A devastating diagnosis

People say that human beings are born to work. However, not all are enthusiastic about endless employment. As a result, holidays have been invented to allow a break for hardworking people, encouraging them "to work hard and play hard." However, instead of coming back refreshed and excited after the fun, what often accompanies the end of a holiday are feelings of lassitude, tiredness and even boredom about returning to your desk. Doctors name these negative feelings as post-holiday syndrome.

Many bosses and doctors believe that post-holiday syndrome exists both mentally and physically. In order to motivate employee's morale as soon as possible, some companies even offer financial incentives. One Internet user said her company offered 500 yuan ($79) as a prize for those who were not late for work on the first day after the holiday. Other companies give the year-end bonus to employees when they come back to work after the Lunar New Year.

In a more creative fashion, some bosses choose to light strings of firecrackers on the first working day after the Spring Festival, as they believe firecrackers, which can blast for dozens of minutes, would be more powerful than clock alarms in awakening people and getting them back into work.

In fact, so intense is post-holiday syndrome that it does not just strike workers, but also the elderly, students and even pets. For retired senior citizens, Spring Festival is a moment for family reunion, the busiest time of the whole year for them. They thoughtfully arrange accommodation for visiting children and relatives and prepare fancy homemade dinners. However, a sudden feeling of gloom hits them when their sons and daughters have to depart after the holiday.

As for students, they need to stop playing around and get their head down in the books. Some might be a bit sluggish on the uptake and thus strict teachers and parents have come up with a treatment: sending them to shouxin classes, which are literally lessons that help jolt their mind out of holiday mode and back into study mode. The programs are often launched by commercial training companies, which provide short-term one-on-one tutorials to students.

Finally, even pets exhibit unusual syndromes after Spring Festival. Veterinarians found that dogs, who are very dependent on their owners, may feel upset, have diminished energy and enthusiasm when it comes to playing around, and sometimes even vandalize the home. And some timid pets, who have been scarred by the stunning sound of fireworks, may even weep.

Aside from mental problems, doctors remind us that there are a host of physical post-holiday syndromes, including soreness to the eyes, often triggered after excessively playing computer games or mahjong, and watching too much TV. Then there are the illnesses related to digestion due to over-indulgence on the food front.

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.