort appears, anxiety increases, taking away peace of mind.Anxiety increases, taking away peace of mind and affecting vacations.

What does this situation generate in us psychologically?

These discomforts wear us down emotionally; anxiety interrupts our sleep, it decontrols our eating habits, produces muscular discomfort, makes us irritable and, on the contrary, we do not find the rest we long for, but an emotional fatigue, we do not find the desired rest but an emotional fatigue..

Therefore, if you have unworked emotional conditions, it would be a good time to start a psychological process and catch up with your mental health.

So what can we do?

If your family situation is the problem; starting with dialogue routines can be a good way to smooth out family dynamics. Of course, if this does not work, it is best to seek professional help.

Finally, if your situation is that of perfectionist standards and you feel anguish for being inactive, it is time to seek help, it is time to seek helpNot only to enjoy a good vacation with time off, but also to celebrate and enjoy the achievements and work done.

So a good plan for this vacation would be to not avoid any more and start catching up with your mental health, it will give you a respite of tranquility with which you will start your new work obligations.