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In 2019, a survey conducted by the Guardian revealed that more and more people are affected by a kind of summer burnout. Overwork, feeling like nothing, the feeling that the holidays have brought nothing in terms of energy… These are the symptoms of “the mid-year crisis”.
Summer. The sun, the heat, the holidays… and the morale in the socks… And yes! When we talk about the summer period we often think of barbecue evenings, of the general good mood and yet that would no longer be the case.
Exhaustion back a few days after returning from vacation
In a new study, British journalists from the Guardian, who have noted a general exhaustion since June, interviewed several people and it does indeed seem that a trend is emerging. Many English people have indeed reported feeling exhausted, drained, tired instead of benefiting from a boost in morale and energy with the arrival of the good weather. A phenomenon dubbed “summer burnout” or “mid-year crisis”. “I didn’t really realize until I started answering the journalists’ questions that I had all these problems, but that’s exactly it.”comments one of the young women interviewed at Guardian. From these questions, the English media therefore defines the symptoms of summer burnout as: a feeling of sleeping standing up, of being groggy all day, of lacking appetite, libido and any other desire, of no longer making the difference between private life and professional life. In short, winter seasonal depression but in summer.
No summer burnout but a widespread trend towards overwork?
Many responded that even after spending their holidays sleeping, the positive effects of this annual break did not last as long as expected and they felt more sensitive and irritable than usual. Certainly, after studying their quality of life, the most affected were those who suffered from money or job problems, but many of those who did not report having any particular problems admitted to being affected as well.
Why a mid-year crisis? Just like why some are more affected by winter seasonal depression than others, the survey does not answer it. According to Dr. Natasha Bijlani, a psychiatrist interviewed by the media across the Channel, it is not a question of overwork linked to the period or the season, but a psychological state with a tendency towards overwork that is spreading dangerously in the population because of a society where we try to do more and more both privately and professionally. “There is more and more burnout in our society in general. It is reaching an epidemic level.”