T i m e O u t

Weekend syndrome

Weekend Syndrome

Do you live with a person or, more importantly, are you a person who finds the weekend difficult to manage? Do you find tiredness, anxiety and sadness creeping up on you as the weekend approaches? Does the so-called “Weekend Syndrome” really exist or is this just another example of our need to catalogue everything we feel? Does giving a name and a tag to something give it more authenticity? Does having a name attached to a feeling it mean that I’m not the only one who feels like this so maybe someone can help me deal with it?

For those of us in regular Monday to Friday employment, the weekend means relaxation, fun,  chilling out, catching up on household chores, a meal out, maybe the cinema or a concert, a good book. Just as long as we can get away from routine the and recharge batteries.

For some people, however, weekend depression is a very real disorder. It may occur as they experience the aloneness of not having a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. “Most of my friends are out and enjoying their weekends while I stay home with nothing to do. I feel like I'm missing out.”

There are people who may have changed their lifestyle and have never been able to adjust. They go deeper and deeper into a rut and it can all become intolerable as each weekend comes around. “I've been dreading the weekends for years, pretty much since I finished college and was no longer able to hang out with friends on a regular basis.”

For other people, weekend depression can occur if they are in an unhappy partner or marriage relationship and are forced to spend time in the other’s company. Physical closeness in an unhappy situation leads to fighting, arguing, criticism, or just feeling distant and lonely. “I used to live for weekends… now it's the opposite. I've been going through a bad phase so I’m not able to take part in  activities on weekends like I used to.”

Or, maybe the parent-children relationship dynamic changes, as in children leaving the nest, moving abroad or simply growing up, the feelings of sadness, anxiety, stress, anger or depression can be difficult to manage. ”I used to love having the kids to fill up the weekends. Now they’re just empty.”

Then there are those of us who are in perfectly normal relationships, who have steady jobs which they enjoy and they too can find the weekend difficult to deal with. “I feel energized by my job and somehow don't know what to do to have fun on the weekend. I miss the buzz of work.”

A very common form of weekend depression is often associated with being parents and resenting the fact that one is missing out on the “single” life-style. “I am reasonably happily married however I feel like we have run out of things to talk about.  We have a young child so most of the weekend is spent entertaining him, like going to playgrounds which frankly is boring. I tend to fill whatever free time I have with TV or the computer.”  

There are many people close to us who have difficulty facing the weekend. They may pretend to  look forward to it. The may put coping mechanisms in place. They may convince themselves that they actually enjoy film after film or “burying myself in a novel.” or “spending hours on the net.”

What they may not like is people bouncing into the office or the factory or the laboratory or any of dozens of workplaces and, because they can’t wait to talk about their own “fantastic weekend” to whoever is willing to listen, they corner the most vulnerable colleague with the old chestnut “Did have a good weekend? Let me tell you about mine.”