Why We Always Get Sick During Time Off

With the holiday season over and the cold weather setting in, you will probably start to hear about people getting sick and having to use a lot more hand sanitizer when at work. However not as many people will report being as the amount whom get sick over their holiday breaks and during time off. More often than not you will get sick during the holidays or taking time off work and I can attest to this! I can’t believe how many times I get extremely sick when I have time off and just want o socialize and relax but can’t because I am so miserable.

As I am sure that many of you can relate to how much we hate this, there are actual proven reasons as to why we get sick when we have some down time.

1. The “let-down effect”- You may experience this as more of mental health issues or chronic pain due to an increase of stress around the holidays or breaks because of deadlines or other stressors.
2. Vacation is the culprit of your sickness. Although you are usually relaxed during your vacation, you are definitely no where near relaxed leading up to that. Perhaps you are putting in extra hours to meet deadlines at work or skipping out on the gym/routine to pack for travel and make things all in order. By the time your break comes around, your body is so exhausted from prepping for it that it let’s down its defenses.
3. Traveling can screw up your immune system. Although traveling can be fun because you are going to your desired destination, it can also cause a lot of stress on your body. You also come into contact with many different bodies spreading all types of germs along the way.

In the end, your body is really just telling you to take a break and you should probably listen (I need to work on that as well)! However, we all do not want to be sick during the holidays or time off because we actually want to enjoy our time. Check out some tips to help avoid the dreaded time off sickness below!