Bad mood on the weekend: Tips against the Sunday blues
Sunday is drawing to a close, and the closer the crime scene gets, the worse the mood becomes. Instead of enjoying the last hours of the weekend, thoughts are already on the new week – an uneasy feeling that can manifest itself in many different ways. Also known as the Sunday blues.
"Some feel sadness, others listlessness or anger," says certified psychologist and stress expert Bettina Löhr. Physical symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches, heart palpitations, and sleep problems can also occur. Sometimes the Sunday blues also affect the following day. "It can happen that we experience a kind of jet lag on Mondays because the rhythm was different over the weekend," says the expert. You start the week slowly, have difficulty concentrating, or lack confidence.
The Sunday blues are called "Sunday scaries" in English. According to a survey, the average US citizen experiences these "Sunday scaries" 36 times a year, or almost 70 percent of Sundays. The study even determined the time when the Sunday blues strike most people: 3:54 p.m.
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Similar results come from Great Britain: According to a British study, 67 percent of adults in the UK suffer from "Sunday Scaries," and among 18- to 24-year-olds, the figure is as high as 74 percent. "We're all very different," says Löhr. "Some don't experience this feeling at all, others feel it all the more strongly. Most fall somewhere in the middle."
But how do the Sunday blues come about? "Many people can't switch off. Even the thought of work can lead to stress," says stress expert Löhr. There's even a term for this mental transition from Sunday to Monday: Smonday. This, she says, is the main reason for the low mood.
In times of home office and increasing flexibility, this hasn't improved—quite the opposite: "The boundaries between leisure and work are becoming increasingly blurred. This makes it more difficult to define boundaries and manage time," says Löhr. This is also confirmed by a 2020 study by Chemnitz University of Technology : According to the study, one in four people found the blurred boundaries between work and private life while working from home a burden during the coronavirus pandemic.
What you've done also plays a role. The Sunday blues can be particularly severe after a fulfilling weekend with lots of social interaction. Intense experiences release a lot of dopamine, "a fireworks display in the brain, so to speak," explains Löhr. "Afterwards, the body needs to regain emotional balance. We feel something like an emotional hangover."
The first step to combating the Sunday blues is awareness. "It's important to look closely," says Löhr. You should become aware of unpleasant feelings and consider what might be triggering them. It's also important to accept the emotions, says the expert. Because: "All feelings are part of life."
In a second step, you should think about what might help you take your mind off things. "Good time management and self-organization can be very useful here," says Löhr. She recommends, for example, planning the start of the week in detail. Questions that can help with this include: When do I start? When do I finish? What do I do after work? It's best to do this on Friday.
If your thoughts just won't stop racing on Sunday, it can help to jot down a list of all your pending tasks. Or send yourself an email to your work address. "Then I can get it out of my head and relax much better," says Löhr.
Another trick is to have a small reward ready for Monday: "Then I can look forward to the start of the week." This can be small things, such as a few minutes of exercise in the morning or a date with your best friend after work.
But it's not just the new week that should be well-organized. Löhr also advises making good plans for the weekend in advance. Here, too, it's important not just to think in general terms, but to plan concretely. So-called contrast experiences are particularly helpful in this regard.
So, if you spend a lot of time at your desk during the week, you should get some exercise and get out into nature on the weekend. "That way, the weekend really makes a difference for your brain," says Löhr. Light and exercise also help with the production of serotonin.
Sleep also plays a role in dealing with the Sunday blues. Löhr recommends sleeping a maximum of one hour longer than usual on the weekend to avoid jet lag on Monday. For a restful sleep, it can help to write down any thoughts that are bothering you before falling asleep or to practice relaxation exercises.
It's important to perform your own rituals repeatedly so that they become ingrained in your brain. This is especially essential in the first few weeks, says Löhr. And: "Always reduce it to small units that you can manage. That's a great feeling."
If you notice that your bad mood from the weekend is permanently carrying over into the other days of the week, you should pay attention. If your own strategies don't help, you can contact a counseling center, such as Caritas or Profamilia.
A conversation with your family doctor can also be a first step, says Löhr: "Hopefully, they're a trusted person with whom I can discuss things in a safe environment." This is sometimes easier than talking to family or friends about mental health issues. In addition, your family doctor can professionally assess the situation and, if in doubt, help you find a place for therapy.
"Self-help groups are always good too," says Löhr. Exchanging ideas with people in a similar situation can often be helpful. Those affected also realize that they are not alone with their worries. However, Löhr says it's often difficult to find support groups.
Fundamentally, it's important to differentiate the Sunday blues from depression. It becomes critical when the low mood lasts longer than two weeks and is felt every day. Then you should seek professional help. But: "If you're in a bad mood every now and then on the weekend, there's no need to worry," says Löhr.
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